|
|
TURKEY
The Republic of Turkey is a country with
territory in both southern Europe and the southwestern part of Asia, until
1922 known as the Ottoman Empire. The Anatolian peninsula in between the
Black Sea and the Mediterranean Sea forms the core of the country.
Turkey (in Turkish Türkiye) is bordered to the east by Georgia, Armenia,
Azerbaijan and Iran, to the south by Iraq and Syria, and to the west by the
Aegean Sea and its islands, Greece and Bulgaria.
History
The current Turks are the descendants of some tribes that moved from mid
Asia (Mongolia) to what is know today as Turkey about 700 years ago. The
Turkish language is a branch of the Mongolian language. Turks surfaced to
the face of history when they toppled the Abbasy Islamic Empire ruling from
Baghdad. Moved the capitol to Istanbul (Then a much smaller city than
Baghdad) took over governing part of the Islamic world.
The Turks conducted one of the biggest massacres against the Christian
Armenians at the turn of the century. Over 2 million Armenians were killed;
many woman and children were slaved. Their property was confiscated.
Invaded Cyprus in 1974.
Politics
Politics of Turkey Anatolia had been a cradle to a wide variety of
civilisations and kingdoms in antiquity. The Seljuk Turks were the first
Turkic power to arrive in the 11th century as conquerors (earlier Turkic
peoples such as the Pechenegs had become allies and subordinates of the
Byzantine Empire), who proceeded to gradually conquer the existing Byzantine
Empire.
Their Turkic successors, the Ottoman Empire, completed this in the 15th
century with the fall of Constantinople, after which the empire expanded
across the eastern Mediterranean. Rising nationalism in the 19th century and
the First World War caused the embattled empire to crumble in the aftermath
of the war.
The Republic of Turkey was created in 1923 by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, who
reformed Turkey into a modern, secular, and western-oriented republic. Fears
of a shift from the secular and western oriented makeup of the country have
led to several military coups over the years, the last of which was in 1980.
Democratic rule has since returned. Turkey became a member of NATO in 1952,
and is seeking membership of the European Union. Issues such as the Turkish
involvement in Cyprus and the increasing appeal of political Islam continue
to fuel public debate in Turkey and influence its international relations.
Provinces
Turkey is subdivided into 81 provinces (iller, singular - il):
Adana
Adiyaman
Afyon
Agri
Aksaray
Amasya
Ankara
Antalya
Ardahan
Artvin
Aydin
Balikesir
Bartin
Batman
Bayburt
Bilecik
Bingol
Bitlis
Bolu
Burdur
Bursa
Canakkale
Cankiri
Corum
Denizli
Diyarbakir
Duzce
Edirne
Elazig
Erzincan
Erzurum
Eskisehir
Gaziantep
Giresun
Gumushane
Hakkari
Hatay
Icel
Igdir
Isparta
Istanbul
Izmir
Kahramanmaras
Karabuk
Karaman
Kars
Kastamonu
Kayseri
Kilis
Kirikkale
Kirklareli
Kirsehir
Kocaeli
Konya
Kutahya
Malatya
Manisa
Mardin
Mugla
Mus
Nevsehir
Nigde
Ordu
Osmaniye
Rize
Sakarya
Samsun
Sanliurfa
Siirt
Sinop
Sirnak
Sivas
Tekirdag
Tokat
Trabzon
Tunceli
Usak
Van
Yalova
Yozgat
Zonguldak
Geography
Turkey forms a bridge between Europe and Asia, with the division between the
two running from the Black Sea to the north down along the Bosporus strait
through the Sea of Marmara and the Dardanelles strait to the Aegean Sea and
the larger Mediterranean Sea to the south. The Anatolian peninsula consists
of a high central plateau with narrow coastal plains, in between the Pontus
range to the north and the Taurus Mountains to the south. To the east is
found a more mountainous landscape, home to the sources of rivers such as
the Euphrates, Tigris and the Araks, as well as Lake Van and Mount Ararat,
Turkey's highest point at 5,166 m.
The climate is a Mediterranean temperate climate, with hot, dry summers and
mild, wet winters, though conditions can be much harsher in the more arid
interior. Turkey is also prone to very severe earthquakes. The capital city
is Ankara, but the largest city is Istanbul. Other important cities include
Izmir, Bursa, Adana, Izmit (Kocaeli), Konya, Diyarbakir, Antalya, and
Samsun. See the list of cities in Turkey.
Economy
Turkey's dynamic economy is a complex mix of modern industry and commerce
along with a traditional agriculture sector that in 2001 still accounted for
40% of employment. It has a strong and rapidly growing private sector, yet
the state still plays a major role in basic industry, banking, transport,
and communication. The most important industry - and largest export - is
textiles and clothing, which is almost entirely in private hands.
In recent years the economic situation has been marked by erratic economic
growth and serious imbalances. Real GNP growth has exceeded 6% in many
years, but this strong expansion has been interrupted by sharp declines in
output in 1994, 1999, and 2001. Meanwhile the public sector fiscal deficit
has regularly exceeded 10% of GDP - due in large part to the huge burden of
interest payments, which in 2001 accounted for more than 50% of central
government spending - while inflation has remained in the high double digit
range.
Perhaps because of these problems, foreign direct investment in Turkey
remains low - less than USD 1 billion annually. In late 2000 and early 2001
a growing trade deficit and serious weaknesses in the banking sector plunged
the economy into crisis - forcing Ankara to float the lira and pushing the
country into recession. Results in 2002 were much better, because of strong
financial support from the IMF and tighter fiscal policy. Continued slow
global growth and serious political tensions in the Middle East cast a
shadow over growth prospects in the future.
Demographics
The majority of the Turkish population (around 80%) is of Turkic ethnicity,
who speak the only official language of the country, Turkish. The most
significant minority is that of the Kurds, who constitute up to about 10% of
the population. Other smaller minorities include Levantines, Georgians, Laz,
Syriacs, Arabs, Greeks, Chaldeans, Jews, Roma, Hamshenis, and Armenians.
Before WWI Armenians and Greeks were a large minority, dating back before
the Ottoman Empire.
Nominally, some 99% of the population is Muslim. Most belong to the Sunni
branch of Islam, but about 15-20 % are Alevi Muslims, a branch related to
Shi'a Islam. Smaller Greek Orthodox, Armenian Orthodox (Gregorian), Jewish,
Roman Catholic and Protestant minorities are also present.
|
|
