Turkey

The Republic of Turkey or Turkey, is a bicontinental country located between Southwest Asia and partly in Southeast Europe. The Anatolian peninsula comprises most of its territory, and is situated between the Black Sea on the north and the Mediterranean Sea to south and west, with the Aegean Sea (and Marmara Sea) in between. A small portion of the country's territory (3%) is situated in southeastern Europe, west of the Bosporus straits. Turkey is bordered by Bulgaria (in European Turkey) and Greece on the west, Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Iran on the east, and Iraq and Syria on the south. Until 1922, the country was the center of the Ottoman Empire. |- | align=center style="vertical-align: top;" colspan=2 | National motto (unofficial):
Peace in the Homeland, Peace in the World
(Turkish: Yurtta Sulh, Cihanda Sulh) |- | align=center colspan=2 style="background: #ffffff;" | Image:LocationTurkey.png |- | Official language || Turkish |- | Capital || Ankara |- | Largest city || Istanbul |- | Founder || Mustafa Kemal Atatürk |- | President || Ahmet Necdet Sezer |- | Prime Minister || Recep Tayyip Erdoğan |- | Area
 – Total
 – % water || Ranked 36th
 780,580 km²
 1.3% |- | Population
 – Total (2003)
 – Density || Ranked 17th
 68,109,469
 86.2/km² |- | National Day
Declaration of Republic ||
 October 29 1923 |- | Currency || New Turkish Lira1 |- | Time zone || UTC +2 |- | National anthem || İstiklâl Marşı |- | Internet TLD || .tr |- | Calling Code || 90 |- | colspan=2 align=left|1 Since January 1 2005, the New Turkish Lira (''Yeni Türk Lirası'') replaced the old Turkish Lira.

History (pre Republic)

Anatolia (''Asia Minor''), the landmass that is now Turkey, had been a cradle to a wide variety of civilizations and kingdoms in antiquity. The Seljuk Turks were the first Turkish power to arrive in the 11th century as conquerors (earlier Turkish peoples such as the Pechenegs had become allies and subordinates of the Byzantine Empire), who proceeded to gradually conquer the existing Byzantine Empire with its Greek population and heritage. Their Turkish successors, the Ottoman Empire (named after its first leader Osman Gazi), began as a small tribe of nomadic Turks who would come to dominate the region for 600 years. Its first capital was located in Bursa in 1326 and by 1453 under Sultan Mehmed II the Ottomans would conquer the last stronghold of the Byzantine Empire, Constantinople (see fall of Constantinople). The empire reached its peak under Sultan Suleyman the Magnificent between 1520-1555, the empire stretched from the gates of Vienna to the Persian Gulf, from the Crimea to Morroco. Following the death of Suleyman, the empire began a slow course of gradual decline. Throughout the 19th and early 20th century the Ottoman empire began to lose a foothold on its territories, first with Algeria and Tunisia, then Greece, Egypt, Libya and the Balkans in the 1912 Balkans war. Faced with territorial losses on all sides Turkey forged an alliance with Germany who supported it with troops and equipment. In World War I Turkey entered the war on the side of the Central Powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary) and was subsequently defeated. Between 1915 and 1917 large parts of the Armenian population were deported from the area constituting today's Turkey. According to Armenian and Western sources, at least 1 million people lost their lives in this episode which is called the Armenian Genocide. The vast majority of Western and Armenian scholars, claim that the Armenian casualties was a result of a a state-sponsored extermination plan. However, subsequent Turkish governments maintain until today that this was no state-sponsored extermination plan and that the Armenian casualties were a result of inter-ethnic strife, disease and famine during the turmoil of World War I. On October 30th 1918, the Mondros Armistice was signed followed by the Treaty of Sèvres on August 10th 1920. These sought to break up the Ottoman empire and force large concessions on Turkey in favour of its rival Greece who had fought against the Germans. Greece, France and Italy were awarded parts of the coast of Minor Asia. The city of Izmir (Smyrna), with its large Greek population, was awarded to Greece. The Greek army took it over on May 15 1919 and triggered the War of Independence. A nationalist movement led by Mustafa Kemal, rejected the Sèvres and organised an army which repelled Greece from Turkey. By September 18th 1922 the country was liberated resulting in the Treaty of Lausanne of 1923, recognising the new borders of Turkey. On October 29th 1923 The Republic of Turkey was proclaimed and Mustafa Kemal, later taking the last name Atatürk (meaning father of Turks), would be her first president. Mustafa Kemal Atatürk

History timeline (post Republic)

Since 1923, ...

Culture

Süleymaniye Mosque in Istanbul Main article: Culture of Turkey Turkey has a very diverse culture due to its many ethnic minorities.

Politics

Main article: Politics of Turkey The Republic of Turkey was created in 1923 by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, a pragmatic leader who reformed Turkey into a modern, secular, and western-oriented republic. Over the years, fears of a shift from secularity and western orientation led to a left-wing military coup in 1961, and fears of a shift towards the Eastern Block have led to two more right-wing military coups in 1971 and 1980. Democratic rule has since returned. Turkey became a member of NATO in 1952, and is seeking membership of the European Union. December 17th 2004 marked the official opening of talks for the accession of Turkey to the European Union, and it remains one of the main issues in Turkish foreign diplomacy. International disputes such as Turkish involvement in Cyprus and the allegations relating to the genocide against Armenians in the Ottoman era continue to influence international relations. The increasing appeal of political Islam also continues to fuel public debate in Turkey. See also:

Geography

Main article: Geography of Turkey Map of Turkey Pamukkale (meaning cotton castle) in the Aegean Region 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 (also known as Asia Minor) 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 (main part of the Armenian Highland), 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 and cold winters, though conditions can be much harsher in the more arid interior. Turkey is also prone to very severe earthquakes. The Bosphorus and the Dardanelles owe their existence to the fault lines running through Turkey, leading to the creation of the Black Sea. The capital city of Turkey is Ankara, but the largest city is İstanbul. Other important cities include İzmir, Bursa, Adana, Gaziantep, Erzurum, Kayseri, İzmit (Kocaeli), Konya, Mersin, Diyarbakır, Antalya, and Samsun. See the list of cities in Turkey.

Economy

Main article: Economy of Turkey Turkey's 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 is estimated that 50% of the population lives under the international standards of poverty, especially in the war torn south-east areas. Turkey 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. Turkey has recently adopted a new currency, slashing away many "zeros" from the old currency after years of double digit inflation. For example, a taxi ride would cost a few million liras. Overnight, many "millionaires" were gone.

Demographics

Main article: Demographics of Turkey The majority of the Turkish population (around 89-92%) is of Turkish ethnicity, who speak the official language of the country, Turkish. Other minorities include Abkhaz, Albanians, Arabs, Armenians, Bosniaks, Chaldeans, Circassians, Greeks, Georgians, Hamshenis, Jews, Kurds, Laz, Levantines, Pomaks, Syriacs, and Zazas. The term "minority" itself remains to be a sensitive issue in Turkey, since the Turkish State only considers the communities mentioned in the text of Treaty of Lausanne (namely, Greek Orthodox, Armenian, and Jewish communities) as minorities (''azınlık'' or ekalliyet). However the minorities in question do not have special rights as the race-blind system is based on equality. According to the CIA factbook estimates Kurds compromise the second largest ethnic group at 8,76% however since a consensus based on race is unheard of in the country, as everyone is considered to be the majority, the accuracy of this fact is disputed. Several minorities have requested special rights throughout the history of the nation, either through terrorism (see PKK) or through political means. Due to lack of labour force in Europe between 1960 and 1980 many Turkish citizens emigrated to West Germany, the Netherlands, France and other Western European countries, forming a significant overseas population. Recently, many have also settled in Russia and other neighbouring countries. Nominally, 99.8% of the population is Muslim. Most belong to the Sunni branch of Islam. About 15-20% of the population are Alevi Muslims. There is also a Twelver Shia minority, mainly of Azeri descent. Jewish, and Christian Greek Orthodox, Armenian Apostolic (Gregorian), Roman Catholic and Protestant minorities are also present. Although, unlike other majority Islamic nations, there is a strong tradition of separation of church and state in Turkey, in practice this means rather the subordination of religion to the state instead of what Westerners would consider separation. The Turkish constitution recognizes freedom of religion for individuals, but explicitly states that religious communities derive no rights at all from this. The mainstream Hanafi school of Sunni Islam is largely organized by the state, through Diyanet İşleri Başkanlığı (Department of Religious Affairs). The Diyanet is the main religious framework, successor to the Ulama, Seyh-ul-Islam and Caliph of the Ottoman Empire. As a consequence, they control all mosques and Muslim clerics. Imams are trained in Imam vocational schools and at an academic level at universities. The department is heavily criticized for not supporting religious beliefs asside from Sunni Islam. The major regional diversities depend on culture, economy (industry and cash crops in coastal regions), and precipitation (Black Sea littoral where summer drought is unknown).

Provinces

Main article: Provinces of Turkey Turkey is subdivided into 81 provinces (''iller'', singular - il):

Miscellaneous topics

Official: Unofficial (Tourism): Unofficial (Other): Category:Bicontinental countries Category:Middle Eastern countries ar:تركيا az:Türkiyə bg:Турция bs:Turska ca:Turquia cs:Turecko cy:Twrci da:Tyrkiet de:Türkei el:Τουρκία eo:Turkio es:Turquía et:Türgi fa:ترکیه fi:Turkki fr:Turquie gl:Turquía - Türkiye he:תורכיה hr:Turska hu:Törökország hy:Թուրքիա id:Turki is:Tyrkland it:Turchia ja:トルコ ko:터키 ks:तुर्किये ku:Tirkiye la:Turcia lb:Tierkei li:Törkieë lt:Turkija lv:Turcija mk:Турција ms:Turki nds:Törkie nl:Turkije nn:Tyrkia no:Tyrkia pl:Turcja pt:Turquia ro:Turcia ru:Турция sa:तुर्किये simple:Turkey sk:Turecko sl:Turčija sq:Turqia sr:Турска sv:Turkiet th:ประเทศตุรกี tl:Turkey tr:Türkiye tt:Törkiä uk:Туреччина zh:土耳其 zh-min-nan:Türkiye

Search box



Released under GNU FDL
Uses material from Wikipedia