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== Government and politics ==
{{Main|Politics of Turkey|Constitution of Turkey|Elections in Turkey}}
[[Image:TBMMpic.jpg|thumb|right|330px|The Grand Chamber of the [[Grand National Assembly of Turkey]] in the capital, [[Ankara]]]]

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Turkey is a [[parliamentary system|parliamentary]] [[representative democracy|representative democracy]]. It has been a republic since 1923 and has developed a strong tradition of secularism since its foundation.<ref name="TR_Secularism">{{cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3225651.stm |title=Headscarf row goes to Turkey's roots|author=British Broadcasting Corporation|authorlink=British Broadcasting Corporation|publisher=BBC News|accessdate=2006-12-13|date=2003-10-29}}</ref> [[Constitution of Turkey|Turkey' constitution]] governs the legal framework of the country. It sets out the main principles of government and establishes Turkey as a unitary centralized state. Current constitution was ratified by referendum in 1982 and has been amended numerous times in recent years.<ref name="TR_Constit">{{cite web|url=http://www.byegm.gov.tr/mevzuat/anayasa/anayasa-ing.htm |title=Turkish Constitution|author=Turkish Directorate General of Press and Information|authorlink=|publisher=Turkish Prime Minister's Office|accessdate=2006-12-16|date=2001-10-17}}</ref>

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[[Head of State]] is the [[List of Presidents of Turkey|President of the Republic]], and he exercices a largely ceremonial post. The president is elected for a seven-year term by the parliament but he is not required to be one of its members. The current President, [[Ahmet Necdet Sezer]], was elected on May 16, 2000, after having served as the President of the [[Constitutional Court of Turkey|Constitutional Court]]. The [[executive power]] is exercised by the [[List of Prime Ministers of Turkey|Prime Minister]] and the Council of Ministers that make up the government, whereas the [[legislature|legislative]] power is vested in the unicameral parliament, [[Grand National Assembly of Turkey]]. The [[judiciary]] is independent of the executive and the legislature, and the Constitutional Court is charged with ruling on the conformity of laws and regulations with the constitution. The [[Turkish Council of State|Council of State]] is the court of last resort for administrative cases, and [[High Court of Appeals of Turkey|High Court of Appeals]] for all others.<ref name="TR_Constit" />

The Prime Minister is elected by the parliament through a vote of confidence in his government, and he is generally the head of the party that has won the elections. The current Prime Minister is the former mayor of Istanbul, [[Recep Tayyip Erdoğan]], whose Islamic conservative [[Justice and Development Party (Turkey)|AKP]] won an absolute majority of parliamentary seats in the [[Turkish general election, 2002|general elections of 2002]] that was organized in the aftermath of the economic crisis of 2001.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/2392717.stm |title=Turkey's old guard routed in elections|author=British Broadcasting Corporation|authorlink=British Broadcasting Corporation|publisher=BBC News|accessdate=2006-12-14|date=2002-11-04}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/1833730.stm |title=Analysis: Turkey's year of crisis|author=British Broadcasting Corporation|authorlink=British Broadcasting Corporation|publisher=BBC News|accessdate=2006-12-14|date=2002-02-21}}</ref> Neither the Prime Minister nor the Ministers have to be members of the parliament; though in most cases they are (one notable exception was [[Kemal Derviş]], who was the Minister of Finance following the financial crisis of 2001;<ref>{{cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/2184663.stm |title=Profile: Kemal Derviş|author=British Broadcasting Corporation|authorlink=British Broadcasting Corporation|publisher=BBC News|accessdate=2006-12-14|date=2002-08-12}}</ref> he is currently the president of the [[UN Development Programme]]).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4489627.stm |title=UN post for Turkish ex-minister|author=British Broadcasting Corporation|authorlink=British Broadcasting Corporation|publisher=BBC News|accessdate=2006-12-14|date=2005-04-27}}</ref>

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The members of parliament are elected for a five-year term by mitigated [[proportional representation]] with a national [[election threshold]] of 10%. There are 85 electoral districts that represent the 81 administrative [[Provinces of Turkey|provinces of Turkey]] (Istanbul is divided into three electoral districts whereas Ankara and Izmir are divided into two each because of their large populations). To avoid a [[hung parliament]] and its excessive political fragmentation, only parties that win at least 10% of the national vote in a national parliamentary election gain the right to parliamentary representation. As a result of this threshold, only two parties were able to obtain that right during the last elections.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/2399665.stm |title=Turkey leaps into the unknown|author=British Broadcasting Corporation|authorlink=British Broadcasting Corporation|publisher=BBC News|accessdate=2006-12-14|date=2002-11-04}}</ref> Independent candidates may run, and to be elected, they must only win 10% of the vote in the district they are running from.<ref name="BYEGM_TrPolSys">{{cite web|url=http://www.byegm.gov.tr/REFERENCES/Structure.htm |title=Political Structure of Turkey|author=Turkish Directorate General of Press and Information|authorlink=|publisher=Turkish Prime Minister's Office|accessdate=2006-12-14|date=2004-08-24}}</ref> [[Universal suffrage]] for both sexes has been applied throughout Turkey since 1933 and every Turkish citizen that has turned 18 years of age has the right to vote. As of 2004, there were 50 registered [[List of political parties in Turkey|political parties]] in Turkey, whose ideologies range from the [[far-left]] to the [[far-right]].<ref name="BYEGM_TrPolSys" /> Nevertheless, the Constitutional Court can strip the public financing of political parties that it deems anti-secular or [[separatist]], or ban their existence altogether.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/1466160.stm |title=Euro court backs Turkey Islamist ban|author=British Broadcasting Corporation|authorlink=British Broadcasting Corporation|publisher=BBC News|accessdate=2006-12-14|date=2001-07-31}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/2850601.stm |title=Turkey's Kurd party ban criticised|author=British Broadcasting Corporation|authorlink=British Broadcasting Corporation|publisher=BBC News|accessdate=2006-12-14|date=2003-03-14}}</ref>

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The military has traditionally been a politically powerful institution, considered as the guardians of Atatürk's Republic. The protection of the [[Turkish Constitution]] and the unity of the country is given by law to the [[Turkish Armed Forces]] and it therefore plays a formal political role via the [[National Security Council (Turkey)|National Security Council (NSC)]] as the guardian of the secular, [[Unitary state|unitary]] nature of the republic and the reforms of Atatürk. Through the NSC, the army contributes to recommendations for defense policy against any threat to the country, including those pertaining to ethnic seperatism or religious extremism. In recent years, reforms led to efforts to defunct military's constitutional responsibilities under the program of compliance with the EU demands and an increased civilian presence on the NSC.<ref name="TR_ArmySec">{{cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6122878.stm |title=Turkish army keeps eye on politicians|author=British Broadcasting Corporation|authorlink=British Broadcasting Corporation|publisher=BBC News|accessdate=2006-12-16|date=2006-11-07}}</ref> Despite its perceived alleged influence in civilian affairs, the military owns strong unequivocal support from the nation and is considered to be Turkey's most trusted institution.<ref>A poll published in September 2005 in the national newspaper Hürriyet found the army to be Turkey's most trusted national institution{{cite journal|last=Aydinli|first=Ersel|coauthors=Nihat Ali Özcan and Dogan Akyaz|title=The Turkish Military's March Toward Europe|url=http://www.foreignaffairs.org/20060101faessay85108/ersel-aydinli-nihat-ali-ozcan-dogan-akyaz/the-turkish-military-s-march-toward-europe.html|journal=Foreign Affairs|issue=Jan/Feb|year=2006}}</ref>




Revision as of 20:29, 16 December 2006

For other uses, see the country Turkey.
Republic of Turkey
Türkiye Cumhuriyeti
Motto: Turkish: Yurtta Sulh, Cihanda Sulh
(English: "Peace at Home, Peace in the World")
Anthem: İstiklâl Marşı
(English: "Independence March")
Location of Turkey
CapitalAnkara
Largest cityİstanbul
Official languagesTurkish (Türkçe)
GovernmentSecular Republic
• Founder
Mustafa Kemal Atatürk
Ahmet Necdet Sezer
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan
Succession 
to the Ottoman Empire according to the Treaty of Lausanne
19 May 1919
23 April 1920
• Declaration of Republic
29 October 1923
• Water (%)
1.3
Population
• 2005 estimate
72,600,000 (17th1)
• 2000 census
67,803,927
GDP (PPP)2006 estimate
• Total
$612.3 billion (17th)
• Per capita
$8,385 (75th)
HDI (2006)0.757
high (92nd)
CurrencyNew Turkish Lira2 (TRY)
Time zoneUTC+2 (EET)
• Summer (DST)
UTC+3 (EEST)
Calling code90
ISO 3166 codeTR
Internet TLD.tr
1 Population and population density rankings based on 2005 figures.
2 The New Turkish Lira (Yeni Türk Lirası) replaced the old Turkish Lira on 1 January 2005.

External Timeline A graphical timeline is available at
History of the Republic of Turkey

Turkey (Turkish: Türkiye), officially the Republic of Turkey (Audio file "asd.ogg" not found), is a Eurasian country that stretches across the Anatolian peninsula in Southwestern Asia and the Balkan region of Southeastern Europe. Turkey borders eight countries: Bulgaria to the northwest; Greece to the west; Georgia to the northeast; Armenia, Iran and the Nakhichevan exclave of Azerbaijan to the east; and Iraq and Syria to the southeast. In addition, it borders the Black Sea to the north; the Aegean Sea to the west and the Mediterranean Sea to the south. Turkey also contains the Sea of Marmara that is used by geographers to mark the border between Europe and Asia, thus making the country transcontinental.[1]

The region comprising modern Turkey has been home to many important civilizations who have been major actors on the world stage such as the Byzantine and Ottoman Empires, along with numerous cultures who have been at the forefront of the meeting of the eastern and western cultures due to its strategic location where Europe, Asia and Africa meet. Today, Turkey, with the biggest economy and the military of the Balkans and the Near East at its disposal, plays an important strategic role in this culturally wealthy region.[2][3][4]

Turkey is a democratic, secular, constitutional republic whose political system was established in 1923 under the leadership of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk following the fall of the Ottoman Empire in the aftermath of the First World War. Since then, Turkey has increasingly integrated with the West while continuing to foster relations with Eastern world. It is a founding member of the United Nations,[5] the OIC,[6] the OECD[7] and the OSCE,[8] a member state of the Council of Europe since 1949[9] and of the NATO since 1952.[10] Since 2005, Turkey is in accession negotiations with the European Union, having been an associate member since 1964.[11]



Military

Main articles: Turkish Armed Forces and Conscription in Turkey
File:TuAF F16.jpg
TAI-built F-16 fighter jets belonging to various Turkish Air Force squadrons

The Turkish Armed Forces consists of the Army, the Navy and the Air Force. The Gendarmerie and the Coast Guard operate as parts of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in peacetime; whereas they are subordinated to the Army and Navy Commands respectively in wartime, during which they have both internal law enforcement and military functions.[12]

The Chief of the General Staff is appointed by the President, and he is responsible to the Prime Minister. The Council of Ministers is responsible to the parliament for matters of national security and the adequate preparation of the armed forces to defend the country. However, the authority to declare war and to deploy the Turkish Armed Forces to foreign countries or to allow foreign armed forces to be stationed in Turkey rests solely with the parliament.[12] The actual Commander of the armed forces is the Chief of the General Staff General Yaşar Büyükanıt who succeeded General Hilmi Özkök on August 26, 2006.[13]

File:Turkish Navy MEKO200TN IIB.jpg
F-247 TCG KemalReis is a SalihReis class frigate of the Turkish Navy

The Turkish Armed Forces, with a combined strength of 1,043,550[14] uniformed personnel, is the second largest standing armed force in NATO, after the United States Armed Forces.[2] Every fit heterosexual male Turkish citizen is required to serve in the military for time periods ranging from one to fifteen months, depending on his education and job location (homosexuals have the right to be exempt, if they request).

In 1998, Turkey announced a modernization programme worth some $31 billion over a period of ten years in varying projects including tanks, helicopters and assault rifles.[15] Turkey is also a level three contributor to the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) program, gaining an opportunity to develop and influence the creation of the next generation fighter spearheaded by the United States.

In addition to its participation in the Korean War, Turkey has maintained forces in international missions under the United Nations and NATO since 1950, including peacekeeping missions, various missions in the former Yugoslavia, and support to coalition forces in the First Gulf War. Turkey maintains 36,000 troops in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus and has had troops deployed in Afghanistan as part of the US stabilization force and the UN-authorized, NATO-commanded International Security Assistance Force since 2001.[16][17] In 2006, the Turkish parliament deployed a peacekeeping force of Navy patrol vessels and around 700 ground troops as part of an expanded United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) in wake of the Israeli-Lebanon conflict.[18]

Administrative divisions

Main articles: Regions of Turkey, Provinces of Turkey, Districts of Turkey, and List of cities in Turkey
File:Turkish-provinces.png

Administrative provincial map of Turkey

The territory of Turkey is subdivided into 81 provinces (Turkish: singular: il, plural: iller) for administrative purposes. In turn, each province is divided into districts (Turkish: singular: ilçe, plural: ilçeler), for a total of 923 districts. Provinces usually bear the same name as their provincial capitals, also called the central district; exceptions to this are the provinces of Hatay (capital: Antakya), Kocaeli (capital: İzmit) and Sakarya (capital: Adapazarı). Provinces with the largest populations are the provinces of İstanbul (+10 million), Ankara (+4 million), İzmir (+3.4 million), Bursa (+2.1 million), Konya (+2.2 million) and Adana (+1.85 million).

The provinces are organized into 7 regions for census purposes, however they do not represent an administrative structure.

The capital city of Turkey is Ankara, but the biggest city and the pre-Republican capital of İstanbul still remains the financial, economic and cultural center of the country. Other important cities include İzmir, Bursa, Adana, Trabzon, Malatya, Gaziantep, Erzurum, Kayseri, İzmit, Konya, Mersin, Eskişehir, Diyarbakır, Antalya and Samsun. An estimated 67% of Turkey's population live in urban centers.[19] In all, 12 cities have populations that exceed 500,000 and 48 cities have more than 100,000 inhabitants.

Major Cities:

  • İstanbul - 9,085,599
  • Ankara - 3,540,522
  • İzmir - 2,409,000
  • Bursa - 1,195,000
  • Adana - 1,130,710
  • Gaziantep - 854,000
  • Konya - 743,000
  • Antalya - 603,000

(Population figures are given according to the 2000 census)[20]

Geography and climate

Main article: Geography of Turkey
Turkey on the NASA's Blue Marble composite satellite image

The territory of Turkey is more than 1,600 kilometers (1,031 mi) long and 800 km wide, giving it a roughly rectangular shape.[21] Turkey's area, inclusive of lakes, occupies 779,452 square kilometers (km2) (300,948 sq mi), of which 755,688 km2 (291,773 sq mi) are in Western Asia and 23,764 km2 (9,175 sq mi) in Europe,[21] thus making Turkey a transcontinental country. Turkey's size makes it the world's 37th-largest country (after Mozambique). It is somewhat bigger than Chile or the US state of Texas. Turkey is encircled by seas on three sides: Aegean Sea to the west, the Black Sea to the north and the Mediterranean Sea to the south. Turkey also contains the Sea of Marmara in the northwest.

Mount Ararat (Turkish: Ağrı Dağı) - the tallest peak in Turkey at 5137m in the Iğdır Province

The European section of Turkey, in the northwest, is Eastern Thrace, and forms the borders of Turkey with Greece and Bulgaria. The Asian part of the country, Anatolia (also called the Asia Minor), consists of a high central plateau with narrow coastal plains, in between the Köroğlu and East-Black Sea mountain range to the north and the Taurus Mountains to the south. Eastern Turkey has a more mountainous landscape, and is home to the sources of rivers such as the Euphrates, Tigris and Aras, and contains Lake Van and Mount Ararat, Turkey's highest point at 5,137 m (16,853 ft). The land borders of Turkey total 2,573 km (1,599 mi), and the coastlines (including islands) total another 8,333 km (5,178 mi).

Turkey is geographically divided into seven regions: Marmara, Aegean, Black Sea, Central Anatolia, Eastern Anatolia, Southeastern Anatolia and the Mediterranean.[22] The uneven north Anatolian terrain running along the Black Sea resembles a long, narrow belt. This region comprises approximately 1/6 of Turkey's total land area. As a general trend, the inland Anatolian plateau becomes increasingly rugged as it progresses eastward

File:Hillside 2.jpg
Fethiye, Muğla on the Mediterranean coastline

Turkey's varied landscapes are the product of complex earth movements that have shaped the region over thousands of years and still manifest themselves in fairly frequent earthquakes and occasional volcanic eruptions. The Bosporus and the Dardanelles owe their existence to the fault lines running through Turkey that led to the creation of the Black Sea. There is an earthquake fault line across the north of the country from west to east.

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. Mountains close to the coast prevent Mediterranean influences from extending inland, giving the interior of Turkey a continental climate with distinct seasons. The central Anatolian Plateau is much more subject to extremes than are the coastal areas. Winters on the plateau are especially severe. Temperatures of -30°C to -40°C can occur in the mountainous areas in the east, and snow may lie on the ground 120 days of the year. In the west, winter temperatures average below 1°C. Summers are hot and dry, with temperatures above 30°C. Annual precipitation averages about 400 millimeters, with actual amounts determined by elevation. The driest regions are the Konya plain and the Malatya plain, where annual rainfall frequently is less than 300 millimeters. May is generally the wettest month whereas July and August are the most dry.

See also: Environmental issues in Turkey

Economy

Main articles: Economy of Turkey and Economic history of Turkey
File:Levent skyline at night.jpg
Skyline of Levent business district at night (Istanbul)
File:Tumay tunektepe filtered.jpg
Mediterranean coastline between the town of Kemer and Antalya

For most of its republican history, Turkey has adhered to a quasi-statist approach, with strict government controls over private sector participation, foreign trade, and foreign direct investment. However, during the 1980s, Turkey began a series of reforms, initiated by the late-Prime Minister Turgut Özal, designed to shift the economy from a statist, insulated system to a more private-sector, market-based model. The reforms spurred rapid growth, but this growth was punctuated by sharp recessions and financial crises in 1994, 1999 (following the earthquake of that year),[23] and 2001,[24] resulting in an average of 4% GDP growth per annum between 1981 and 2003.[25] Lack of additional reforms, combined with large and growing public sector deficits and widespread corruption resulted in high inflation, a weak banking sector and increased macroeconomic volatility.

Since the economic crisis of 2001 and the reforms initiated by the finance minister of the time, Kemal Derviş, the inflation has fallen to single-digit numbers, investor-confidence and foreign investment has soared while unemployment has decreased. Turkey has gradually opened up its markets through economic reforms by reducing government controls on foreign trade and investment and the privatisation of publicly-owned industries and the liberalisation of many sectors to private and foreign participation has continued amid political debate.[26]

The GDP growth rate for 2005 was 7.4%,[27] thus making Turkey one of the fastest growing economies in the world. Turkish economy is ranked the 19th largest globally with a GDP of 363.3 billion USD.[28] As a fastly developing country, the Turkish economy is no longer dominated by traditional agricultural activities in the rural areas, but more so by a highly dynamic industrial complex in the major cities, mostly concentrated in the western provinces of the country, along with a developped services sector. The agricultural sector accounts for 11.9% of GDP, whereas industrial and service sectors make up 23.7% and 64.5%, respectively.[citation needed] The tourism sector has experienced great growth in the last twenty years, and has become a major part of the economy. In 2005, there were 24,124,501 visitors to the country, who contributed 18.2 billion USD to the economy.[29]

At the end of 2005, the unemployment stood at 10.3%.[30] With a per capita GDP of 4,710 USD,[31] Turkey ranked 86th in the world for 2006.[32] One of the biggest problems facing the Turkish economy is the distribution of wealth among the populace. In 2004, it has been estimated that the wealthiest 20% of the population owned the 46.2% of the annual household disposible income while the poorest 20% had access to only 6%.[33]

File:TurkishYTL.JPG
The currency of Turkey is the New Turkish Lira (Yeni Türk Lirası - YTL)

In recent years, the chronically high inflation has been brought under control and this has led to the launch of a new currency to cement the acquis of economic reforms and erase the vestiges of an unstable economy. On January 1, 2005, the Turkish Lira was replaced by the New Turkish Lira by dropping off six zeroes (1 NTL= 1,000,000 TL).[34] As a result of continuing economic reforms, the inflation has climbed down to 8.2% in 2005.[31]

Turkey's main trading partners are the European Union (52% of exports and 42% of imports as of 2005)[35] United States, Russia and Japan. Turkey has taken advantage of a customs union with the European Union, signed in 1995, to increase its industrial production destined for exports, while at the same time benefiting from EU-origin foreign investment into the country.[36] In 2005, exports amounted to 73.5 billion USD while the imports stood at 116.8 billion USD, with increases of 16,3% and 19,7% compared to 2004, respectively.[35]

After years of low levels of foreign direct investment (FDI), Turkey succeeded in attracting 8.5 billion USD in FDI in 2005 and is expected to attract a higher figure in 2006.[37] A series of large privatizations, the stability fostered by the start of Turkey’s EU accession negotiations, strong and stable growth, and structural changes in the banking, retail, and telecommunications sectors have all contributed to a rise in foreign investment.[26]

See also: Tourism in Turkey

Demographics

File:Istiklal Avenue and the historic tram.jpg
İstiklal Avenue, one of the busiest pedestrian ways in Turkey, and the tram line running between Taksim Square and Tünel in Istanbul
Main articles: Demographics of Turkey, People of Turkey, Immigration to Turkey, Religion in Turkey, and Secularism in Turkey

As of 2005, the population of Turkey stood at 72.6 million[31] with a growth rate of 1.5% per annum.[19] The Turkish population is relatively young with 25.5% falling within the 0-15 age bracket.[38] According to statistics released by the government in 2005, life expectancy stands at 68.9 years for men and 73.8 years for women, for an overall average of 71.3 years for the populace as a whole.[39]

Education is compulsory and free from ages 6 to 15. The literacy rate is 95.3% for men and 79.6% for women, for an overall average of 87.4%.[40] This low figure is mainly due to prevailing feudal attitudes against women in the Arab and Kurdish inhabited southeastern provinces of the country.[41]

File:Gazi University in Ankara.jpg
Gazi University Rectorate in Ankara

Article 66 of the Turkish Constitution defines a "Turk" as anyone that is " bound to the Turkish state through the bond of citizenship", therefore the legal use of the term "Turkish" (a citizen of Turkey) is different from the ethnic definition. However, the majority of the Turkish population are of Turkish ethnicity. Other major ethnic groups include the Kurds, Circassians, Roma, Arabs and the three official minorities (per the treaty of Lausanne) of Greeks, Armenians and Jews; the largest non-Turkic ethnicity being the Kurds, a distinct ethnic group traditionally concentrated in the southeast. While the term "minority" itself remains a sensitive issue in Turkey, it is to be noted that the degree of assimilation within various ethnic groups outside the recognized minorities is high, with the following generations generally adding into the melting-pot of the Turkish main body. Within that main body, certain distinctions based on diverse Turkic origins could be made as well. Reliable data on the exact ethnic repartition of the population is not available since the Turkish census figures do not include racial figures.

Due to a demand for an increased labour force in Post-World War II Europe, many Turkish citizens emigrated to Western Europe (particularly West Germany), contributing to the creation of a significant diaspora.

Whirling Dervishes perform near the Mevlevi Museum in Konya

Turkish is the sole official language throughout Turkey. Reliable figures for the linguistic repartition of the populace are not available for reasons similar to those cited above. Nevertheless, the public broadcaster TRT broadcasts programmes in local languages and dialects of Arabic, Bosnian, Circassian and Kurdish a few hours a week.[42]

Nominally, 99.8% of the Turkish population is Muslim, of whom a majority belong to the Sunni branch of Islam. About 15-20% of the population are affiliated with the Alevi sect. The remainder of the population belongs to other beliefs, particularly Christian denominations (Greek Orthodox, Armenian Apostolic, Syriac Orthodox), Judaism, Yezidism and Atheism.

There is a strong tradition of secularism in Turkey. Even though the state has no official religion nor promotes any, it actively monitors the area between the religions.[43] The constitution recognises freedom of religion for individuals whereas the religious communities are placed under the protection of state, but the constitution explicitly states that they cannot become involved in the political process (by forming a religious party for instance) and no party can claim that it represents a form of religious belief. However, religious sensibilities are generally represented through conservative parties. Turkey prohibits by law the wearing of religious headcover and theo-political symbolic garments for both genders in government buildings, schools, and universities;[44] a law upheld by the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights as "legitimate" on November 10, 2005 in Leyla Şahin v. Turkey.[45]

See also: Turkish diaspora

Culture

Main articles: Culture of Turkey, Arts in Turkey, Sports in Turkey, and Turkish literature
File:Traditional yalis on the Bosphorus.jpg
Traditional waterfront houses (yalı) from the Ottoman period along the Bosphorus in Istanbul
File:Ataturkstadium.jpg
The Ataturk Olympic Stadium in Istanbul during the 2005 UEFA Champions League Final between AC Milan and Liverpool FC

Turkey has a very diverse culture that is a blend of various elements of the Central Asian Turkic, Ottoman, European as well as Islamic cultures and traditions; a mix that is a result of the encounter of Turks and their culture with those of the peoples who were in their path during their migration from Central Asia to the West.[46][47] As Turkey successfully transformed from the religion-based former Ottoman Empire into a modern nation-state with a very strong separation of state and religion, an increase in the methods of artistic expression followed. During the first years of the republic, the government invested a large amount of resources into the fine arts, such as museums, theatres, and architecture.

Orhan Pamuk, winner of the 2006 Nobel Prize for Literature

Because of different historical factors playing an important role in defining the Turkish identity, Turkish culture is a product of efforts to be "modern" and Western, combined with the necessity felt to maintain traditional religious and historical values.

Turkish music and literature form great examples of such a mix of cultural influences. Many schools of music are popular throughout Turkey, from "arabesque" to hip-hop genres, as a result of the interaction between the Ottoman Empire and the Islamic world along with Europe, and thus contributing to a blend of Central Asian Turkic, Islamic and European traditions in modern-day Turkish music.[48] Turkish literature, which was influenced by Persian and Islamic influences during the Ottoman era, has been subsequently influenced by Western literary traditions and movements since the foundation of the republic; a trend that culminated in Turkish writer Orhan Pamuk being awarded, incidentally, the 2006 Nobel Prize for Literature for having "discovered new symbols for the clash and interlacing of cultures".[49]

The most popular sport in Turkey by far is football, with certain matches drawing tens of millions of viewers on television.[50] Nevertheless, other sports such as basketball and motor sports (following the inclusion of Istanbul Park on the Formula 1 racing calendar) have also become popular in recent times. The traditional Turkish national sport has been the Yağlı güreş (English: Oiled Wrestling) since the Ottoman times.[51]

See also: Culture of the Ottoman Empire and Ottoman architecture

See also

Template:Topics in Turkey

Notes and references

  1. ^ Sabancı University (2005). "Geography of Turkey". Sabancı University. Retrieved 2006-12-13.
  2. ^ a b British Broadcasting Corporation (2006-11-07). "Turkish army keeps eye on politicians". BBC News. Retrieved 2006-12-16.
  3. ^ World Bank (2006-07-01). "Total GDP 2005" (PDF). World Bank. Retrieved 2006-12-10.
  4. ^ World Bank (2006-07-01). "Total GDP PPP 2005" (PDF). World Bank. Retrieved 2006-12-16.
  5. ^ United Nations (2006-07-03). "Growth in United Nations membership (1945-2005)". United Nations. Retrieved 2006-10-30.
  6. ^ Organisation of the Islamic Conference (2006). "OIC Membership". OIC. Retrieved 206-10-30. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  7. ^ OECD (2006). "OECD membership". OECD. Retrieved 2006-10-30.
  8. ^ Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (2005). "OSCE Participating states". OSCE. Retrieved 2006-10-30.
  9. ^ Council of Europe (2006-10-27). "Turkey and the Council of Europe". Council of Europe. Retrieved 2006-10-30.
  10. ^ NATO. "Greece and Turkey accede to the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation". NATO. Retrieved 2006-10-30.
  11. ^ Turkish Secretariat of European Union Affairs. "Chronology of Turkey-EU relations". Turkish Secretariat of European Union Affairs. Retrieved 2006-10-30.
  12. ^ a b Turkish General Staff (2006). "Turkish Armed Forces Defense Organization". Turkish Armed Forces. Retrieved 2006-12-15.
  13. ^ British Broadcasting Corporation (2006-08-26). "Turkish general vows to rout PKK". BBC News. Retrieved 2006-12-08.
  14. ^ Economist Intelligence Unit:Turkey, p.23 (2005)
  15. ^ Economist Intelligence Unit:Turkey, p.22 (2005)
  16. ^ Ibid p.23
  17. ^ Turkish General Staff (2006). "Brief History of ISAF". Turkish Armed Forces. Retrieved 2006-12-16.
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  27. ^ Turkish Statistics Institute (2006-12-11). "GNP and GDP as of September 2006". Turkish Statistics Institute. Retrieved 2006-12-11.
  28. ^ Cite error: The named reference World GDP was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  29. ^ Hürriyet (2006-01-27). "Tourism statistics for 2005". Hürriyet. Retrieved 2006-12-10.
  30. ^ Turkish Statistics Institute (2006-12-11). "GNP and GDP as of September 2006". Turkish Statistics Institute. Retrieved 2006-12-11.
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