Turkey (The Turkish Republic)
The Turkish Republic is a state straddling the boundary between Europe and Asia. The European and Asian parts of the country are divided by the Black Sea straits (Bosporus, the Sea of Marmora and the Dardanelles).
Turkey has an area of 779,452,000 square kilometers, of which 23.700 square km (3%) is in Europe. The population (as of December 2008) was 71.517 million (the third largest in Europe) of whom 75% are urban dwellers. The population is growing at the rate of 1.31% a year. Ethnic composition: Turks (about 87%), Kurds (about 10%) as well as Greeks, Armenians, Jews, people from the Caucasus, Arabs and other nationalities.
Under its Constitution Turkey is a secular state. The prevalent religion is Sunni Islam (99% of the population are Muslim).
The largest cities are: Istanbul with a population of over 12.5 million (together with its suburbs), Ankara (the capital, with a population of over 4 million people) and Izmir with a population of 3.5 million.
Turkey is a unitary state in which elements of presidential and parliamentary rule are combined. The republic was proclaimed on October 29, 1923. The head of state is the President elected in a popular vote for a five-year term with the possibility of re-election for a second term (since August 28, 2007 the President is Abdullah Gul who was elected by the parliament deputies in accordance with the previous Constitution).
The National Security Council comprising the President, the Prime Minister, the Chief of the General Staff, the Ministers of Defence, Internal and Foreign Affairs, Justice as well as the top military leadership play an important role in running the country.
The legislature is a single-chamber Great National Assembly of Turkey consisting of 550 deputies elected for four years by direct ballot on a proportional basis (the threshold for getting into parliament is 10% of the vote). The last parliamentary election was an early election held on July 22, 2007. The Parliament Speaker is Mehmet Ali Şahin. The Chief Executive is the President and executive power is exercised by the Council of Ministers. At the recent elections a one-party government of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) was formed with Recep Erdogan as its head (won a confidence vote on September 5, 2007). The country has more than 50 registered political parties whose activities are regulated by the Constitution and the Law on Parties. It is forbidden to create parties on ethnic grounds as well as avowedly clerical and fascist parties.
The regular Turkish Army is 800,000-strong (the fifth largest army in the world and the second largest in NATO). The President is the Supreme Commander-in-Chief. The actual commander is Chief of the General Staff (since 2008 İlker Başbuğ). Direct military spending accounts for one fifth of the total budget spending.
Turkey is an industrial-agrarian country. Its economy is fairly open to foreign capital and it has vigorous trade, economic and financial ties with the EU, the United States and the neighbouring states including Russia. Turkey is among the world's top 20 countries in terms of GNP, has the most developed services infrastructure in the region, is practically self-sufficient in food, clothing and footwear, medical supplies, electrical appliances, electronics, building materials and power.
In 2009, because of the global financial and economic crisis, Turkey's GDP dropped by 5.5% (after a growth of 3% in 2008) to $460 billion (versus $490 billion in 2008). Because of the crisis nominal per capita incomes dropped to $8,500 in 2009 from $10,400 in 2008. The country's gold and currency reserves stood at $71.3 billion in 2009 compared with $76.7 billion at the end of 2008.
In 2009 inflation registered 7% (10.2% in 2008). Turkey's aggregate debt (external and internal) is in excess of $240 billion. Unemployment in 2009 reached 14% (10.2% in 2008).
Turkey has more than 50 theatres, half of which are private, about 250 museums. It regularly holds national and international culture and arts festivals. The best known Turkish writers are the poet Nazim Hikmet and 2008 Nobel Prize Winner Orhan Pamuk.
The country has 24 news agencies, 2,500 newspapers (including 55 national papers) with a total circulation of over 4 million copies, more than 2,500 magazines with a circulation of up to 2 million, and more than 1,000 information bulletins. The biggest dailies are Sabah, Milliyet, Hurriyet, Zaman and Jumhuriyet. Turkey has more than 250 television stations, of which 27 are national, and more than 1,000 radio stations (36 national).
Turkey is a founding member of the UN. It was elected as non-permanent Security Council member for 2009-2010. The country took part in the Helsinki Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe and signed its Final Act in 1975. Istanbul was the venue of a regular OSCE Summit on November 18-19, 1999. Turkey is a signatory to the Conventional Forces in Europe Treaty and is a member of the Minsk OSCE Group on Nagorny Karabakh.
Turkey has been a NATO member since 1952, an associated EU member since 1963. Preliminary negotiations on full membership of the European Union began in October 2005.
The country is also a member of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC), the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) and the Black Sea Economic Cooperation Organization.