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The Republic of Turkey is a country located in Southwest Asia with a small part of its territory (3%) in southeastern Europe. Until 1922 the country was the center of the Ottoman Empire. The Anatolian peninsula, between the Black Sea and the Mediterranean Sea, forms the core of the country. Turkey is bordered to the east by Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Iran; to the south by Iraq and Syria; and to the west by Greece and Bulgaria.
HistoryMain article: History of Turkey Anatolia (Asia Minor) had been a cradle to a wide variety of civilizations 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. PoliticsMain 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 the secular and western oriented makeup of the country have 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. Issues such as the Turkish involvement in Cyprus, the allegations of genocide against Armenians in Ottoman era, and the increasing appeal of political Islam continue to fuel public debate in Turkey and influence its international relations, while the Kurdish independence movement in the south east (Kurdistan ) region of the country is still considered to be turkeys main internal dispute. The official opening of talks for the accession of Turkey to the European Union decided on December 17th 2004 is one of the main issues in Turkish foreign diplomacy. See also: ProvincesMain article: Provinces of Turkey Turkey is subdivided into 81 provinces (iller, singular - il): GeographyMain article: Geography of Turkey  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 winters, though conditions can be much harsher in the more arid interior. Turkey is also prone to very severe earthquakes. The capital city of Turkey is Ankara, but the largest city is İstanbul. Other important cities include İzmir, Bursa, Adana, İzmit (Kocaeli), Konya, Diyarbakır, Antalya, and Samsun. See the list of cities in Turkey. economy (industry, cash crops, and tourism in coastal regions), and rainfall (Black Sea littoral, where summer drought is unknown). EconomyMain 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. The old currency has been described as "funny" since a taxi ride would mean a few million liras. Overnight, many "millionaires" were gone. DemographicsMain article: Demographics of Turkey The majority of the Turkish population (around 80%-85%) is of Turkic ethnicity, who speak the official language of the country, Turkish. The Kurds (inc. Zazas) constitute up to about 3%-5% of the population. (It should be noted that these figures of ethnicity ratios are not official figures, since there is no question of ethnicity in the Turkish Census). Other smaller minorities include Levantines, Georgians, Laz, Syriacs, Arabs, Greeks, Chaldeans, Jews, Roma, Hamshenis, Circassians, Abkhaz, Bosniaks, Pomaks, and Armenians. The term "minority" itself remains to be a sensitive issue in Turkey, since the Turkish State does consider only the communities mentioned in the text of Treaty of Lausanne (namely, Greek Orthodox, Armenian, and Jewish communities) as minorities (azınlık or ekalliyet). Due to rampant poverty, between 1960 and 1980 many Turkish people 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. Before WWI Armenians and Greeks were a large minority, with a long history dating back to 1,000 BC. Most of the Armenians of Asian Turkey (approx. two million) were allegedly massacred or deported by the Ottoman Empire during WWI (1915-1918) and later (1920-1923). The operation carried out by the Young Turks during the period has been recognised as genocide by most scholars and several countries such as France, Canada, and Russia. Nominally, 99.8% of the population is Muslim. Most belong to the Sunni branch of Islam. About 15-20% of the population are Alevis. There is also a Twelver Shia minority, mainly of Azeri descent. Jewish, and Christian Greek Orthodox, Armenian Orthodox (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 religous framework, succesor 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. CultureMain article: Culture of Turkey
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