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The 1982 Constitution, drafted by the military in the wake of the 1980 coup, proclaims Turkey #8217;s system of government as democratic, secular, and parliamentary. The presidency #8217;s powers are not precisely defined in practice, and the president #8217;s influence depends on his personality and political weight. The president and the Council of...
Turkey began a series of reforms in the 1980s designed to shift the economy from a statist, insulated system to a more private-sector, market-based model. The reforms spurred solid growth, but growth that has been punctuated by sharp recessions and financial crises in 1994, 1999, and 2001. Turkey's failure to pursue additional reforms, combined with...
Turkish culture, rich in Ottoman and folkloric elements, is traditional and modern. Turkish carpet weaving is one of the oldest crafts in the world. Ceramics and other Ottoman-era crafts retain their varied regional character. Modern Turkish cultural life dates from the 1923 founding of the republic and early efforts to Westernize Turkish society. As...
The legendary Mustafa Kemal, a Turkish World War I hero later known as "Ataturk" or "father of the Turks," founded the Republic of Turkey in 1923 after the collapse of the 600-year-old Ottoman Empire. The empire, which at its peak controlled vast stretches of northern Africa, southeastern Europe, and western Asia, had failed to keep pace with European...
Area: 766,640 sq. km. (296,000 sq. mi.). Cities: Capital--Ankara (pop. 3.7 million). Other cities--Istanbul (9.2 million), Izmir (3.2 million), Bursa (1.9 million), Adana (1.7 million). Terrain: Narrow coastal plain surrounds Anatolia, an inland plateau becomes increasingly rugged as it progresses eastward. Turkey includes one of the more earthquake-prone...
Modern Turkey spans bustling cosmopolitan centers, pastoral farming villages, barren wastelands, peaceful Aegean coastlines, and steep mountain regions. More than half of Turkey's population lives in urban areas that juxtapose Western lifestyles with traditional-style mosques and markets. Turkey has been officially secular since 1924, although 99% of...
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