Turkey, mainly in western Asia, also includes the region of Eastern Thrace in Europe. It thus controls the entrance to the Black Sea, which is straddled by Turkey's largest city, Istanbul. Most Turks live in the western half of the country. The eastern and southeastern reaches of the Anatolia Plateau are Kurdish regions. Turkey's location gives it great strategic significance in the Black Sea, the Mediterranean, and the Middle East. Lying on a major earthquake fault line, many Turkish towns are vulnerable to earthquakes such as the one which devastated Izmit in 1999.

The Turks are racially diverse. Many are the descendants of refugees, often from the Balkans, but a strong sense of national identity is rooted in a shared language and religion. Most are Sunni Muslim, although a Shi'a community is growing fast, including the heterodox Alawite sect. The largest minority are the Kurds, while there are some 500,000 Arabic speakers. While women have equal rights in law, men dominate political and even family life. In 2002 women gained the right to an equal portion in the case of divorce.

With a birthrate of 2%, Turkey is projected to have a larger population than any EU country by 2020.

Strengths

Liberalized economy resulted in strong growth in the 1990s. Self-sufficient in agriculture. Textiles, manufacturing, and construction sectors competitive on world markets. Tourism industry. Dynamic private sector economy. Skilled labor force. Customs union with EU since 1995.

Weaknesses

Persistently high inflation. Unsound public finances. Large government bureaucracy. Uneven privatization program. Ailing banking sector. Influence of organized crime. High cost of military action against Kurds.

Profile

Turkey has one of the oldest and most advanced emerging market economies. In the 1990s it grew strongly, but continued to suffer from persistently high inflation. Despite structural reforms the economy reached crisis in February 2001, with a collapse of the banking system and the loss of over 500,000 jobs. This was compounded by the economic impact of the 11 September attack on the USA. IMF rescue packages were agreed in February, May, and November in return for banking reform and privatizing debt-laden state companies.

Turkey is a multiparty republic with a national assembly elected every five years. The president, who serves a seven-year term, appoints the prime minister.

Profile

The main ideological division in politics is Islamic–secular. In 2002 the powers of the National Security Council were restricted and its membership altered to give civilian dominance.

Bulent Ecevit became prime minister in 1999 after the DSP performed well in the election. He formed a new coalition with the far-right MHP, and with ANAP (backed by Istanbul's metropolitan interests). The coalition survived Ecevit's failed attempt to allow President Süleyman Demirel to stand for reelection in 2000. Demirel was replaced by nonparty candidate Ahmet Necdet Sezer. Ecevit's refusal to resign due to ill health prompted a political crisis in 2002, when key ministers quit their posts in protest.

Main Political Issues

Islamic fundamentalism

Modern Turkey's identity as a secular state was profoundly challenged by the Islamist agenda of the Welfare Party (RP) – the largest parliamentary party after the 1995 election. A secular coalition to keep the RP out of power disintegrated in mid-1996, when RP leader Necmettin Erbakan formed a coalition with the True Path Party. Ousted in mid-1997, the RP was banned in 1998. Many RP MPs allied themselves with the Virtue Party, which in turn was banned in 2001.

Kurdish separatists

Thousands have been killed since 1984 in a bitter civil war in southeast Turkey. The secessionist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) has proclaimed three cease-fires since 1992. In 1999 its leader Abdullah Ocalan was sentenced to death. However, he remained in prison as, in April 2002, the PKK disbanded and regrouped as a political organization committed to seeking equal rights for Kurds within Turkey. Despite EU pressure the 2002 constitutional amendments did not lift the rigorously enforced ban on broadcasting and education in Kurdish.

Human rights

Turkey's human rights record has been subject to intense international criticism. Reforms in 1995 lifted a number of civil liberty restrictions written into the 1982 constitution, but concerns remain over illegal executions and the treatment of Kurds. A hunger strike campaign against conditions in high-security prisons gained worldwide attention in 2001.

Under the controversial Southeastern Anatolian Project (GAP) launched in the mid-1980s, Turkey is building 22 dams on the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. In 1999 controversy focused on the Ilisu dam on the Tigris, which will flood 15 towns and 52 villages, and in 2001 on the Birecik dam on the Euphrates, which threatens the ancient Roman town of Zengma. Turkey produces oil around Raman, on the north of the Tigris. Eastern provinces are rich in minerals, such as chromium, of which Turkey is the world's largest producer.

Turkey possesses an adequate national system of primary health care. By Western standards, however, hospitals are under-equipped. There are fewer doctors per head than in any western European country.

After 1923, educational establishments were nationalized. In 1928, a Turkish alphabet with Latin characters was introduced.

In 1997, compulsory education was extended from five to eight years, raising the age for entry into Islamic schools from 11 to 14, in a move seen as designed to reduce attendance at such schools. State schools are coeducational and free. Engineering is usually the strongest faculty in Turkey's many universities.

The economic expansion of the 1980s has created a new class of wealthy entrepreneurs. Urban/rural differences remain pronounced. High inflation in the 1990s eroded earnings of those on fixed incomes, and income inequality has grown. Many Turks take jobs as Gastarbeiter (guest workers) in Germany and the Netherlands.

Following the collapse of the Ottoman Empire and Turkey's defeat in World War I, nationalist Mustafa Kemal Ataturk deposed the ruling sultan in 1922, declaring Turkey a republic in 1923.

• 1924 Religious courts abolished.
• 1928 Islam no longer state religion.
• 1934 Women given the vote.
• 1938 President Ataturk dies. Succeeded by Ismet Inonu.
• 1945 Turkey declares war on Germany. Joins UN.
• 1952 Joins CE and NATO.
• 1960 Military coup; National Assembly suspended.
• 1961 New constitution.
• 1963 Association agreement with European Economic Community.
• 1974 Invades northern Cyprus.
• 1980 Military coup; martial law.
• 1982 New constitution.
• 1983 General election won by Turgut Özal's ANAP.
• 1984 Turkey recognizes "Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus." Kurdish separatist PKK launches guerrilla war in southeast.
• 1987 Applies to join European Communities.
• 1990 US-led coalition launches air strikes on Iraq from Turkish bases.
• 1991 Elections won by DYP. Süleyman Demirel premier.
• 1992 Joins Black Sea alliance.
• 1993 Demirel elected president. Tansu Çiller becomes DYP leader and heads coalition.
• 1995 Major anti-Kurdish offensive. Reforms lower voting age to 18. Çiller coalition collapses. Pro-Islamic RP wins election, but center-right DYP–ANAP coalition takes office. Customs union with EU.
• 1996–1997 RP leader Necmettin Erbakan heads first pro-Islamic government since 1923.
• 1997 Mesut Yilmaz reappointed to head minority ANAP government.
• 1998 RP banned; many of its MPs join Virtue Party. Yilmaz resigns amid corruption allegations; replaced by Bulent Ecevit of DSP.
• 1999 DSP wins most seats in general election; Ecevit heads right-wing coalition. Captured Kurdish leader Abdullah Ocalan sentenced to death. Izmit earthquake kills 14,000.
• 2000 National Assembly refuses to endorse Demirel's reelection. He is replaced by Ahmet Necdet Sezer.
• 2001 Acute financial crisis. Hunger strikes in high-security prisons. June, Virtue Party banned.
• 2002 Constitutional amendments strengthen democracy and respect for human rights, in pursuit of EU membership. April, PKK replaced by Kurdistan Freedom and Democracy Congress. July, key ministers quit government.