Turkey

§1. Turkey Introduction

Background:
  Turkey was created in 1923 from the Turkish remnants of the Ottoman Empire.
  Soon thereafter the country instituted secular laws to replace traditional
  religious fiats. In 1945 Turkey joined the UN and in 1952 it became a
  member of NATO. Turkey occupied the northern portion of Cyprus in 1974 to
  prevent a Greek takeover of the island; relations between the two countries
  remain strained. Periodic military offensives against Kurdish separatists
  have dislocated part of the population in southeast Turkey and have drawn
  international condemnation.

§2. Turkey Geography

Location:
  southeastern Europe and southwestern Asia (that portion of Turkey west of
  the Bosporus is geographically part of Europe), bordering the Black Sea,
  between Bulgaria and Georgia, and bordering the Aegean Sea and the
  Mediterranean Sea, between Greece and Syria

Geographic coordinates:
  39 00 N, 35 00 E

Map references:
  Middle East

Area:
  total: 780,580 kmē
  land: 770,760 kmē
  water: 9,820 kmē

Area - comparative:
  slightly larger than Texas

Land boundaries:
  total: 2,627 km border countries: Armenia 268 km, Azerbaijan 9 km, Bulgaria
    240 km, Georgia 252 km, Greece 206 km, Iran 499 km, Iraq 331 km, Syria
    822 km

Coastline:
  7,200 km

Maritime claims:
  exclusive economic zone: in Black Sea only: to the maritime boundary agreed
    upon with the former USSR
  territorial sea: 6 NM in the Aegean Sea; 12 NM in Black Sea and in
    Mediterranean Sea

Climate:
  temperate; hot, dry summers with mild, wet winters; harsher in interior

Terrain:
  mostly mountains; narrow coastal plain; high central plateau (Anatolia)

Elevation extremes:
  lowest point: Mediterranean Sea 0 m highest point: Mount Ararat 5,166 m

Natural resources:
  antimony, coal, chromium, mercury, copper, borate, sulfur, iron ore, arable
  land, hydropower

Land use:
  arable land: 32%
  permanent crops: 4%
  permanent pastures: 16%
  forests and woodland: 26%
  other: 22% (1993 est.)

Irrigated land:
  36,740 kmē (1993 est.)

Natural hazards:
  very severe earthquakes, especially in northern Turkey, along an arc
  extending from the Sea of Marmara to Lake Van

Environment - current issues:
  water pollution from dumping of chemicals and detergents; air pollution,
  particularly in urban areas; deforestation; concern for oil spills from
  increasing Bosporus ship traffic

Environment - international agreements:
  party to: Air Pollution, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Desertification,
    Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer
    Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands
  signed, but not ratified: Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Environmental
    Modification

Geography - note:
  strategic location controlling the Turkish Straits (Bosporus, Sea of
  Marmara, Dardanelles) that link Black and Aegean Seas

§3. Turkey People

Population:
  66,493,970 (July 2001 est.)

Age structure:
  0-14 years: 28.42% (male 9,620,291; female 9,276,347)
  15-64 years: 65.45% (male 22,116,599; female 21,401,165)
  65 years and over: 6.13% (male 1,878,571; female 2,200,997) (2001 est.)

Population growth rate:
  1.24% (2001 est.)

Birth rate:
  18.31 births/1,000 population (2001 est.)

Death rate:
  5.95 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.)

Net migration rate:
  0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.)

Sex ratio:
  at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
  under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female
  15-64 years: 1.03 male(s)/female
  65 years and over: 0.85 male(s)/female
  total population: 1.02 male(s)/female (2001 est.)

Infant mortality rate:
  47.34 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
  total population: 71.24 years male: 68.89 years
  female: 73.71 years (2001 est.)

Total fertility rate:
  2.12 children born/woman (2001 est.)

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:
  0.01% (1999 est.)

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:
  NA

HIV/AIDS - deaths:
  NA

Nationality:
  noun: Turk(s)
  adjective: Turkish

Ethnic groups:
  Turkish 80%, Kurdish 20%

Religions:
  Muslim 99.8% (mostly Sunni), other 0.2% (Christian and Jews)

Languages:
  Turkish (official), Kurdish, Arabic, Armenian, Greek

Literacy:
  definition: age 15 and over can read and write
  total population: 85%
  male: 94%
  female: 77% (2000)

§4. Turkey Government

Country name:
  conventional long form: Republic of Turkey
  conventional short form: Turkey
  local long form: Turkiye Cumhuriyeti
  local short form: Turkiye

Government type:
  republican parliamentary democracy

Capital:
  Ankara

Administrative divisions:
  80 provinces (iller, singular - il); Adana, Adiyaman, Afyon, Agri, Aksaray,
  Amasya, Ankara, Antalya, Ardahan, Artvin, Aydin, Balikesir, Bartin, Batman,
  Bayburt, Bilecik, Bingol, Bitlis, Bolu, Burdur, Bursa, Canakkale, Cankiri,
  Corum, Denizli, Diyarbakir, Edirne, Elazig, Erzincan, Erzurum, Eskisehir,
  Gaziantep, Giresun, Gumushane, Hakkari, Hatay, Icel, Igdir, Isparta,
  Istanbul, Izmir, Kahramanmaras, Karabuk, Karaman, Kars, Kastamonu, Kayseri,
  Kilis, Kirikkale, Kirklareli, Kirsehir, Kocaeli, Konya, Kutahya, Malatya,
  Manisa, Mardin, Mugla, Mus, Nevsehir, Nigde, Ordu, Osmaniye, Rize, Sakarya,
  Samsun, Sanliurfa, Siirt, Sinop, Sirnak, Sivas, Tekirdag, Tokat, Trabzon,
  Tunceli, Usak, Van, Yalova, Yozgat, Zonguldak; note - there may be another
  province called Duzce

Independence:
  29 October 1923 (successor state to the Ottoman Empire)

National holiday:
  Independence Day, 29 October (1923)

Constitution:
  7 November 1982

Legal system:
  derived from various European continental legal systems; accepts compulsory
  ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations

Suffrage:
  18 years of age; universal

Executive branch:
  chief of state: President Ahmed Necdet SEZER (since 16 May 2000)
  head of government: Prime Minister Bulent ECEVIT (since 11 January 1999)
  cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the president on the nomination
    of the prime minister
  note: there is also a National Security Council that serves as an advisory
    body to the president and the cabinet
  elections: president elected by the National Assembly for a seven-year
    term; election last held 5 May 2000 (next scheduled to be held NA May
    2007); prime minister and deputy prime minister appointed by the
    president
  election results: Ahmed Necdet SEZER elected president on the third ballot;
    percent of National Assembly vote - 60%
  note: president must have a two-thirds majority of the National Assembly on
    the first two ballots and a simple majority on the third ballot

Legislative branch:
  unicameral Grand National Assembly of Turkey or Turkiye Buyuk Millet
  Meclisi (550 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve five-year
  terms)
  elections: last held 18 April 1999 (next to be held NA 2004)
  election results: percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - DSP 136,
    MHP 130, FP 110, DYP 86, ANAP 88; note - as of 7 March 2000 seating was
    DSP 136, MHP 127, FP 103, DYP 85, ANAP 88 independents 6, vacancies 5

Judicial branch:
  Constitutional Court (judges are appointed by the president); Court of
  Appeals (judges are elected by the Supreme Council of Judges and
  Prosecutors)

Political parties and leaders:
  Democratic Left Party or DSP [Bulent ECEVIT]; Motherland Party or ANAP
  [Mesut YILMAZ]; Nationalist Action Party or MHP [Devlet BAHCELI]; True Path
  Party or DYP [Tansu CILLER]; Virtue Party or FP [Recai KUTAN]; note - in
  June 2001, Turkey's Constitutional Court banned the party; its
  representatives (except for two) can stay on in the Grand National Assembly
  as independents
  note: Welfare Party or RP [Necmettin ERBAKAN] was officially outlawed on 22
    February 1998

Political pressure groups and leaders:
  Confederation of Revolutionary Workers Unions or DISK [Ridvan BUDAK];
  Independent Industrialists and Businessmen's Association or MUSIAD [Erol
  YARAR]; Moral Rights Workers Union or Hak-Is [Salim USLU]; Turkish
  Industrialists' and Businessmen's Association or TUSIAD [Muharrem KAYHAN];
  Turkish Confederation of Employers' Unions or TISK [Refik BAYDUR]; Turkish
  Confederation of Labor or Turk-Is [Bayram MERAL]; Turkish Union of Chambers
  of Commerce and Commodity Exchanges or TOBB [Fuat MIRAS]

International organization participation:
  AsDB, Australia Group, BIS, BSEC, CCC, CE, CERN (observer), EAPC, EBRD,
  ECE, ECO, ESCAP, EU (applicant), FAO, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, ICRM,
  IDA, IDB, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Inmarsat, Intelsat,
  Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO, ITU, NATO, NEA, NSG, OAS (observer),
  OECD, OIC, OPCW, OSCE, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNIKOM,
  UNMIBH, UNMIK, UNOMIG, UNRWA, UNTAET, UPU, WEU (associate), WFTU, WHO,
  WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO

Diplomatic representation in the US:
  chief of mission: Ambassador Baki ILKIN chancery: 2525 Massachusetts Avenue
    NW, Washington, DC 20008
  telephone: [1] (202) 612-6700
  FAX: [1] (202) 612-6744
  consulate(s) general: Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, and New York

Diplomatic representation from the US:
  chief of mission: Ambassador Robert PEARSON embassy: Ataturk Bulvarii 110,
    Ankara
  mailing address: PSC 93, Box 5000, APO AE 09823
  telephone: [90] (312) 468-6110
  FAX: [90] (312) 467-0019
  consulate(s) general: Istanbul (closed as of December 2000 for security
    review)
  consulate(s): Adana (closed as of December 2000 for security review)

Flag description:
  red with a vertical white crescent (the closed portion is toward the hoist
  side) and white five-pointed star centered just outside the crescent
  opening

§5. Turkey Economy

Economy - overview:
  Turkey's dynamic economy is a complex mix of modern industry and commerce
  along with traditional agriculture that still accounts for nearly 40% of
  employment. It 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 exporter - 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 most years, but this
  strong expansion was interrupted by sharp declines in output in 1994 and
  1999. Meanwhile the public sector fiscal deficit has regularly exceeded 10%
  of GDP - due in large part to the huge burden of interest payments, which
  now account for more than 40% 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
  $1 billion annually. Prospects for the future are improving, however,
  because the ECEVIT government since June 1999 has been implementing an
  IMF-backed reform program, including a tighter budget, social security
  reform, banking reorganization, and accelerated privatization. As a result,
  the fiscal situation is greatly improved and inflation has dropped below
  40% - the lowest rate since 1987. The country experienced a financial
  crisis in late 2000, including sharp drops in the stock market and foreign
  exchange reserves, but is recovering rapidly, thanks to additional IMF
  support and the government's commitment to a specific timetable of economic
  reforms.

GDP:
  purchasing power parity - $444 billion (2000 est.)

GDP - real growth rate:
  6% (2000 est.)

GDP - per capita:
  purchasing power parity - $6,800 (2000 est.)

GDP - composition by sector:
  agriculture: 15% industry: 29%
  services: 56% (1999)

Population below poverty line:
  NA%

Household income or consumption by percentage share:
  lowest 10%: 2.3% highest 10%: 32.3% (1994)

Inflation rate (consumer prices):
  39% (2000 est.)

Labor force:
  23 million (2000 est.)
  note: about 1.2 million Turks work abroad (1999)

Labor force - by occupation:
  agriculture 38%, services 38%, industry 24% (2000)

Unemployment rate:
  5.6% (plus underemployment of 5.6%) (2000 est.)

Budget:
  revenues: $54.5 billion
  expenditures: $75.2 billion, including capital expenditures of $3.3 billion
    (2000)

Industries:
  textiles, food processing, autos, mining (coal, chromite, copper, boron),
  steel, petroleum, construction, lumber, paper

Industrial production growth rate:
  6.2% (2000 est.)

Electricity - production:
  125.3 billion kWh (2000 est.)

Electricity - production by source:
  fossil fuel: 71% hydro: 29%
  nuclear: 0%
  other: 0% (2000 est.)

Electricity - consumption:
  119.5 billion kWh (2000 est.)

Electricity - exports:
  350 million kWh (2000 est.)

Electricity - imports:
  3.35 billion kWh (2000 est.)

Agriculture - products:
  tobacco, cotton, grain, olives, sugar beets, pulse, citrus; livestock

Exports:
  $26.9 billion (f.o.b., 2000 est.)

Exports - commodities:
  apparel 25.6%, foodstuffs 15.4%, textiles 12.3%, metal manufactures 8.6%,
  transport equipment 8.1% (1998)

Exports - partners:
  Germany 18.7%, US 11.4%, UK 7.4%, Italy 6.3%, France 6.0% (2000 est.)

Imports:
  $55.7 billion (c.i.f., 2000 est.)

Imports - commodities:
  machinery 28.3%, chemicals 15.2%, semi-finished goods 14.5%, fuels 11%,
  transport equipment 9.5% (1999)

Imports - partners:
  Germany 13.1%, Italy 7.9%, US 7.2%, Russia 7.0%, France 6.6%, UK 5.0% (2000
  est.)

Debt - external:
  $109 billion (2000 est.)

Economic aid - recipient:
  ODA, $195 million (1993)

Currency:
  Turkish lira (TRL)

Currency code:
  TRL

Exchange rates:
  Turkish liras per US dollar - 677,621 (December 2000), 625,219 (2000),
  418,783 (1999), 260,724 (1998), 151,865 (1997), 81,405 (1996)

Fiscal year:
  calendar year

§6. Turkey Communications

Telephones - main lines in use:
  19.5 million (1999)

Telephones - mobile cellular:
  12.1 million (1999)

Telephone system:
  general assessment: undergoing rapid modernization and expansion,
    especially cellular telephones
  domestic: additional digital exchanges are permitting a rapid increase in
    subscribers; the construction of a network of technologically advanced
    intercity trunk lines, using both fiber-optic cable and digital microwave
    radio relay is facilitating communication between urban centers; remote
    areas are reached by a domestic satellite system; the number of
    subscribers to mobile cellular telephone service is growing rapidly
  international: international service is provided by three submarine
    fiber-optic cables in the Mediterranean and Black Seas, linking Turkey
    with Italy, Greece, Israel, Bulgaria, Romania, and Russia, by 12 Intelsat
    earth stations, and by 328 mobile satellite terminals in the Inmarsat and
    Eutelsat systems

Radio broadcast stations:
  AM 16, FM 72, shortwave 6 (1998)

Radios:
  11.3 million (1997)

Television broadcast stations:
  635 (plus 2,934 repeaters) (1995)

Televisions:
  20.9 million (1997)

Internet country code:
  .tr

Internet Service Providers (ISPs):
  22 (2000)

Internet users:
  2 million (2000)

§7. Turkey Transportation

Railways:
  total: 8,607 km
  standard gauge: 8,607 km 1.435-m gauge (1,524 km electrified) (1999)

Highways:
  total: 382,059 km
  paved: 106,976 km (including 1,726 km of expressways)
  unpaved: 275,083 km (1999 est.)

Waterways:
  1,200 km (approximately)

Pipelines:
  crude oil 1,738 km; petroleum products 2,321 km; natural gas 708 km

Ports and harbors:
  Gemlik, Hopa, Iskenderun, Istanbul, Izmir, Kocaeli (Izmit), Icel (Mersin),
  Samsun, Trabzon

Merchant marine:
  total: 548 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 5,617,302 GRT/9,088,451 DWT
  ships by type: bulk 140, cargo 242, chemical tanker 41, combination bulk 5,
    combination ore/oil 6, container 21, liquefied gas 6, passenger/cargo 1,
    petroleum tanker 43, refrigerated cargo 3, roll on/roll off 25, short-sea
    passenger 10, specialized tanker 5 (2000 est.)

Airports:
  121 (2000 est.)

Airports - with paved runways:
  total: 86 over 3,047 m: 16
  2,438 to 3,047 m: 29
  1,524 to 2,437 m: 19
  914 to 1,523 m: 16
  under 914 m: 6 (2000 est.)

Airports - with unpaved runways:
  total: 35 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1
  914 to 1,523 m: 8
  under 914 m: 26 (2000 est.)

Heliports:
  2 (2000 est.)

§8. Turkey Military

Military branches:
  Land Force, Navy (includes Naval Air and Naval Infantry), Air Force, Coast
  Guard, Gendarmerie

Military manpower - military age:
  20 years of age

Military manpower - availability:
  males age 15-49: 18,882,272 (2001 est.)

Military manpower - fit for military service:
  males age 15-49: 11,432,438 (2001 est.)

Military manpower - reaching military age annually:
  males: 674,805 (2001 est.)

Military expenditures - dollar figure:
  $10.6 billion (FY99)

Military expenditures - percent of GDP:
  5.6% (FY99)

§9. Turkey Transnational Issues

Disputes - international:
  complex maritime, air, and territorial disputes with Greece in Aegean Sea;
  Cyprus question with Greece; dispute with downstream riparian states (Syria
  and Iraq) over water development plans for the Tigris and Euphrates rivers;
  traditional demands regarding former Armenian lands in Turkey have subsided

Illicit drugs:
  key transit route for Southwest Asian heroin to Western Europe and - to a
  far lesser extent the US - via air, land, and sea routes; major Turkish,
  Iranian, and other international trafficking organizations operate out of
  Istanbul; laboratories to convert imported morphine base into heroin are in
  remote regions of Turkey as well as near Istanbul; government maintains
  strict controls over areas of legal opium poppy cultivation and output of
  poppy straw concentrate
