Turkiye
(Check
Country Study
for
extensive research information)
from
Library of Congress
The Republic of Turkey is a
Middle Eastern country with territory in both
Europe and
Asia. The
Anatolian peninsula in 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 the
Aegean Sea and its islands,
Greece and
Bulgaria.
Main article:
History of Turkiye
Anatolia (Asia Minor) had been a cradle to a wide
variety of civilisations and kingdoms in antiquity. The
Seljuk Turks were the first
Turkic power to arrive in the
11th century, 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.
The Republic of Turkey was created in
1923 by
Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, who reformed Turkey into a modern,
secular, and western-oriented
republic. Turkey became a member of
NATO in
1952, and is seeking membership of the
European Union. Issues such as the Turkish involvement in
Cyprus, a long standing
Kurdish insurgency in the east, and the increasing appeal of
political Islam continue to fuel public debate in Turkey and
influence its international relations.
Main article:
Politics of Turkey
The
1982
constitution provides for a democratic,
secular, parliamentary form of government with a strong
presidency and an independent
judiciary. Internationally recognised
human rights are protected but can be limited in times of
emergency and cannot be used to violate the integrity of the
state or to impose a non-secular or non-democratic system of
government. A number of State Security Courts also exist to deal
with offenses against the integrity of the state. The president
and the Council of Ministers (the
cabinet) led by the
prime minister share
executive powers. The president, who has broad powers of
appointment and supervision, is chosen by the legislature for a
term of 7 years and cannot be re-elected.
The
unicameral Turkish
parliament, the Grand National Assembly of Turkey or
Türkiye Büyük Millet Meclisi carries out
legislative functions. Election of its 550 members, who
serve five-year terms, is by
proportional representation. To participate in the
distribution of seats, a party must obtain at least 10% of the
votes cast at the national level as well as a percentage of
votes in the contested district according to a complex formula.
