Post by Salem6 on Nov 15, 2003 11:37:03 GMT
Once the centre of the Ottoman Empire, the modern republic was established in the 1920s by nationalist leader Kemal Ataturk.
Straddling the continents of Europe and Asia, Turkey's strategic location has given it major influence in the region - and control over the entrance to the Black Sea.
OVERVIEW
The east and southeast of Turkey saw years of civil war in the 1980s and 1990s between Turkish forces and those of the secessionist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in which over 30,000 people died. PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan was detained in 1999 and sentenced to death. The sentence was commuted to one of life imprisonment three years later, but only after parliament had scrapped the death penalty.
The PKK has since said that it wants to campaign peacefully for the rights of Kurds. In 2002 it changed its name to the Congress for Freedom and Democracy in Kurdistan (KADEK). However, the move has been dismissed as a sham by the Turkish authorities.
The overthrow of Saddam Hussein in neighbouring Iraq brought the Kurdish issue back to the fore for Turkey. Ankara is extremely apprehensive about the prospect of an independent Kurdish state being declared by Kurds in the oil-rich north of Iraq, just across the border. It fears that such a development would inflame Kurdish separatism within Turkey's own borders.
In September 2003, the PKK/Kadek responded to what it said was the Turkish government's failure to grant Kurds greater political and cultural rights by ending a ceasefire which had held for the previous four years. A spokesman for the organization said that this did not necessarily spell a return to all-out conflict but the move was widely seen as an attempt to increase pressure on Ankara to respond to Kurdish demands.
Turkey's powerful military - which sees itself as the guardian of the secular system - has a long tradition of involvement in the country's politics. It was behind the removal of the country's first Islamist government in 1997.
Turkey has applied for European Union membership, but the December 2002 EU summit in Copenhagen told Ankara it would have to wait until at least the end of 2004 before negotiations could start and that more progress would have to be made with human rights reforms. Turkey was subsequently warned that progress could be hampered by failure to resolve the Cyprus issue.
After years of mounting economic difficulties, a controversial economic recovery programme was agreed with the IMF in 2002. The government is pledged to make progress with tax reforms and privatisation and to trim jobs in the public sector. It won praise for progress from the IMF leadership in autumn 2003.
FACTS
TURKEY FACTS
Population: 71.3 million (UN, 2003)
Capital: Ankara
Major language: Turkish
Major religion: Islam
Life expectancy: 68 years (men), 73 years (women) (UN)
Monetary unit: Turkish lira
Main exports: Fruit and vegetables, textiles and clothing, iron and steel
Average annual income: US $2,530 (World Bank, 2001)
Internet domain: .tr
International dialling code: +90
LEADERS
President: Ahmet Necdet Sezer
When Ahmet Necdet Sezer was sworn in in May 2000 he became the first president in modern Turkish history who was neither an active politician nor a military commander.
President Ahmet Necdet Sezer
Mr Sezer, previously the chief justice of the constitutional court, is regarded as a secularist, a factor in his favour in the eyes of Turkey's powerful military.
The veteran civil servant caused a stir in 1999 when he made a speech criticising Turkey's constitution - introduced after a military coup in 1980 - as restricting democratic rights and freedoms.
Some observers see his support for greater freedom of expression as a potential positive in Turkey's bid to convince the EU that it is making efforts to improve its record in this area.
Prime minister: Recep Tayyip Erdogan
Mr Erdogan, leader of the Islamist-based Justice and Development Party (AK), became prime minister several months after his party's landslide election victory in November 2002.
Prime Minister Erdogan
He had been barred from standing in those elections because of a previous criminal conviction for reading an Islamist poem at a political rally, an action deemed to amount to Islamist sedition and for which he served several months in jail.
In Turkey the prime minister must also be a member of parliament. AK deputy leader Abdullah Gul took on the premiership in the months following the elections, but with Mr Erdogan playing a prominent role, particularly in foreign visits.
Soon after the elections changes to the constitution paved the way for Mr Erdogan to run for parliament in a by-election. He was elected an MP in March 2003. Within days Mr Gul resigned, leaving the way clear for Mr Erdogan to become prime minister.
For many poor Turks, he is something of a working class hero although critics are dismissive of what they see as his populism. From a poor background, he worked as a street seller to help pay for an education. He attended Koranic school before studying economics at university.
As mayor of Istanbul in the mid 1990s he banned alcohol in official muncipal buildings and won popularity for improving services. In 1997 the military became alarmed over what it saw as a threat to Turkey's secularism. Erbakan's Welfare Party was banned and he was forced to resign.
Although his new AK party has Islamist roots Mr Erdogan insists that it is committed to secularism, something which the military will watch closely.
He has identified EU entry as a top priority and has promised reforms designed to bring Turkey more closely into line with entry requirements. Mr Erdogan has predicted that Turkey could join in 2012 if these reforms are carried through.
MEDIA
Turkey's airwaves are lively, with some 300 private TV stations and more than 1,000 private radio stations competing with the services of the state broadcaster, TRT.
For Turkish journalists, the subjects of the military, Kurds and political Islam are highly sensitive and can lead to arrest and criminal prosecution. Media watchdogs and rights groups report that journalists have been imprisoned, or attacked by police. It is also common for radio and TV stations to have their broadcasts suspended for airing sensitive material.
Kurdish-language broadcasts were banned for many years, though a parliamentary vote in 2002 paved the way for their legalisation. Kurdish-speaking viewers in Turkey are able to watch overseas-based Kurdish TV channels, beamed across Europe by satellite.
The press
Hurriyet - mass-circulation daily
Milliyet - mass-circulation daily
Cumhuriyet - left-wing daily
Turkish Daily News - English-language
Zaman - English-language web version of daily
Yeni Asir - daily
Sabah - daily
Television
Turkish Radio and Television (TRT) - state broadcaster, operates four national networks
Star TV - private, the first station to break state TV's monopoly
Show TV - private, widely-watched network
Kanal D - private, widely-watched network
ATV - private
TGRT - private
NTV - private
CNN Turk - Turkish offshoot of well-known news channel
Radio
Turkish Radio and Television (TRT) - state broadcaster, services include cultural/educational network TRT 1, popular music network TRT 3 and Turkish folk/classical music station TRT 4
Show Radyo - commercial
Capital Radio - commercial, pop music
Radyo Foreks - news station
Audio:-
Listen to the Turkish national anthem
news.bbc.co.uk/olmedia/1020000/audio/_1022222_turkey.ram
1999: Abdullah Ocalan captured
Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit says Ocalan will get a fair trial
news.bbc.co.uk/olmedia/1405000/audio/_1409113_9907387ecevit.ram
1999: Devastating earthquake hits north-west Turkey
Salin Jandacan in Izmit describes the scene at the quake's epicentre
news.bbc.co.uk/olmedia/1405000/audio/_1409113_9933194jandacan.ram
1999: Devastating earthquake hits north-west Turkey
Journalist Zaffir Arapcurli tells the survivors' story
news.bbc.co.uk/olmedia/1405000/audio/_1409113_9933166zaffir.ram