ABOUT TURKEY

      

Turkey has witnessed the mass migration of many diverse peoples over its 10,000 years of history. From Ancient Romans, Greeks, Hittites, Arabs and Persians, to the Mongols, Kurds, Armenians and Slavs, more than twenty different civilizations have travelled Turkish roads down through the centuries.

Stretching out on two continents, and surrounded by water in four directions, Turkey presents over 8000 km of shores and a landscape carved from ancient volcanoes. With a variety of temples, theatres, agoras, churches, mosques, medresseh, palaces and caravanserais, Tukey also offers a variety of attractions in art, history, and archaeology for the culturally minded.

The Republic of Turkey is a democratic, secular constitutional republic, whose political system was established in 1923. Turkey is a member state of the United Nations, NATO, OSCE, OECD, OIC and the Council of Europe. In October 2005, the European Union opened accession negotiations with Ankara and thus Turkey is a Candidate Country to the European Union. its strategic location straddling Europe and Asia and between three seas, Turkey has been a historical crossroads and economic centre, the homeland of and battleground between several great civilizations.

History

The first major empire in the area was that of the Hittites and peoples that have settled in or conquered Anatolia include the Phrygians, Lydians, Lycians, Mushki, Kurds, Cimmerians, Armenians, Persians, Tabals, Greeks. The conquest of Anatolia by Turkisch peoples, under the Seljuks with the Battle of Manzikert and the rise of the Seljuk Empire in the 11th century was finalized by the rise of the Ottoman Empire. In the 16th century, at the height of its power, the Ottoman Empire grew to cover Anatolia, North Africa, the Middle East, Southeastern and Eastern Europe and the Caucasus. Following years of decline, the Ottoman Empire entered World War I in an alliance with Germany in 1914 where it was ulitmately defeated and occupied. Western powers sought to partition the empire through the Treaty of Sevres (see Rise of Nationalism under the Ottoman Empire).

Politics

Turkey's political system is based on a separation of powers. Its constitution is called Anayasa or Main Law. Head of State – The function of Head of State is performed by the President .A president is elected every seven years by the Grand National Assembly. The President does not have to be a member of parliament. Executive power – Executive power rests in the Prime Minister and the Council of Ministers The Ministers have to be members of Parliament; however, the Prime Minister is no longer required to be an MP. The Prime Minister is elected by the parliament through a vote of confidence in his government.
Parliament – Legislative power resides with the 550-seat Grand National Assembly (TBMM)

Economy

Turkey's economy is a complex mix of modern industry and commerce along with a traditional agriculture sector that in 2005 still accounted for 30% of employment. The government, in power from 1999 through 2002, restarted structural reforms in line with ongoing economic programs under the standby agreements signed with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), including passage of social security reform, public finance reform, state banks reform, banking sector reform, increasing transparency in public sector, and also introduction of related legislation to liberalize telecom, and energy markets. Under the IMF program, the government also sought to use exchange rate policies to curb inflation. Turkey has a number of bilateral investment and tax treaties, including with the United States, that guarantee free repatriation of capital in convertible currencies and eliminate double taxation. Nonetheless, foreign direct investment has totaled only $15.7 billion as of November 2002, a modest sum reflecting investor concerns about political and macroeconomic uncertainty, burdensome regulation, and a large state role in the economy.

 Culture

Turkey has a very diverse culture derived from various elements of the Ottoman Empire, European, and the Islamic traditions. As Turkey successfully transformed from the religion-driven former Ottoman Empire into a modern nation-state with a very strong separation of state and religion, the increase in the methods of artistic expression followed. During the first years of the republic, the government invested a large amount of resources into the fine arts, such as paintings, sculptures and architecture amongst other things. This was done as both a process of modernisation and of creating a cultural identity. Today the Turkish economy is diverse enough to subsidise individual artists with great freedom. Because of different historical factors playing an important role in defining a Turkish identity, the culture of Turkey is an interesting combination of clear efforts to be "modern" and Western, combined with the necessity felt to maintain traditional religious and historical values.