REPUBLIC OF TURKEY

• Official name: Turkiye Cumhuriyeti (Republic of Turkey)
• Location: Eastern Europe, West Asia
• International organisations: Council of Europe, Group of Twenty, North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, Organisation of Islamic Conference, Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe, United Nations, World Trade Organisation
• Borders: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Georgia, Greece, Iran, Iraq, Syria
• Coastline: Aegean Sea, Black Sea, Mediterranean Sea
• Land area: 780,580 Km2
• Population: 74,800,000
• Annual GDP (PPP) per capita: US$11,200 (2009 CIA estimate). World ranking: 76
• Ethnicity: Turkish 80%, Kurdish 20% (this figure is disputed). There are small minorities of Armenians, Circassians, Greeks, Roma and other minorities
• Languages: Turkish is the official language and its use is mandatory in all public affairs. Kurdish is widely spoken in the south-east but not recognised.
• Religion: Turkey is a secular state, but the great majority of the population are at least nominally Sunni Moslems.
• Form of government: Parliamentary democratic republic. Turkey is divided into 81 provinces.
• Capital: Ankara
• Constitution: The Constitution of the Republic of Turkey dates from 7 November 1982.
• Head of state: The President, elected by the National Assembly for a five-year term. The President's functions are largely ceremonial. President Abdullah Gul was elected on 28 August 2007.
• Head of government: The Prime Minister, appointed by the President. The Prime Minister is usually the leader of the majority party in the legislature and is accountable to it.
• Legislature: The Great National Assembly of Turkey (Turkiye Buyuk Millet Meclisi) is a unicameral legislature with 550 members, elected for five-year terms by proportional representation from each of the states.
• Electoral authority: Turkish elections are conducted by the Supreme Election Board.
• Freedom House 2011 rating: Political Rights 3, Civil Liberties 3
• Transparency International Corruption Index: 44% (56 of 178 countries rated)
• Reporters Without Borders Press Freedom 2010 Index: 50.8% (138 of 178 countries rated)
• Heritage Foundation Economic Freedom 2010 Index: 64.2% (67 of 178 countries rated)

Political history

The Ottoman Empire, which was centered on the Turkish-speaking lands of Anatolia but was not a Turkish national state, collapsed in the wake of World War I. The empire had made fitful efforts to reform itself, and had held elections in the decade before the war, but had not established responsible government. In 1923 Mustapha Kemal (later Kemal Ataturk) proclaimed the Turkish Republic and became its president. Ataturk ran an authoritarian regime until his death in 1938.

After the Second World War President Ismet Inonu, who succeeded Ataturk, allowed a multi-party system and free elections. In 1954 The Kemalist Republican People's Party was defeated in free elections. But the Democratic Party government of Adnan Menderes was overthrown by the army in 1960.

Democratic government was restored in 1961, but increasingly bitter political conflict and the corrupt behaviour of many politicians led to another army coup in 1980. The army's tendency to see itself as the guardian of Kemalist virtue is a continuing problem in Turkish politics.

The military handed back power to a civilian government in 1989, but Turkish government has remained essentially authoritarian, intolerant of dissent and repressive towards religious and ethnic minorities (especially the Kurds).

Since the 1980s Turkey's traditional Kemalist party, the Republican People's Party (CHP), has lost its dominant position in national politics. Since the 2002 elections the governing party has been the Justice and Development Party (AK), a moderate Islamist party, which won a huge majority under the leadership of Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The AK maintained its dominant position at the 2007 and 2011 elections. The only other parties to hold seats are the CHP and the rightist Nationalist Movement Party (MHP). A number of Kurdish members sit as independents.

The rise of the AK has posed a challenge to Turkey's tradition of authoritarian secular nationalism, of which the army is the self-appointed guardian. Turkey also faces divisive issues such as the situation in Cyprus and the country's application for membership of the European Union. Erdogan favours EU membership, but the Kemalist establishment fears that the enforcement of EU human rights standards would weaken their position, and give unwelcome rights to the Kurds and other minorities. Conservative judges and security forces worked together to undermine Erdogan and sabotage Turkey's EU membership bid. By 2011, however, Erdogan had established such a dominant position that his agenda seemed beyond challenge.

Freedom House's 2011 report on Turkey says: "Turkey is an electoral democracy... Political parties have been shut down for having a program that is not in agreement with the constitution, a condition that could be interpreted broadly... Reforms have increased civilian oversight of the military, but restrictions persist in areas such as civilian supervision of defense expenditures. The military continues to intrude on issues beyond its purview, commenting on key domestic and foreign policy matters... Turkey struggles with corruption in government and in daily life. The AK government has adopted some anticorruption measures, but reports by international organisations continue to raise concerns... The right to free expression is guaranteed in the constitution, but legal impediments to press freedom remain. A 2006 antiterrorism law reintroduced jail sentences for journalists, and Article 301 of the penal code allows journalists and others to be imprisoned for discussing subjects such as the division of Cyprus and the 1915 mass killings of Armenians by Turks... The constitution protects freedom of religion, but the state's official secularism has led to considerable restrictions on the Muslim majority and others... Freedoms of association and assembly are protected in the constitution. Prior restrictions on public demonstrations have been relaxed, but violent clashes with police still occur... The constitution envisions an independent judiciary. The government in practice can influence judges through appointments, promotions, and financing."

Updated November 2011