Turkiye

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

• high central plateau (Anatolia);
• narrow coastal plain;
• several mountain ranges

total:

39.78 cu km/yr (15%/11%/74%)

per capita:

544 cu m/yr (2001)

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

party to:

Air Pollution, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands

signed, but not ratified:

Environmental Modification

• strategic location controlling the Turkish Straits (Bosporus, Sea of Marmara, Dardanelles) that link Black and Aegean Seas;
• Mount Ararat, the legendary landing place of Noah's ark, is in the far eastern portion of the country

at birth:

1.05 male(s)/female

under 15 years:

1.05 male(s)/female

15-64 years:

1.02 male(s)/female

65 years and over:

0.84 male(s)/female

total population:

1.02 male(s)/female (2010 est.)

noun:

Turk(s)

adjective:

Turkish

conventional long form:

Republic of Turkey

conventional short form:

Turkey

local long form:

Turkiye Cumhuriyeti

local short form:

Turkiye

name:

Ankara

geographic coordinates:

39 56 N, 32 52 E

time difference:

UTC+2 (7 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)

daylight saving time:

+1hr, begins last Sunday in March; ends last Sunday in October

• 7 November 1982;
• amended 17 May 1987, 1995, 2001, 2007 and 2010;
• note - amendment passed by referendum concerning presidential elections on 21 October 2007

• civil law system derived from various European continental legal systems;
• note - member of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), although Turkey claims limited derogations on the ratified European Convention on Human Rights;
• has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

• Constitutional Court;
• High Court of Appeals (Yargitay);
• Council of State (Danistay);
• Court of Accounts (Sayistay);
• Military High Court of Appeals;
• Military High Administrative Court

• Democratic Left Party or DSP [Masum TURKER];
• Democratic Party or DP [Husamettin CINDORUK];
• Equality and Democracy Party or EDP [Ziva HALIS];
• Felicity Party or SP [Necmettin ERBAKAN] (sometimes translated as Contentment Party);
• Freedom and Solidarity Party or ODP [Alper TAS];
• Grand Unity Party or BBP [Yalcin TOPCU];
• Justice and Development Party or AKP [Recep Tayyip ERDOGAN];
• Nationalist Movement Party or MHP [Devlet BAHCELI];
• Peace and Democracy Party or BDP [Selahattin DEMIRTAS];
• People's Rise Party or HSP [Numan KURTULMUS];
• Republican People's Party or CHP [Kemal KILICDAROGLU];
• Turkey Party [Abdullatif SENER]

note: the parties listed above are some of the more significant of the 61 parties that Turkey had according to the Ministry of Interior statistics current as of May 2009

Confederation of Businessmen and Industrialists of Turkey or TUSKON [Rizanur MERAL}; Confederation of Public Sector Unions or KESK [Sami EVREN]; Confederation of Revolutionary Workers Unions or DISK [Suleyman CELEBI]; Independent Industrialists' and Businessmen's Association or MUSIAD [Omer Cihad VARDAN]; Moral Rights Workers Union or Hak-Is [Salim USLU]; Turkish Confederation of Employers' Unions or TISK [Tugrul KUDATGOBILIK]; Turkish Confederation of Labor or Turk-Is [Mustafa KUMLU]; Turkish Confederation of Tradesmen and Craftsmen or TESK [Bendevi PALANDOKEN]; Turkish Industrialists' and Businessmen's Association or TUSIAD [Umit BOYNER]; Turkish Union of Chambers of Commerce and Commodity Exchanges or TOBB [M. Rifat HISARCIKLIOGLU]

chief of mission:

Ambassador Namik TAN

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, New York

chief of mission:

Ambassador (vacant); Charge d'Affaires Douglas A. SILLIMAN

embassy:

110 Ataturk Boulevard, Kavaklidere, 06100 Ankara

mailing address:

PSC 93, Box 5000, APO AE 09823

telephone:

[90] (312) 455-5555

FAX:

[90] (312) 467-0019

consulate(s) general:

Istanbul

consulate(s):

Adana; note - there is a Consular Agent in Izmir

• red with a vertical white crescent moon (the closed portion is toward the hoist side) and white five-pointed star centered just outside the crescent opening;
• the flag colors and designs closely resemble those on the banner of Ottoman Empire, which preceded modern-day Turkey;
• the crescent moon and star serve as insignia for the Turks, as well as being traditional symbols of Islam;
• according to legend, the flag represents the reflection of the moon and a star in a pool of blood of Turkish warriors

name:

"Istiklal Marsi" (Independence March)

lyrics/music:

Mehmet Akif ERSOY/Zeki UNGOR

note: lyrics adopted 1921, music adopted 1932; the anthem's original music was adopted in 1924; a new composition was agreed upon in 1932

agriculture:

29.5%

industry:

24.7%

services:

45.8% (2005)

lowest 10%:

1.9%

highest 10%:

33.2% (2005)

general assessment:

comprehensive telecommunications network undergoing rapid modernization and expansion especially in mobile-cellular services

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:

• country code - 90;
• international service is provided by the SEA-ME-WE-3 submarine cable and by submarine fiber-optic cables in the Mediterranean and Black Seas that link Turkey with Italy, Greece, Israel, Bulgaria, Romania, and Russia;
• satellite earth stations - 12 Intelsat;
• mobile satellite terminals - 328 in the Inmarsat and Eutelsat systems (2002)

• national public broadcaster Turkish Radio and Television Corporation (TRT) operates multiple TV and radio networks and stations;
• multiple privately-owned national television stations and up to 300 private regional and local television stations;
• multi-channel cable TV subcriptions are obtainable;
• more than 1,000 private radio broadcast stations (2009)

total:

8,697 km

country comparison to the world: 23

standard gauge:

8,697 km 1.435-m gauge (1,920 km electrified) (2008)

total:

352,046 km

country comparison to the world: 19

paved:

313,151 km (includes 2,010 km of expressways)

unpaved:

38,895 km (2008)

males age 16-49:

20,832,658

females age 16-49:

20,337,037 (2010 est.)

males age 16-49:

17,447,579

females age 16-49:

17,173,063 (2010 est.)

male:

695,326

female:

666,026 (2010 est.)

• a "National Security Policy Document" adopted in October 2005 increases the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) role in internal security, augmenting the General Directorate of Security and Gendarmerie General Command (Jandarma);
• the TSK leadership continues to play a key role in politics and considers itself guardian of Turkey's secular state;
• in April 2007, it warned the ruling party about any pro-Islamic appointments;
• despite on-going negotiations on EU accession since October 2005, progress has been limited in establishing required civilian supremacy over the military;
• primary domestic threats are listed as fundamentalism (with the definition in some dispute with the civilian government), separatism (the Kurdish problem), and the extreme left wing;
• Ankara strongly opposed establishment of an autonomous Kurdish region;
• an overhaul of the Turkish Land Forces Command (TLFC) taking place under the "Force 2014" program is to produce 20-30% smaller, more highly trained forces characterized by greater mobility and firepower and capable of joint and combined operations;
• the TLFC has taken on increasing international peacekeeping responsibilities, and took charge of a NATO International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) command in Afghanistan in April 2007;
• the Turkish Navy is a regional naval power that wants to develop the capability to project power beyond Turkey's coastal waters;
• the Navy is heavily involved in NATO, multinational, and UN operations;
• its roles include control of territorial waters and security for sea lines of communications;
• the Turkish Air Force adopted an "Aerospace and Missile Defense Concept" in 2002 and has initiated project work on an integrated missile defense system;
• Air Force priorities include attaining a modern deployable, survivable, and sustainable force structure, and establishing a sustainable command and control system (2008)

• complex maritime, air, and territorial disputes with Greece in the Aegean Sea;
• status of north Cyprus question remains;
• Syria and Iraq protest Turkish hydrological projects to control upper Euphrates waters;
• Turkey has expressed concern over the status of Kurds in Iraq;
• border with Armenia remains closed over Nagorno-Karabakh

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