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

noun:

Turk(s)

adjective:

Turkish

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 (2011 est.)

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 Monday in March; ends last Sunday in October

• 7 November 1982;
• amended several times;
• note - amendment passed by referendum 21 October 2007 concerning presidential elections

• civil law system based on various European legal systems notably the Swiss civil code;
• note - member of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), although Turkey claims limited derogations on the ratified European Convention on Human Rights

• 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 [Namik Kemal ZEYBEK];
• 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 Voice Party or HSP [Numan KURTULMUS];
• Republican People's Party or CHP [Kemal KILICDAROGLU];
• Turkey Party or TP [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%:

2.1%

highest 10%:

30.3% (2008)

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 subscriptions are obtainable;
• more than 1,000 private radio broadcast stations (2009)

total:

8,699 km

country comparison to the world: 24

standard gauge:

8,699 km 1.435-m gauge (1,928 km electrified) (2010)

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)

• 19-41 years of age for male compulsory military service;
• 18 years of age for voluntary service;
• 15 months conscript obligation for non-university graduates, 6-12 months for university graduates;
• women serve in the Turkish Armed Forces only as officers;
• reserve obligation to age 41;
• under a law passed in November 2011, men aged 30 and older may pay $16,200 in lieu of mandatory military service (2011)

males age 16-49:

21,079,077

females age 16-49:

20,558,696 (2010 est.)

males age 16-49:

17,664,510

females age 16-49:

17,340,816 (2010 est.)

male:

700,079

female:

670,328 (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;
• in 2009, Swiss mediators facilitated an accord reestablishing diplomatic ties between Armenia and Turkey, but neither side has ratified the agreement and the rapprochement effort has faltered;
• Turkish authorities have complained that blasting from quarries in Armenia might be damaging the medieval ruins of Ani, on the other side of the Arpacay valley;

• 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