Turkiye

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

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

total:

40.1 cu km/yr (14%/10%/76%)

per capita:

572.9 cu m/yr (2008)

• 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

0-14 years:

1.05 male(s)/female

15-24 years:

1.04 male(s)/female

25-54 years:

1.02 male(s)/female

55-64 years:

1.01 male(s)/female

65 years and over:

0.84 male(s)/female

total population:

1.02 male(s)/female (2013 est.)

total number:

321,866

percentage:

3 %

note: data represents children ages 6-14 (2006 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 Sunday in March; ends last Sunday in October

• several previous;
• latest ratified 9 November 1982;
• amended 2001, 2007, 2010 (2010)

• 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

highest court(s):

• Constitutional Court (consists of 17 members);
• Supreme Court of Appeals organized into 15 divisions with 38 civil and criminal chambers and consisting of 250 high judges and 440 rapporteur judges)

judge selection and term of office:

• Constitutional Court judges appointed by the president from among candidates submitted by plenary assemblies of other courts, the Higher Education Council, senior government administrators, and lawyers;
• judges appointed for 12-year, non-renewable terms and with mandatory retirement at age 65;
• Supreme Court of Appeals judges appointed by the Supreme Council of Judges and Public Prosecutors;
• judge tenure NA

subordinate courts:

• 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 [Mustafa KAMALAK] (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]
• 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 [Lami OZGEN]
• Confederation of Revolutionary Workers Unions or DISK [Tayfun GORGUN]
• Independent Industrialists' and Businessmen's Association or MUSIAD [Omer Cihad VARDAN]
• Moral Rights Workers Union or Hak-Is [Mahmut ARSLAN]
• 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 (since 18 February 2010)

chancery:

2525 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008

telephone:

[1] (202) 612-6700

FAX:

[1] (202) 612-6744

consulate(s) general:

Chicago, Houston, New York, Newton (MA)

chief of mission:

Ambassador Francis J. RICCIARDONE, Jr. (since 3 January 2011)

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 the 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

agriculture:

25.5%

industry:

26.2%

services:

48.4% (2010)

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;
• combined fixed-line and mobile-cellular teledensity is roughly 100 telephones per 100 persons

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 (2010)

• 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 available;
• more than 1,000 private radio broadcast stations (2009)

total:

12,008 km

country comparison to the world: 20

standard gauge:

12,008 km 1.435-m gauge (3,216 km electrified) (2012)

total:

385,748 km

country comparison to the world: 17

paved:

352,268 km (includes 2,127 km of expressways)

unpaved:

33,486 km (2012)

• 21-41 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;
• conscripts are called to register at age 20, for service at 21;
• 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, or who have worked 3 years in foreign countries, may pay $16,200 in lieu of mandatory military service (2013)

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.)

• the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) has incrementally asserted its supremacy over the military since first taking power in 2002 and has reduced the role of the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) in internal security, increasing the responsibility of the Turkish National Police (TNP) in combating its Kurdish insurgency;
• the TSK leadership continues to play a role in politics and considers itself guardian of Turkey's secular state;
• primary domestic threats are listed as fundamentalism (with the definition in some dispute with the civilian government), separatism (Kurdish discontent), 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;

refugees (country of origin):

11,322 (Iraq) (2012); 553,281 (Syria) (2013)

IDPs:

at least 954,000-1.2 million (displaced from 1984-2005 because of fighting between Kurdish PKK and Turkish military; most IDPs are Kurds from eastern and southeastern provinces; no information available on persons displaced by development projects) (2012)

stateless persons:

780 (2012)

• 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