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:

1.02 male(s)/female

65 years and over:

0.84 male(s)/female

total population:

1.02 male(s)/female (2014 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)

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 [Gultekin UYSAL]
• Felicity Party or SP [Mustafa KAMALAK] (sometimes translated as Contentment Party)
• Freedom and Solidarity Party or ODP [Alper TAS]
• Grand Unity Party or BBP [Mustafa DESTICI]
• Independent Turkey Party or BTP [Haydar BAS]
• 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 Democracy Party or HDP [Sebahat TUNCEL]
• Republican People's Party or CHP [Kemal KILICDAROGLU]

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 [Muharrem YILMAZ]
• Turkish Union of Chambers of Commerce and Commodity Exchanges or TOBB [M. Rifat HISARCIKLIOGLU]

chief of mission:

Ambassador Sedar KILIC (since 21 May 1014)

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)

major seaport(s):

Aliaga, Ambarli, Diliskelesi, Eregli, Izmir, Kocaeli (Izmit), Mersin (Icel), Limani, Yarimca

container port(s) (TEUs):

Ambarli (2,121,549), Mersin (Icel) (1,126,866)

• 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 actively pursued the goal of asserting civilian control over the military since first taking power in 2002;
• the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) role in internal security has been significantly reduced;
• the TSK leadership continues to be an influential institution within Turkey, but plays a much smaller role in politics;
• the Turkish military remains focused on the threats emanating from the Syrian civil war, Russia's actions in Ukraine, and the PKK insurgency;
• 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 in Iraq;
• 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 including in Afghanistan;
• 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;
• Turkey is a NATO ally and hosts NATO's Land Forces Command in Izmir, as well as the AN/TPY-2 radar as part of NATO Missile Defense (2014)

• 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):

13,467 (Iraq) (2013); 783,065 (Syria) (2014)

IDPs:

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