Country profile: Turkey
Story from BBC NEWS:
/country_profiles/1022222.stm
Published: 2009/03/05 16:25:12 GMT
Once the centre of the Ottoman Empire, the modern secular republic was
established in the 1920s by nationalist leader Kemal Ataturk.
Straddling the continents of Europe and Asia, Turkey’s strategic
location has given it major influence in the region – and control over
the entrance to the Black Sea.
After years of mounting difficulties which brought the country close to
economic collapse, a tough recovery programme was agreed with the IMF
in 2002. Since then, Turkey has seen impressive progress. Economic
growth has been strong and inflation has fallen dramatically. However,
huge foreign debt remains a major burden.
Turkey’s powerful military – which sees itself as the guardian of the
secular system – has a long history of involvement in politics.
In recent years, as Ankara has set its sights firmly on European Union
membership, the profile of the military has been lower in public life.
However, the military questioned the government’s commitment to
secularism in the run-up to presidential elections in 2007, amid a
stand-off between the Islamist-rooted administration and secularists.
The army warned that it would defend Turkey’s secular system.
The latest step in the stand-off with the secularists came in March
2008, when the Constitutional Court only narrowly rejected a petition
by the chief prosecutor to ban the governing Justice and Development
Party and 71 of its officials, including President Abdullah Gul and
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, for allegedly seeking to establish
an Islamic state.
Turkey has long been at odds with its close neighbour, Greece, over
territorial disputes in the Aegean and the divided island of Cyprus.
It became an EU candidate country in 1999 and, in line with EU
requirements, went on to introduce substantial human rights and
economic reforms. The death penalty was abolished, tougher measures
were brought in against torture and the penal code was overhauled.
Reforms were introduced in the areas of women’s rights and Kurdish
culture, language, education and broadcasting. Women’s rights activists
have said the reforms do not go far enough and have accused the
government of lacking full commitment to equality and acting only under
EU pressure.
After intense bargaining, EU membership talks were launched in October
2005. Accession negotiations are expected to take about 10 years. So
far, the going has not been easy.
The breakthrough came just weeks after Turkey agreed to recognise
Cyprus as an EU member and despite unfavourable comment over its
declaration that this was not tantamount to full diplomatic
recognition.
Turkey is home to a sizeable Kurdish minority, which by some estimates
constitutes up to a fifth of the population. However, they complain
that the government has tried to destroy their Kurdish identity and
that they suffer economic disadvantage and human rights violations.
The Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), the best known and most radical of
the Kurdish movements, launched a guerilla campaign in 1984 for an
ethnic homeland in the predominantly Kurdish southeast. Thousands died
and hundreds of thousands became refugees in the conflict between the
PKK and the army in the 1980s and 1990s.
The past few years have seen an upsurge in rebel attacks, which had
subsided after the 1999 capture of the group’s leader, Abdullah Ocalan.
The PKK is considered a terrorist group in Turkey, the US and the
European Union.
Full name: Republic of Turkey
Population: 75.8 million (UN, 2008)
Capital: Ankara
Largest city: Istanbul
Area: 779,452 sq km (300,948 sq miles)
Major language: Turkish
Major religion: Islam
Life expectancy: 69 years (men), 74 years (women) (UN)
Monetary unit: Turkish lira
Main exports: Clothing and textiles, fruit and vegetables, iron and
steel, motor vehicles and machinery, fuels and oils
GNI per capita: US $8,020 (World Bank, 2007)
Internet domain: .tr
International dialling code: +90
President: Abdullah Gul
Abdullah Gul was chosen as president by parliament in August 2007,
after months of controversy over his nomination. He is Turkey’s first
head of state with a background in political Islam in a country with
strong secularist principles.
The months leading to his eventual election saw street demonstrations,
an opposition boycott of parliament, early parliamentary elections and
warnings from the army, which has ousted four governments since 1960.
Turkish secularists, including army generals, opposed Gul’s nomination,
fearing he will try to undermine Turkey’s strict separation of state
and religion. Secularists also do not want Turkey’s First Lady to wear
the Muslim headscarf.
The army top brass and the main opposition Republican People’s Party,
stayed away from Mr Gul’s swearing-in ceremony.
Mr Gul started in politics in an Islamist party that was banned by the
courts, but later renounced the idea that Islam should be a driving
force in politics. In 2001, along with other moderate members of the
Islamist movement, he founded the Justice and Development Party (AK
Party) and distanced himself from his past political leanings.
The party won elections in 2002 and Mr Gul served as stand-in prime
minister before stepping aside for Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Mr Gul served
as foreign minister under Mr Erdogan and cultivated an image as a
moderate politician, acting as an impassioned voice for reforms to
promote Turkey’s EU bid.
The government holds most power but the president can veto laws,
appoint officials, and name judges. The post carries moral weight as it
was first held by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk (Father of Turks), who ushered
in secularism and Western-style reforms in the 1920s.
Voters in a referendum in October 2007 backed plans to have future
presidents elected by the people instead of by parliament.
Prime minister : Recep Tayyip Erdogan
Tayyip Erdogan, who became premier in March 2003, led his Justice and
Development Party (AK Party) to victory in the July 2007 elections.
Erdogan called the poll early after the army-backed secular elite
blocked his choice of an ex-Islamist ally as the next president.
The AK Party boosted its share of the vote in the 2007 parliamentary
elections to 47% despite opposition efforts to portray his pro-business
party, which has Islamist roots, as a Trojan horse set to turn Turkey
into an Iran-style theocracy.
Mr Erdogan first became prime minister several months after his party’s
landslide election victory in November 2002.
He had been barred from standing in the poll because of a previous
criminal conviction for reading an Islamist poem at a political rally.
Changes to the constitution paved the way for him to run for parliament
in 2003.
He identified EU entry as a top priority and introduced reforms which
paved the way for the opening of membership talks in October 2005.
Although the AK has Islamist roots, he insists that it is committed to
a secular state. From a lowly background, Mr Erdogan worked as a street
seller to help pay for an education. He attended Koranic school before
studying economics at university.
As mayor of Istanbul in the mid 1990s he banned alcohol in municipal
buildings and won popularity for improving services.
Turkey’s airwaves are lively, with some 300 private TV stations – more
than a dozen of them with national coverage – and more than 1,000
private radio stations competing with the state broadcaster, TRT.
Powerful businesses operate many of the press and broadcasting outlets;
they include the Dogan group, the leading media conglomerate.
For journalists, the subjects of the military, Kurds and political
Islam are highly sensitive and can lead to arrest and criminal
prosecution. Media watchdogs and rights groups report that journalists
have been imprisoned, or attacked by police. It is also common for
radio and TV stations to have their broadcasts suspended for airing
sensitive material.
Some of the most repressive sanctions against journalists have been
lifted as part of reforms intended to meet EU entry requirements. But
the Paris-based watchdog Reporters Without Borders noted in 2006 that
journalists were "still at the mercy of arbitrary court decisions".
An article in the penal code makes it a crime to insult Turkish
national identity. It has been used to prosecute journalists and
publishers.
Kurdish-language broadcasts, banned for many years, were introduced by
the state broadcaster in June 2004 as a part of reforms intended to
meet EU criteria on minorities. Some overseas-based Kurdish TV channels
broadcast via satellite.
The press
Hurriyet – mass-circulation daily
Milliyet – mass-circulation daily
Cumhuriyet – left-wing daily
Turkish Daily News – English-language
The New Anatolian – English-language
Today’s Zaman – English-language version of daily
Yeni Asir – daily
Sabah – daily, English-language pages
Television
Turkish Radio and Television (TRT) – state broadcaster, operates four
national networks
Star TV – private, the first station to break state TV’s monopoly
Show TV – private, widely-watched network
Kanal D – private, widely-watched network
ATV – private
TGRT – private
NTV – private
CNN Turk – Turkish offshoot of well-known news channel
Radio
Turkish Radio and Television (TRT) – state broadcaster, services
include cultural/educational network TRT 1, popular music network TRT 3
and Turkish folk/classical music station TRT 4
Kral FM – popular private network
Super FM – popular private network
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
