REPUBLIC OF TURKEY

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REPUBLIC OF TURKEY
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COUNTRY PROFILE

• The lands of Turkey are located at a point where
  Asia, Africa and Europe are closest to each
  other, and straddle the point where Europe and
  Asia meet (video!)
• Turkey, as a country roughly rectangular in
  shape, it is a peninsula
  
• Because of its geographical location, the
  mainland of Anatolia has always found favor
  throughout history,
  
• It is the birthplace of many great civilizations
• It has also been prominent as a center of
  commerce because of its land connections to three
  continents and the sea surrounding it on three
  sides.

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• Turkey has two European and six Asian countries
  for neighbors along its land borders.
  
• Turkey is generally divided into seven regions
  the Black Sea region, the Marmara region, the
  Aegean, the Mediterranean, Central Anatolia, the
  East and Southeast Anatolia regions
• Marmara has the highest population density of all
  the regions.
  
• There are significant differences between the
  coastal areas and those inland, in terms of both
  geographical features and economic and social
  aspects

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HISTORY OF TURKS AND TURKEYHistory before the
establishment of the Republic of Turkey in 1923

• The beginning of Turkish history is two thousand
  B.C.
  
• Huns Pechenegs
• Gokturks Cumans
• Uigurs Karahanids
• Kyrgyzs
  Ghaznayids...etc.
  
• Bulgarian Turks Seljuks
• Avars Ottoman Empire
  
  
• Khazars

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OTTOMAN EMPIRE (1299-1923)

• Following the weakening of the Anatolian Seljuk
  State, several beylics from various Turkish
  tribes emerged in Anatolia
  
• The Ottoman Beylic succeeded
• The Ottomans who fought against the neighboring
  Byzantine State
  
• They captured Constantinople (Istanbul) in 1453
  during the reign of Sultan Mehmed II

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• During the reign of Süleyman (1520-1566) the
  Magnificent, The borders of the Empire extended
  from the Crimea in the North to Yemen and Sudan
  in the South, and from Iran and the Caspian Sea
  in the East to Vienna in the Northwest and Spain
  in the Southwest
• However, the Ottoman Empire lost its economic and
  military superiority vis-à-vis Europe
  

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• Europe developed rapidly with the Renaissance and
  the geographical discoveries starting with the
  sixteenth century
  
• The First Constitutional Period in 1876, which
  coincided with the reign of Sultan Abdülhamid II
  (1876-1909)
  
• It provided a constitution in the Western model
  for the first time

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• The territories of the Ottoman State, which had
  allied with Germany in the First World War
  (1914-1918), were occupied by Britain, France,
  Russia and Greece following the Mondros Armistice
  signed in 1918
• The occupation of the homeland and the
  helplessness of the Istanbul government left no
  other choice but resistance for the Turkish
  people in Anatolia and Thrace

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The National War of Independence (1919-1923)

• The National War of Independence was an effort to
  create a new state from the ruins of an Empire
  which had completed its life.
  
• the proclamation of the Republic in 1923
• Mustafa Kemal Ataturk is the new leader

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Ataturk father of the Turks
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The Reforms by Atatürk

• 1. Political Reforms
• Abolishment of the Sultanate (1 November 1922)
• Declaration of the Republic (29 October 1923)
• Abolishment of Caliphate (3 March 1924)

• Social Reforms
• Women were given equal rights with men
  (1926-1934)
  
• The Reform of Headgear and Outfit (25 November
  1925)
  
• Closing of dervish lodges and shrines (30
  November 1925)
  
• The surname law (21 June 1934)
• Abolishment of nicknames, pious and royal titles
  (26 November 1934)
  
• Adoption of the International calendar, time and
  measurements (1925-1931)
  

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• Educational and Cultural Reforms
• Adoption of the new Turkish alphabet (1 November
  1928)
  
• Establishment of the Turkish Language and
  Historical Societies (1931-1932)
  
• Organization of the university education (31 May
  1933)
  
• Introduction of modern fine arts

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STATE SYSTEM POLITICS

• The Republic of Turkey is a democratic, secular
  and social state
  
• Loyalty to the nationalism of Ataturk
• The official language of the Turkish State is
  Turkish
  
• The capital is Ankara
• Sovereignty is vested in the nation

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The Republican Era Constitutions

• The 1924 Constitution
• The 1961 Constitution
• The 1982 Constitution
• unconditional and unrestricted sovereignty is
  vested in the nation
  
• The people exercise their sovereignty directly
  through elections, and indirectly through the
  authorized organs within the framework of the
  principles laid down in the Constitution
• The legislative, executive and judiciary are the
  organs which use sovereignty

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LEGISLATIVE BRANCH

• The legislative power is vested in both the
  Government and the Grand National Assembly of
  Turkey (TBMM) (550-seat)
  
• Members are elected for a five year term
• Election threshold is 10
• Political parties deemed anti-secular or
  separatist by the judiciary can be banned.
  

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EXECUTIVE BRANCH

• Executive power and functions are exercised and
  carried out by the Government, President of the
  Republic, (Prime Minister) and the Council of
  Ministers, in conformity with the Constitution
  and the laws
• A president is elected every seven years by the
  Grand National Assembly
  
• The Prime Minister is elected by the parliament
  through a vote of confidence in his government
  

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• The ministers are selected by the Prime Minister
  and all are appointed by the President
  
• The President may dismiss Ministers upon the
  proposal of the Prime Minister
  
• The Turkish Grand National Assembly may cause the
  government to fall by vote of no-confidence, and
  the President has the power to seek renewal of
  the elections

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JUDICIAL BRANCH

• Judicial power is exercised by independent courts
  and it is independent of the executive and the
  legislature
  

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• The power of the legislative and executive
  powers, are limited and balanced with the
  judiciary as the result of the principle of the
  supremacy of law
• Legislative procedures and activities, and
  procedures of execution are dependent on judicial
  control
  
• The Constitution is equipped with the rules which
  guarantee this system

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• Political parties are indispensable components
  of democratic life. However, the Constitution
  guarantees the independence of the State, the
  inseparable unity of the country and nation, the
  national sovereignty, advocacy of the freedom of
  democracy, secularism, human rights and freedoms
  and the principle of the legal state. It also
  foresees the closing, by the Constitutional
  Court, of the political parties which have
  regulations, programs or activities that are in
  violation of these principles and components.

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President and Prime Minister

• President- Abdullah Gul

• Prime Minister- Recep Tayyip Erdogan

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TURKISH ELECTROL SYSTEM
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Political Parties

• AK Parti (Justice and Development Party) 46.76
  of the vote
  
• CHP (The Republican People's Party) 20.64
• MHP (Nationalist Action Party) 14.33
• Independents (Pro-Kurdish Democratic Society
  Party)
  
• SP (Happiness Party)

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FOREIGN POLICY

• Turkey is a member of the following International
  and Regional Organizations
  
• the United Nations
• the Council of Europe
• the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)
• the Organization for Economic Cooperation and
  Development (OECD)
  
• the Organization for Security and Cooperation in
  Europe (OSCE)
  
• the World Trade Organization (WTO)
• the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC)
• the Black Sea Economic Cooperation Organization
  (BSEC)
  
• the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO)
• the Developing 8 (D-8)
• membership process of accession to the EUetc.

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TURKEY The EU

• in 1999, where Turkey was officially recognized
  as a candidate state destined to join the Union
  on the basis of the same criteria applied to the
  other candidates
• On 17 December, 2004 the Brussels European
  Council, concurring with the recommendation of
  the Commission, pronounced the decision that the
  European Union would open accession negotiations
  with Turkey, on 3 October 2005.
• 3 October, 2005, full membership negotiations
  started
  
• There are 33 negotiations chapters.

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TURKEY CYPRUS

• The political resolve demonstrated by Turkey for
  a settlement paved the way for a renewed
  initiative by the former UN Secretary General Mr.
  Kofi Annan.
• Annan Plan was an opportunity to end the division
  of Cyprus
  
• the Turkish Cypriots, for the sake of a
  compromise and settlement, overwhelmingly voted
  in favor of the Annan Plan, 65 YES
  
• the Greek Cypriots, rejected the solution with a
  No vote of 76,

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TERRORISM-PKK

• Terrorism, whether carried out individually or
  collectively, poses a serious threat to
  international peace and security
  
• 1984, Turkey has experienced the terrorism
  perpetrated by the PKK (Kurdistan Workers Party)
  
• Abdullah Ocalan is the leader of this terrorist
  group
  
• the serious threat to Turkeys security posed by
  PKK terrorist organization harbored in north of
  Iraq continues unabated and creates a source of
  contention with this neighboring country
• European Union in May 2002 included PKK as a
  separatist/terrorist organization