Turkey.

ROLCAM · Posted: Tue Sep 25, 2007 10:48 am Post subject: Turkey.

Turkey is a Middle Eastern nation that lies both in Europe and in Asia. About 3 percent of the country occupies the easternmost tip of southern Europe, a region called Thrace. Istanbul, Turkey's largest city, lies in this region of green, fertile hills and valleys. To the east, the rest of Turkey covers a large, mountainous peninsula called Anatolia or Asia Minor. Anatolia has several large cities, including the capital city of Ankara, and areas of rich farmland. But much of Anatolia is rocky, barren land.

Turkey borders Bulgaria on the northwest; Greece on the west; Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Iran on the east; and Iraq and Syria on the south. The Black Sea lies to the north, the Aegean Sea to the west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the south.

Three bodies of water--the Bosporus, the Sea of Marmara, and the Dardanelles--separate Anatolia from Thrace. These three bodies of water, often called the Straits, have had a major role in the history of Turkey. By its control of the Straits, Turkey can regulate the movement of ships between the Mediterranean Sea and the Black Sea.

Most of Turkey's people live in cities or towns. The rest live on farms or in small villages. Nearly all the people are Muslims (followers of Islam). Turkey is a developing country, and over half of its workers are farmers. However, Turkey's economy has become increasingly industrialized since the mid-1940's. As a result, manufacturing now contributes slightly more to the national income than does agriculture.

Various Asian and European peoples have ruled what is now Turkey since ancient times. During the A.D. 1300's, a group of Muslim Turks called the Ottomans began to build a powerful empire that eventually controlled much of the Middle East, southeastern Europe, and northern Africa. The Ottoman Empire ended in 1922. The next year, Turkey became a republic.

Islamic law had strongly influenced Turkish life for nearly 1,000 years. However, Turkey's new republican government introduced sweeping cultural and political reforms that discouraged or outlawed many traditional Islamic practices. Most of the Turkish people accepted the reforms. However, many others, especially those living in rural areas, resisted the changes. This conflict over the role of Islam in Turkish life continues to divide the nation.

Government

Turkey is a republic. Its Constitution was adopted in 1982, following two years of military rule. It provides for a parliamentary form of government that includes a president, a prime minister and cabinet, and a legislature called the Grand National Assembly. The president, prime minister, and cabinet took office in 1982. The Grand National Assembly was first elected by the Turkish people in 1983.

The president is Turkey's head of state, commander in chief of the armed forces, and the presiding officer at cabinet meetings. The Grand National Assembly elects the president to a seven-year term.

The prime minister and cabinet. The prime minister is Turkey's head of government. The president selects the prime minister from among the most influential members of the legislature. The members of the cabinet, called the Council of Ministers, are nominated by the prime minister and appointed by the president. Cabinet ministers supervise the government departments. The prime minister must submit a proposed government program and the names of all cabinet ministers to the legislature for a vote of confidence. The prime minister and cabinet ministers must resign if the legislature refuses to grant a vote of confidence in their policies.

The Grand National Assembly was given the power by the Constitution to make Turkey's laws, ratify treaties, and declare war.

The Assembly consists of 550 deputies elected by the voters to five-year terms. If the president disapproves of any bill passed by the legislature, the bill is returned to the legislature. If the legislature then repasses the bill, it becomes law.

Court system. Courts throughout Turkey handle commercial disputes, criminal trials, and other cases. The Court of Cassation reviews the decisions of lower courts. The Constitutional Court determines the legality of laws passed by the legislature.

Local government. Turkey is divided into 76 provinces. Each province has a governor appointed by the president and a council elected by the province's people. Provinces are divided into counties, districts, municipalities (communities of 2,000 or more people), and villages.

Political parties. Turkey's major political parties include the Motherland and the True Path parties. The Motherland and True Path parties favor an economic system free of government controls.

Armed forces. About 480,000 men serve in Turkey's army, navy, and air force. Men from 20 to 32 years old may be drafted for 18 months of service.

People

Most of Turkey's people live in cities and towns. The number of urban dwellers has increased rapidly since the 1940's. Hundreds of thousands of people in Turkey have left their farms and villages to seek work in the cities. But the cities do not have enough jobs for all the people. As a result, many Turks have gone abroad to work. Many Turkish citizens work in other parts of the Middle East. Many also work in Australia, Austria, Canada, France, the Netherlands, and Germany.

Ancestry. About 85 percent of Turkey's people are descendants of an Asian people called Turks. Turks began to migrate to Anatolia from central Asia during the A.D. 900's. Kurds form Turkey's largest minority group, with more than 10 percent of the population. Most of them live in the mountainous regions of the southeast.

Turkey also has several smaller minority groups. Arabs, most of whom are farmers, live near the Syrian border. Caucasians--people whose ancestors came from the Caucasus Mountains region just northeast of Turkey--live in the provinces bordering the Black Sea. Greeks and Armenians live in the Istanbul area.

Languages. More than 90 percent of all Turks speak Turkish, the country's official language. About 6 percent speak Kurdish. The rest speak Arabic, Greek, or one of the other languages of the minority groups.

The government began to develop the modern Turkish language during the late 1920's. For hundreds of years, the written language was Ottoman Turkish, a complicated language written in Arabic characters. However, the Arabic alphabet had no letters to represent many sounds used in spoken Turkish. In addition, Ottoman Turkish included words and grammar from the Arabic and Persian languages. Ottoman Turkish was so difficult that only scholars and the ruling class learned to read it. In 1928, the government established a new alphabet and eliminated most foreign words from the language. The government also ordered a language education program throughout the country and outlawed the use of Ottoman Turkish.

Ways of life have changed greatly in Turkey since the 1920's, when a new republican government was established. The government set out to make Turkey a modern state and so began a program to sweep away the customs and traditions of centuries.

Since the 1920's, one of the government's major goals has been to change the status of women in Turkish life. Men have dominated Turkish society for hundreds of years. Before the 1920's, women had almost no civil rights. Parents arranged the marriages of their daughters by means of a contract with the groom's family. The bride had little voice in the matter. In addition, women could not vote and had difficulty getting a divorce. During the 1920's, the government outlawed the arrangement of marriages by contract and made it easier for women to get a divorce. The government also gave women the right to vote and to receive alimony. Today, increased educational opportunities and exposure to Western ideas are gradually improving the position of Turkish women.

The government also tried to bring the Kurds and other tribal people into the mainstream of modern Turkish life. Many Turks, as well as the Kurds, lived in tribal groups as nomads or in isolated communities for centuries. During the 1920's, the government began to force these people to abandon their tribal way of life as a means of modernizing Turkish society. The Kurds revolted against these attempts several times in the 1920's and 1930's. Since then, some Kurds adopted modern Turkish culture while serving in the armed forces or attending school outside areas with large Kurdish populations. Today, almost all nomads have settled in villages in rural areas. They farm or raise livestock.

Housing varies throughout Turkey. Turks who live near the Black Sea build thatch-roofed cottages with timber from nearby forests. In rural areas of Thrace and northeastern Anatolia, many people have replaced their old wooden homes with one-story houses of concrete blocks. Many villagers in central Anatolia live in flat-roofed houses of sun-dried brick. Stone houses are common in southern and western Anatolia.

Most wealthy Turks live in luxurious concrete-block houses on the outskirts of cities or in suburban apartment complexes. Middle-class city dwellers live in old two- and three-story wooden houses or in concrete homes. The rapid growth of industry in the major cities has created a severe housing shortage among workers who moved from rural areas. As a result of the housing shortage, large shantytowns have sprung up at the edges of the cities.

Clothing worn by the people of Turkey changed dramatically during the 1920's. The government discouraged or forbade the wearing of certain garments required by Islamic custom. City dwellers and many rural people then adopted Western clothing styles. However, some Turks in rural areas still cling to Islamic tradition. Only a few men wear the traditional loose-fitting cloak and baggy trousers. But rural women still continue some of the old clothing customs. These women wear a simple blouse and pantaloons. They cover their head and often the lower part of the face with a scarf as a sign of modesty.

Food and drink. Cracked-wheat bread and yogurt are the chief foods of most Turks. Turks also eat much lamb, rice, and eggplant. Turkish cooks are especially famous for their tasty shish kebab, which consists of pieces of lamb, tomatoes, peppers, and onions cooked together on a skewer. They also combine rice with almonds, meat, pine nuts, and raisins in a dish called pilaf.

For snacks, Turks enjoy borek, a flaky pastry stuffed with meat or cheese. A popular dessert is baklava, made of thin layers of pastry, honey, and chopped nuts. Another pastry, kadayif, is made with shredded wheat. Favorite beverages in Turkey include tea, thick coffee flavored with sugar, and a liquor called raki, which is made from raisins.

Recreation. Family outings and celebrations are the most common forms of recreation in Turkey. The people also enjoy drinking coffee or tea at a restaurant with a scenic view. Many men spend their leisure time in coffee houses playing the ancient dice game of backgammon. Archery, horseback riding, soccer, and wrestling are popular sports. A Turkish form of wrestling called greased wrestling is a favorite event at festivals and wrestling matches. Contestants wear tight leather trousers and cover their bodies with olive oil to make the holds more difficult. The Turkish people also enjoy concerts, movies, stage plays, and operas.

Religion. More than 98 percent of the Turkish people are Muslims. However, Turkey has no state religion, and the Constitution guarantees religious freedom. The population thus includes members of the Armenian Apostolic and Greek Orthodox churches, Roman and Eastern Catholics, and Jews.

One of the most controversial issues in Turkey is whether Turkish society should be organized on a worldly or religious basis. Islamic law provides specific rules for all areas of life--economic, political, and social. In the 1920's, the government made religion a private matter, restricting it to personal morals and behavior. But many Turks objected. Today, the dispute continues over what part Islam should have in Turkish life.

Education. Most of Turkey's people 15 years old and older can read and write. For the country's literacy rate, see LITERACY (table: Literacy rates for selected countries). The Turkish government's greatest challenge in education is in rural areas. The government spends about 10 percent of its budget on public education, and much of this money is used for the education of rural people. However, rising costs and a lack of qualified teachers prevent the nation from providing enough schools in rural areas.

Turkish law requires all children to attend a five-year primary school until they graduate or reach the age of 15. But this law is difficult to enforce. After graduation, students may attend a middle school for three years. Some middle-school graduates enter a three-year college-preparatory high school called a lise. Others enroll in a vocational school or enter the work force. Many lise graduates go on to college. Turkey has about 25 universities. Istanbul University, the oldest and largest university in Turkey, was founded in 1453. The university has more than 30,000 students.

The arts. Turkey's most important contribution to the arts is in the field of architecture. In Istanbul stands the great-domed cathedral Hagia Sophia, a classic example of Byzantine architecture. It was built in the A.D. 500's, when Turkey was part of the Byzantine Empire. Turkish mosques (Islamic houses of worship) were built throughout Anatolia during the 1200's. These structures, with their thin minarets (towers), follow the Persian and Arabic style of architecture. Many of Turkey's finest buildings were constructed during the 1400's and the 1500's, when the Ottoman Empire was at its height. A large number were designed by Koca Sinan, who is considered Turkey's greatest architect. His majestic Mosque of Suleiman I in Istanbul is one of the world's most beautiful mosques.

For hundreds of years, Turkish craftworkers have made excellent dishes, bowls, and other objects of ceramics. Richly colored ceramic tiles decorate many mosques and palaces in Turkey. Turkish weavers have long been famous for their elaborately designed rugs. They made many of the first Oriental rugs that were used in Europe.

Most of Turkey's traditional literature is written in the complicated Ottoman Turkish language and deals with religious themes and life during Ottoman rule. Modern Turkish literature centers largely on nationalism, social justice, and folk history. In some works, modern writers include stories from ancient folk dramas about the legendary puppet character Karagoz (Black Eyes). In these folk dramas, the clever Karagoz produces much laughter as he outwits his enemies.

The land

Turkey lies in the northwestern part of the Middle East. Much of Thrace and the coastal areas of Anatolia consist of lowlands and green, rolling plains. A broad expanse of dry highlands called the Anatolian Plateau stretches across central Anatolia. The plateau is bordered by the Pontic Mountains on the north and the Taurus Mountains on the south.

Turkey has several large saltwater lakes and numerous rivers. But most of the rivers dry up during the country's hot, dry summers. In the spring, many rivers in Turkey become torrents as waters from the melting snows rush down from the mountains and overflow the riverbanks.

Turkey can be divided into eight land regions. They are (1) the Northern Plains, (2) the Western Valleys, (3) the Southern Plains, (4) the Western Plateau, (5) the Eastern Plateau, (6) the Northern Mountains, (7) the Southern Mountains, and ( Cool

the Mesopotamian Lowlands.

The Northern Plains cover Thrace and extend along the Black Sea coast of Anatolia. Thrace's gently rolling grasslands make it an important farming and grazing region. Along the Black Sea coast, farmers raise corn, fruits, nuts, and tobacco.

The Western Valleys are broad, fertile river valleys that lie along the coast of the Aegean Sea. The region produces barley, corn, olives, tobacco, and wheat. The value of its crop output exceeds that of any other region in Turkey.

The Southern Plains are a narrow strip of land along the Mediterranean Sea. A great variety of crops, including cereal grains, citrus fruits, cotton, and olives, grow in the region's rich soil. Farmers must irrigate their fields during the hot, dry summer.

The Western Plateau, a region of highlands and scattered river valleys, extends across central Anatolia. The region receives very little rainfall. Farmers raise barley and wheat in the river valleys and wherever irrigation water is available. Goats, sheep, and other livestock graze on uncultivated land.

The Eastern Plateau is a rugged area of towering mountains and barren plains. It extends from the Western Plateau to Turkey's eastern border. The Taurus and Pontic mountains meet in the Eastern Plateau. Mount Ararat, the country's highest point, rises 17,011 feet (5,185 meters) above sea level near the Iranian border. Most of the people who live on the Eastern Plateau have small farms.

The Northern Mountains, or Pontic Mountains, rise between the Northern Plains and the Anatolian Plateau. Only a few roads and railroads connect the plateau with the Black Sea.

The Southern Mountains consist of the Taurus Mountains and several smaller ranges on the southern edge of the Anatolian Plateau. These mountains almost completely cut off the plateau from the Mediterranean Sea.

The Mesopotamian Lowlands consist of fertile plains and river valleys. They are located in southeastern Anatolia. Cereal grains and fruits grow well in the rich soil of this region.

Climate

The climate differs greatly from one region of Turkey to another. Thrace and the south and west coasts of Anatolia have mild, rainy winters and hot, dry summers. Summer temperatures along the Aegean often rise above 90 °F (32 °C). The Black Sea coast has cooler summers, with an average temperature of about 72 °F (22 °C). Yearly rainfall in coastal areas averages from 20 to 30 inches (51 to 76 centimeters) along the Aegean and Mediterranean to more than 100 inches (254 centimeters) near the Black Sea.

Northeastern Turkey has mild summers but bitterly cold winters. Temperatures sometimes fall to -40 °F (-40 °C). Southeastern Turkey and the interior of Anatolia have cold winters with heavy snowstorms. Summers are hot, windy, and extremely dry.

Economy

Turkey has a developing economy. When the republican government came to power in the 1920's, Turkey was almost entirely an agricultural country. Under the direction of the Turkish government, the number of factories increased from 118 in 1923 to more than 1,000 in 1941.

Today, Turkey has over 30,000 factories. But agriculture remains an important economic activity. It provides jobs for about 58 per cent of the country's workers. However, farm output accounts for only about 20 per cent of the value of all goods and services produced in Turkey. Manufacturing employs only around 11 per cent of all workers, but the value of industrial production exceeds that of agricultural output.

The national government has long been heavily involved in many aspects of Turkey's economy. The government has owned much of the country's transportation and communications industries, and it has controlled other industries as well. However, private companies have become increasingly important. During the late 1980's, the government began a program to reduce its ownership of industries and to allow more private control of companies.

Agriculture. Turkey's most productive farmlands are in the coastal regions, which have fertile soil and a mild climate. Farmers on the desertlike Anatolian Plateau raise wheat and barley. However, the plateau region often has long droughts that cause serious losses of crops.

In most years, Turkey's farmers produce enough food for all the people plus a surplus to sell abroad. About 50 per cent of the cropland is used for grains. Wheat is the chief grain, followed by barley and corn. Large amounts of cotton are grown for both fiber and cottonseed oil. Tobacco, a major export, is grown along the Black and Aegean seas. Turkey is a major producer of fruits, nuts, and vegetables, including apples, eggplants, grapes and raisins, hazelnuts, melons, oranges, potatoes, sugar beets, and tomatoes. Turks also raise sheep, goats, and other livestock. Wool is Turkey's most valuable livestock product.

Manufacturing. Turkey's largest manufacturing industries are the processing of food and beverages and the production of textiles. Other leading manufactured products include fertilizers, iron and steel, machinery and metal products, motor vehicles, and pulp and paper products. Most factories and mills are in and around the large cities of northern and western Turkey.

Mining. Turkey is rich in mineral resources, but the mining industry is largely undeveloped. The country's most abundant mineral is coking coal, which is used in steelmaking. Turkey is one of the world's largest producers of chromite, the mineral from which chromium is obtained. The nation also produces and refines petroleum. Other minerals produced in Turkey include bauxite; boron; copper; iron ore; and meerschaum, a soft, white mineral that is used to make jewelry and tobacco pipes.

Foreign trade. The government's program to speed Turkey's industrial growth requires the nation to export as many products as possible and import large quantities of machinery and raw materials. The nation spends more money for these and other imports than it receives for its exports. As a result, Turkey has an unfavorable balance of trade. Turkey's chief imports include chemicals, machinery, iron and steel, motor vehicles, and petroleum. The country's major exports include clothing and textiles, cotton, fruits, nuts, and tobacco. Turkey's main trading partner is Germany. Other leading partners include France, Great Britain, Iran, Iraq, Italy, and the United States.

Transportation and communication. Turkey's road network reaches almost all the nation's towns. But many roads are unpaved. Less than 2 per cent of the people own automobiles. Most Turks use buses, trains, or taxis. The railroad system links the country's chief cities. Government-owned Turkish Airlines serves many cities in Turkey, Europe, and the Middle East. Istanbul and Ankara have international airports. Turkey has many fine natural harbors. Istanbul and Izmir are the country's primary ports.

Turkey has more than 1,000 daily newspapers, representing many different political views. The government sometimes restricts what newspapers may print. Most Turkish families own a radio. Turkey has an average of about 1 television set for every 10 people.

History

Archaeologists have found evidence of an advanced society in what is now Turkey before 6000 B.C. The first inhabitants of the area to be recorded in history were a people called the Hittites. About 2000 B.C., they began to migrate to central Anatolia from Europe or central Asia. During the next several hundred years, they conquered much of Anatolia and parts of Mesopotamia and Syria. By 1500 B.C., the Hittites had created a powerful empire that made them the leading rulers of the Middle East. See HITTITES.

From about 1200 to 500 B.C., large areas of Anatolia fell to the Phrygians, the Lydians, and other peoples. During the same period, the Greeks founded many city-states along Anatolia's Aegean coast. Between about 550 and 513 B.C., the Persian Empire seized control of Anatolia and Thrace. The Persians held control until Alexander the Great of Macedonia crushed their army in 331 B.C. After Alexander's death in 323 B.C., Anatolia became a battleground in the wars among his successors. Small kingdoms rose and fell until 63 B.C., when the Roman general Pompey conquered the region. Anatolia was at peace under Roman rule for nearly 400 years.

In A.D. 330, the Roman emperor Constantine the Great moved the capital from Rome to the ancient town of Byzantium in Thrace. Byzantium was renamed Constantinople, meaning city of Constantine. In 395, the Roman Empire split into two parts--the East Roman Empire, which included Anatolia and Thrace, and the West Roman Empire. Barbarians conquered the West Roman Empire in the mid-400's. But the East Roman Empire, also called the Byzantine Empire, thrived. Byzantine emperors thus came to rule all of what is now Turkey until the late 1000's. See BYZANTINE EMPIRE.

The Seljuk Turks became one of the first Turkish peoples to rule in Turkey. The Seljuks were Muslims from central Asia east of the Caspian Sea. During the mid-1000's, they conquered Armenia; the Holy Land, or Palestine; and most of Iran. Then they invaded Anatolia. In 1071, the Seljuks destroyed most of the Byzantine power in Anatolia by defeating the Byzantine army in the Battle of Manzikert. They set up an empire with Iconium (now Konya) as the capital. From this point onward, the Christian religion and the Greek language of the Byzantine Empire were gradually replaced in Anatolia by Islam and the Turkish language.

In 1095, Christians in Western Europe organized the first of a series of military expeditions called the Crusades to drive the Turks from the Holy Land (see CRUSADES). During the First Crusade (1096-1099), Christian troops defeated the Seljuk Turks in western Anatolia. As a result, the Byzantine Empire recovered about a third of Anatolia. But the crusaders then left the peninsula to fight in the Holy Land. The Seljuk Empire thus endured until 1243, when it was invaded by Asian nomads known as Mongols (see MONGOL EMPIRE).

The rise of the Ottoman Empire. The Mongol Empire was torn by internal struggles and soon fell apart. As a result, the Turks' influence in Anatolia continued to grow. During the 1300's, a group of Turks called the Ottomans began to build a mighty empire. In 1326, they seized the Anatolian city of Bursa, which became their capital. By the late 1300's, the Ottomans had conquered the western two-thirds of Anatolia; most of Thrace; and much of the Balkan Peninsula, including Greece. All that remained of the Byzantine Empire was the area around Constantinople.

In 1453, Ottoman forces led by Muhammad II captured Constantinople, ending the Byzantine Empire. The Ottomans called the city Istanbul and made it their capital. By 1481, their empire extended from the Danube River in Europe to southern Anatolia.

The Ottoman Empire reached its height in the 1500's. During the reign of Sultan Bayezid II, who ruled from 1481 to 1512, the empire became the leading naval power in the Mediterranean region. Ottoman forces conquered Syria in 1516 and Egypt in 1517. Suleiman I, whom Europeans called the Magnificent, ruled from 1520 to 1566. In 1526, his army conquered much of Hungary in the Battle of Mohacs. Suleiman also expanded the empire's borders to Yemen on the south, Morocco on the west, and Persia on the east.

The start of the Ottoman decline. After the Battle of Mohacs, European powers feared that the Ottomans would overrun Europe. However, European forces successfully defended Vienna, Austria, during an Ottoman attack in 1529. In 1571, European fleets defeated the Ottoman navy in the Battle of Lepanto, near Greece. The Ottomans again failed to capture Vienna in 1683.

During the 1700's, the Ottoman Empire continued to weaken. In 1774, the Ottomans lost a six-year war against Russia and were forced to allow Russian ships to pass through the Straits--the Turkish waters that link the Black Sea with the Mediterranean. The Ottoman Empire lost the Crimea, a peninsula in the Black Sea, to Russia in 1783.

"The Sick Man of Europe," as the Ottoman Empire came to be called, lost more territory during the 1800's. In 1821, Greek nationalists revolted against Ottoman rule. France, Britain, and Russia sided with the Greeks and sent forces to fight the Ottomans (see GREECE [History]). The Treaty of Adrianople (Edirne) ended the fighting in 1829. This treaty acknowledged the independence of Greece and gave Russia control of the mouth of the Danube River. The Ottomans also lost other Balkan territory in a series of wars with Russia (see RUSSO-TURKISH WARS). But European powers forced Russia to give up much of its gains at the Congress of Berlin in 1878. The Ottoman Empire continued to decline, however. The empire had lost Algeria to France in 1830, and France seized Tunisia in 1881. Britain gained Cyprus in 1878 and Egypt in 1882.

Ottoman leaders tried to halt the empire's decline through a reform program. They reorganized the military and improved the educational system. In 1876, the empire's first constitution was adopted. It provided for representative government and granted the people various freedoms. However, Sultan Abdul-Hamid II, who came to the throne the same year, set the constitution aside and ruled as a dictator. Government policies became increasingly violent, and Abdul-Hamid ruled by the use of fear. Religious persecution began to spread as members of various religious minorities became revolutionaries. Nationalist feelings were strong among the minorities. Ottoman officials, fearing further collapse of the already declining empire, reacted harshly. Violent attacks took place. Between 1894 and 1918, the Christian Armenians in the Ottoman Empire suffered an especially large loss of life (see ARMENIA [History]).

The Young Turks. During the late 1890's, small groups of Turkish students and military officers who opposed Abdul-Hamid's harsh policies banded together secretly. The most influential group was the Young Turks. In 1908, the Young Turks led an army revolt against Abdul-Hamid and forced him to restore constitutional government. But the sultan soon staged an unsuccessful counterrevolution, and the Young Turks made him give up the throne in 1909. They then ruled the empire through his brother Muhammad V.

The Young Turks wanted to restore the greatness of the Ottoman Empire. However, many Turkish people no longer cared about the idea of maintaining an empire. In addition, the empire's Christian minorities demanded freedom from Ottoman rule. And so the empire continued to crumble. Soon after the revolution in 1908, Bulgaria declared its independence, and Austria-Hungary annexed Bosnia-Herzegovina. Italy took Libya in 1912. In 1913, the Ottoman Empire surrendered Crete, part of Macedonia, southern Epirus, and many Aegean islands to Greece. By 1914, the empire had lost all its European territory except eastern Thrace.

In 1914, the Ottoman Empire entered World War I on the side of Germany and Austria-Hungary in an attempt to regain lost territory. In 1915, British, French, and other Allied troops tried to gain control of the Straits so that aid could be shipped to Russia. The Ottomans drove back the invaders, dealing the Allies a crushing defeat. However, the Allies won the war in 1918.

After World War I, the Allies set out to break up the Ottoman Empire. Allied troops occupied Istanbul and the Straits. In May 1919, Greek troops, protected by Allied fleets, landed at the Turkish port of Izmir. The Greeks then advanced into the country. The Turks deeply resented the Ottoman government's inability to defend their homeland.

Mustafa Kemal, a Turkish military hero, quickly organized a nationalist movement. Under the leadership of Kemal, a nationalist congress met in Sivas in September to form a new provisional (temporary) government. In April 1920, the congress organized the Turkish Grand National Assembly in Ankara and elected Kemal as Assembly president.

In August 1920, the sultan's government signed the harsh Treaty of Sevres with the Allies (see SEVRES, TREATY OF). The treaty granted independence to some parts of the empire and gave other parts to various Allied powers. The empire was reduced to Istanbul and a portion of Anatolia. As a result of the treaty, the sultan's popularity among the Turks declined further, while the power of Kemal and the nationalists grew. In September 1922, the nationalist forces finally drove the Greeks from the country. The Grand National Assembly then abolished the office of sultan, and the Allies agreed to draw up a new peace treaty with the nationalists. The Treaty of Lausanne, signed in 1923, set Turkey's borders about where they are today.

The republic of Turkey. The Grand National Assembly proclaimed Turkey to be a republic on Oct. 29, 1923, and elected Kemal as president. Kemal and other nationalist leaders believed that the new nation could not survive without sweeping social changes.

During the 1920's and 1930's, the government did away with such Islamic traditions as the Arabic alphabet, Muslim schools, the Islamic legal system, and the wearing of the veil by women and the fez by men. It abolished the religious and civil office of the caliph. It also outlawed polygyny, the practice of having more than one wife at the same time. Women received the right to vote and to hold public office. All Turks were required to choose a family name. At the same time, the Grand National Assembly gave Kemal his surname--Ataturk, which means father of the Turks.

Ataturk held enormous political power. He controlled the Assembly and could appoint and dismiss the prime minister and cabinet without its approval. However, some Turks opposed Ataturk's anti-Islamic policies. The Kurds revolted against them in 1925, but the government put down the uprising.

Ataturk served as Turkey's president until he died in 1938. Ismet Inonu then became president. Under Inonu's leadership, Turkey avoided entering World War II (1939-1945) until February 1945, when Germany's defeat seemed certain. Turkey joined the United Nations (UN) the same year.

After World War II, the Soviet Union demanded control of territory in eastern Turkey and the right to build military bases along the Straits. Turkish leaders turned to the Western powers for help. In 1947, U.S. President Harry Truman announced the Truman doctrine, under which the United States would provide aid to any country threatened by Communism. The United States gave Turkey millions of dollars in economic and military aid. In return for this help, Turkey allowed the United States to build and operate military bases on Turkish soil.

The Republican People's Party, established by Ataturk, had governed Turkey since the establishment of the republic. However, in 1950, the Democrat Party won a majority in the Grand National Assembly. Celal Bayar became president, and Adnan Menderes became prime minister. Unlike the Republicans, the Democrats encouraged foreign investments and wanted less government control of the economy. But by the late 1950's, a rise in the national debt and restrictions on freedom of speech had made the Democrat government unpopular.

The 1960's. Turkish military forces believed that the Democrat government had strayed too far from Ataturk's political principles. In 1960, army units led by General Cemal Gursel seized control of the government and set up a provisional government. The military placed many former government leaders on trial. Prime Minister Menderes was hanged. President Bayar was sentenced to life imprisonment but was later released.

In 1961, Turkey adopted a new Constitution. The provisional government then held free national elections. No party won a majority in the legislature. Inonu, of the Republican People's Party, was chosen to become prime minister. In 1965, the Justice Party won a majority, and party leader Suleyman Demirel became prime minister.

The Cyprus crisis. During the 1960's, Turkey and Greece nearly went to war over the issue of the Mediterranean island of Cyprus. In 1964 and 1967, fighting broke out on Cyprus between the island's Turkish minority and Greek majority. Both Turkey and Greece threatened to intervene before outside peacemakers arranged a settlement. But in 1974, Greek military officers overthrew the president of Cyprus. Turkish troops then invaded the island and captured much territory. The Turks on Cyprus later set up a separate government. The Turks declared the captured territory an autonomous (self-governing) region in 1975, and an independent republic in 1983. But Greek Cypriots protested strongly against these measures. See CYPRUS (History).

Political unrest. In the late 1960's, radical groups of Turks began staging such terrorist acts as bombings, kidnappings, and murders in an attempt to overthrow the government. In the 1970's, deep divisions developed between secular and religious groups. Since the mid-1970's, much fighting has taken place between the two sides, and terrorist acts have continued. Since 1984, the government has fought Kurdish rebels in the southeast, where the rebels want to form an independent state.

In 1971, Prime Minister Demirel resigned under pressure from the military. A series of prime ministers then failed to form a stable government. In 1975, Demirel again became prime minister. In the late 1970's, the office passed back and forth between Demirel and Bulent Ecevit of the Republican People's Party several times. Demirel became prime minister in November 1979. In 1980, army leaders took control of the government and greatly reduced the civil disorder.

Recent developments. A new Constitution was adopted in 1982. Turkey returned to civilian rule in 1983 when parliamentary elections were held. From then until 1991, the Motherland Party controlled the government. In elections held in 1991, the True Path party won the most legislative seats and formed a coalition government with the Social Democratic Populist Party. Suleyman Demirel, who had become leader of the True Path, again became prime minister. The National Assembly elected Demirel as president in 1993. Tansu Ciller of the True Path party then became prime minister. She was Turkey's first woman prime minister.

In elections held in late 1995, the Welfare (Refah) Party, a pro-Islamic party, won the most seats in the legislature, though not a majority. At first, secular parties tried to block Welfare from forming a government. In June 1996, however, the Welfare and True Path parties agreed to form a coalition government. Necmettin Erbakan, the Welfare Party leader, became prime minister. He was the first person from an Islamic party to head the government since Turkey became a republic in 1923. But in 1997, the coalition lost its parliamentary majority, and Erbakan resigned under pressure from the military. Mesut Yilmaz, leader of the Motherland Party, replaced Erbakan as prime minister. In 1998, Turkey's Constitutional Court banned the Welfare Party. The court ruled that the party's Islamic policies represented a threat to the secular basis of the Turkish republic.
_________________
Roland Camilleri

Moderator

Sydney , Australia.