Modern Face of TURKEY

Modern Turkey is a very young and dynamic country. In 1923 Turkey became a republic.

  This was brought about under the   leadership of Ataturk who became   Turkey’s president after the   collapse of the old autocratic   system (Ottoman Empire).
  Turkey is a peninsula surrounded   by the Mediterranean, the Agean   and the Black Sea. Partly   mountainous and partly plains ,it   possesses natural wealth in great   variety.Thanks to her geographical   location, Turkey experiences all   four seasons at once. Live the   pleasure of swimming in   South sea   after skiingin in  North.

Turkey’s land mass is 780.000 sq.km. with 97 per cent in Asia (the Anatolian plateau) and 3 per cent in Europe.The European and Asian parts are divided by the Istanbul Straits(Bosphorus) and the Canakkale Straits(Dardanelles).
The Anatolia region is a high plateau where the altitude is 1.100 meters rising progressively to the east where its highest peaks, Agrı Dag (MountArarat,5165m) and Suphan Dag(4434 m.) can be found and it is divided by the valleys of about fifteen rivers including the famed rivers of Mesopotamia, the Euphrates(Fırat) and Tigris(Dicle) arising in East Anatolia.
Anatolia has been the cradle for many cultures and is a region where various tribes intermingled. The Hittite,Assyrian, Sumerians,Phrygian, Roman, Byzantine, Seljuk and the Ottoman cultures were gathered together here .Thus, Turkey is one of the world’s richest areas culturally.It is a fantastic land lying between the east and west,where the old and new live side by side.

The huge Ataturk Dam, the world’s fifth largest,expected to be completed by 2003 will change the entire physical appearance of the region by spreading the waters of the Fırat into a vast artificial lake near Adıyaman and Urfa .The resevoir will have an area of 817 square km. and a volume of 84.4 million m3. It will supply 27.3 kw/hr. with the volume of 84.4 million m3.The total cost is approximately 34 billion USD.

Turkey enjoys a variety of climates, from the temperat climate of the Black Sea Region, to the continental climate of the interior, then to the Mediterranean climate of the Agean and Mediterranean coastal regions.The coastline of Turkey’s seas is roughly 8000 km. in lenght and the distance from the West border to the East border is about 2250 km. which is about equal to the distance from Istanbul to London. Border countries are; Armenia 268 km, Azerbaijan 9 km, Bulgaria 240 km, Georgia 252 km, Greece 206 km, Iran 499 km, Iraq 331 km, Syria 822 km.

Agriculture still forms the basis of the national economy, employing about one half of the labor force, contributing one fifth of the G.N.P. The planted area has risen to almost 45 percent of total surface,wheat being the main crop. Turkey is the world’s largest supplier of figs, hazelnuts, raisins and Oriental tobacco. Sugar beet ,olive oil, cotton and lentils are also important products for export.

The availability of cotton, wool and silk has fostered the expansion of the textile industry, besides maintaining the traditional Turkish rugmaking. Other important resources are iron, coal, uranium, copper, manganese, sulfur and borax.

Turkey has 70 million inhabitants,50 per cent of whom live in rural areas.The major cities are Istanbul, Ankara (the capital), Izmir, Adana ,Bursa and Antalya.

The Turkish language is neither Indo-European nor Semitic, but belongs to theUral-Altaic group.Turkish is written in Latin characters and spoken by some 400 million people in the world. The Turkish Republic is a nationalist, democratic and secular state, based on human rights, the rule of law and social justice.The people exercise sovreignty through the Grand National Assembly,elected by people.

Executive Branch
Chief of State: President Ahmet Necdet SEZER
Head of Government: Prime Minister Bulent ECEVIT
Cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the president on the nomination of the prime minister.
Election: President elected by the National Assembly for a seven-year terms
Legislative Branch: Grand Assembly of Turkiye has 550 seats members elected by popular vote to serve five-year tearms.