Turkey

Country straddling Western Asia and Southeastern Europe

This article is about the country. For the bird, see Turkey (bird). For other uses, see Turkey (disambiguation).

"Türkiye" and "Turkiye" redirect here. For other uses, see Turkiye (disambiguation).

Republic of Türkiye Türkiye Cumhuriyeti (Turkish)
Capital	Ankara 39°N 35°E / 39°N 35°E / 39; 35Coordinates: 39°N 35°E / 39°N 35°E / 39; 35
Largest city	Istanbul 41°1′N 28°57′E / 41.017°N 28.950°E / 41.017; 28.950
Official languages	Turkish[1][2]
Spoken languages[3]	Predominantly Turkish
Other languages	List Kurdish Zaza Circassian Laz Arabic Various others
Ethnic groups (2016)[4]	70–75% Turks 19% Kurds 6–11% Others
Religion	See religion in Turkey
Demonym(s)	Turkish Turk
Government	Unitary presidential constitutional republic
• President	Recep Tayyip Erdoğan
• Vice President	Fuat Oktay
• Assembly Speaker	Mustafa Şentop
• Chief Judge	Zühtü Arslan
Legislature	Grand National Assembly
Establishment
• Ottoman Empire	c. 1299
• War of Independence	19 May 1919
• Government of the Grand National Assembly	23 April 1920
• Treaty of Lausanne	24 July 1923
• Republic declared	29 October 1923
• Current constitution	9 November 1982[5]
₺) (TRY)
Time zone	UTC+3 (TRT)
Date format	dd.mm.yyyy (CE)
Driving side	right
Calling code	+90
ISO 3166 code	TR
Internet TLD	.tr

Turkey (Turkish: Türkiye Turkish pronunciation: [ˈtyɾcije]), officially the Republic of Türkiye (Turkish: Türkiye Cumhuriyeti [ˈtyɾcije dʒumˈhuːɾijeti] (listen)), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia to the northeast; Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Iran to the east; Iraq to the southeast; Syria and the Mediterranean Sea to the south; the Aegean Sea to the west; and Greece and Bulgaria to the northwest. Cyprus is off the south coast. Most of the country's citizens are ethnic Turks, while Kurds are the largest ethnic minority.^[4] Ankara is Turkey's capital and second-largest city; Istanbul is its largest city and main financial centre.

One of the world's earliest permanently settled regions, present-day Turkey was home to important Neolithic sites like Göbekli Tepe, and was inhabited by ancient civilizations including the Hattians, Hittites, Anatolian peoples, Mycenaean Greeks, Persians, and others.^{[11][12][13][14]}

Following the conquests of Alexander the Great which started the Hellenistic period, most of the ancient regions were culturally Hellenized, and this continued during the Byzantine era.^[12][15] The Seljuk Turks began migrating to Anatolia in the 11th century, which started the Turkification process. The Seljuk Sultanate of Rum ruled Anatolia until the Mongol invasion in 1243, when it disintegrated into small Turkish principalities.^[16] Beginning in the late 13th century, the Ottomans united the principalities and conquered the Balkans, while the Turkification of Anatolia further progressed during the Ottoman period. After Mehmed II conquered Constantinople (now Istanbul) in 1453, Ottoman expansion continued under Selim I. During the reign of Suleiman the Magnificent, the Ottoman Empire became a global power.^[11][17][18]

From the late 18th century onwards, the

Assyrian subjects.^[23][24] After its defeat in the war, the Ottoman Empire was partitioned.^[25]

The

reforms initiated by the country's first president, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, Turkey became a secular, unitary and parliamentary republic. Turkey remained neutral during most of World War II, but entered the closing stages of the war on the side of the Allies

.

Turkey played a prominent role in the

nominal GDP took place until 2013,^[26][27] which was followed by a period of recession and stagnation in terms of USD-based nominal GDP between 2013 and 2020,^[27] and high inflation as of 2023.^[28] The AKP government's initial economic achievements, which were financed through privatization revenues and loans, were overshadowed by democratic backsliding and an erosion in the separation of powers and civil liberties, which gained momentum after the parliamentary republic was replaced by an executive presidential system with a referendum in 2017.^[29][30]

Turkey is a

OIC, BSEC, ECO, MIKTA, TURKSOY and OTS; and an early member of NATO. After becoming one of the early members of the Council of Europe in 1950, Turkey became an associate member of the EEC in 1963, joined the EU Customs Union in 1995, and started accession negotiations with the European Union in 2005. Turkey has a rich cultural legacy shaped by centuries of history and the influence of the various peoples that have inhabited its territory over several millennia; it is home to 19 UNESCO World Heritage Sites and is among the most visited

countries in the world.

Name

Main article: Name of Turkey

The English name Turkey (from

Geoffrey Chaucer called The Book of the Duchess (c. 1369). The phrase land of Torke is used in the 15th-century Digby Mysteries. Later usages can be found in the William Dunbar poems, the 16th century Manipulus Vocabulorum (Turkie) and Francis Bacon's Sylva Sylvarum (Turky). The spelling Turkey dates back to at least 1719.^[34]

The name Turkey appeared in Western sources after the

Armenia, the name Türkiye entered international documents for the first time. In the treaty signed with Afghanistan, the expression Devlet-i Âliyye-i Türkiyye ("Sublime Turkish State") was used, likened to the Ottoman Empire's name.^[35]

Official name change

In December 2021, the country issued a circular, calling for exports to be labeled "Made in Türkiye". The circular also stated that in relation to other governmental communications, the "necessary sensitivity will be shown on the use of the phrase 'Türkiye' instead of phrases such as 'Turkey', 'Türkei', 'Turquie', etc."[38]^[39] The reason given in the circular for preferring Türkiye was that it "represents and expresses the culture, civilization, and values of the Turkish nation in the best way". According to Turkish state broadcaster TRT World, it was also to avoid pejorative associations with the birds.^[40] The government notified the United Nations and other international organizations on 31 May 2022, requesting that they use Türkiye, which the UN immediately agreed to do.^[41][42][43] The United States Department of State officially began using Türkiye in January 2023.^[44]

History

Main article: History of Turkey

See also:

History of Thrace

Prehistory of Anatolia and Eastern Thrace

Main articles: Prehistory of Anatolia and Prehistory of Southeastern Europe

Further information: Hittites

Some henges at Göbekli Tepe were erected as far back as 9600 BC, predating those of Stonehenge, England, by over seven millennia.^[45]

The

Eastern Thrace, has been inhabited since at least 40,000 years ago, and is known to have been in the Neolithic era by about 6000 BC.^[13] The spread of agriculture from the Middle East to Europe was strongly correlated with the migration of early farmers from Anatolia about 9,000 years ago, and was not just a cultural exchange.^[48] Anatolian Neolithic farmers derived a significant portion of their ancestry from the Anatolian hunter-gatherers.^[49]

Şanlıurfa. The Urfa Man statue is dated c. 9000 BC, to the period of the Pre-Pottery Neolithic, and is defined as "the oldest known naturalistic life-sized sculpture of a human".^[51] It is considered to be contemporaneous with Göbekli Tepe. Troy was first settled in the Neolithic Age, with inhabitation continuing into the Byzantine period. Troy's Late Bronze Age layers are considered potential historical settings for the later legends of the Trojan War.^[52][53][54]

The Temple of Zeus in the ancient city of Aizanoi in Phrygia

The earliest recorded inhabitants of Anatolia were the Hattians and Hurrians, non-Indo-European peoples who lived in Anatolia, respectively, as early as c. 2300 BC. Indo-European Hittites came to Anatolia and gradually absorbed the Hattians and Hurrians c. 2000–1700 BC. The first empire in the area was founded by the Hittites, from the 18th through the 13th centuries BC. The Assyrians conquered and settled parts of southeastern Turkey as early as 1950 BC^[55] although they have remained a minority in the region.^[56]

Following the collapse of the Hittite empire c. 1180 BC, the Phrygians, an Indo-European people, achieved ascendancy in Anatolia until their kingdom was destroyed by the Cimmerians in c. 695 BC.^[57] The most powerful of Phrygia's successor states were Lydia, Caria and Lycia.

Assyrian king Shalmaneser I (1263–1234 BC) recorded a campaign in which he subdued the entire territory of "Uruatri".^[58][59] Urartu re-emerged in Assyrian inscriptions in the 9th century BC.^[60] Starting from 714 BC, the Urartu state began to decline, and finally dissolved in 590 BC, when it was conquered by the Medes.^[61]

The city of

metallurgists of Sardis discovered the way of separating gold from silver, thereby producing both metals of a purity never known before.^[63]

Antiquity

Main articles: Classical Anatolia and Hellenistic period

Further information: Lydia, Lycia, and Caria

The gymnasium complex in Sardis, the capital of Lydia

Starting around 1200 BC, the coast of Anatolia was settled by

Diogenes the Cynic was one of the founders of the Cynic philosophy, born in an Ionian colony, Sinope, on the Black Sea coast of Anatolia, in 412 BC.^[72]

Sebasteion of

The Library of Celsus in Ephesus was built by the Romans in 114–117.^[74] The Temple of Artemis in Ephesus, built by king Croesus of Lydia in the 6th century BC, was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World

.[75]

The first state that was called Armenia by the neighboring peoples was the state of the Armenian Orontid dynasty, which included parts of what is now eastern Turkey, beginning in the 6th century BC. In northwestern Turkey, the most significant tribal group in ancient Thrace was the Odyrisians, founded by Teres I.^[76]

All of modern-day Turkey was conquered by the Persian

satrapy of Caria, fought as an ally of Xerxes I, King of Persia, against the independent Greek city-states during the second Persian invasion of Greece in 480 BC.^[78][79]

Anatolia fell to

ancient Greek language and culture.^[15][82]

From the 1st century BC up to the 3rd century AD, large parts of modern-day Turkey were contested between the

Roman-Parthian Wars

.

Gallic invasion of the Balkans

in 279 BC.

The

Mithridates VI the Great, who conquered Colchis, Cappadocia, Bithynia, and the Greek colonies of the Tauric Chersonesos. After a long struggle with Rome in the Mithridatic Wars

, Pontus was defeated.

The Roman Empire at the time of Constantine the Great's death in 337. In 330, Constantinople (Istanbul

) became the new Roman capital.

All

Roman provinces

.

Early Christian and Roman period

Main article: Christianity in Turkey

Further information: Roman Empire

According to the

center of Christianity.^[92][93] Apostle Paul of Tarsus traveled to Ephesus and stayed there, probably working as a tentmaker.^[94] He is claimed to have performed miracles and organized missionary activity in other regions.^[95] Paul left Ephesus after an attack from a local silversmith resulted in a pro-Artemis riot.^[95]

Justinian the Great, at its greatest extent since the fall of the Western Roman Empire

in 476.

According to extrabiblical traditions, the Assumption of Mary took place in Ephesus, where Apostle John was also present. Irenaeus writes of "the church of Ephesus, founded by Paul, with John continuing with them until the times of Trajan."^[97] While in Ephesus, Apostle John wrote the three epistles attributed to him. John was allegedly banished by the Roman authorities to the Greek island of Patmos, where he wrote the Book of Revelation. The Basilica of St. John near Ephesus, built by Justinian the Great in the 6th century, marks the burial site of Apostle John, while the nearby House of the Virgin Mary is accepted by the Catholic church as the place where Mary, mother of Jesus, lived the final days of her life, before her Assumption. Saint Nicholas, born in Patara, lived in nearby Myra (modern Demre) in Lycia.

In 123 CE, Roman emperor

Imperial cult (neocoros) during this period.^[99]

Byzantine period

Main article: Byzantine Anatolia

Further information: Byzantine Empire

After defeating Licinius (the senior co-emperor (augustus) of the East in Nicomedia) at the Battle of Chrysopolis (Üsküdar) in 324 (thus bringing an end to the Tetrarchy system and becoming the sole emperor), Constantine the Great chose the nearby city of Byzantium across the Bosporus as the new capital of the Roman Empire and started rebuilding and expanding the city. He resided mostly in Nicomedia (modern İzmit) during the construction works in the next six years. In 330 he officially proclaimed it as the new Roman capital with the name New Rome (Nova Roma), but soon afterwards renamed it as Constantinople (Constantinopolis, modern Istanbul). Under Constantine, Christianity did not become the official religion of the state, but enjoyed imperial preference since he supported it with generous privileges.

Mosaic of Jesus at the Pammakaristos Church in Istanbul. Byzantine mosaics are the most celebrated form of Byzantine art

.

Theodosius the Great made Christianity the official state religion of the Roman Empire with the Edict of Thessalonica in 380 and was instrumental in establishing the Nicene Creed as the orthodox doctrine for Christianity with the First Council of Constantinople

in 381.

Following the death of Theodosius the Great in 395 and the permanent division of the Roman Empire between his two sons, Constantinople became the capital of the

Roman-Persian Wars

, took place between the 4th and 7th centuries.

Several

Iznik) in 325 (which resulted in the first uniform Christian doctrine, called the Nicene Creed), the First Council of Constantinople (Istanbul) in 381, the Council of Ephesus in 431, and the Council of Chalcedon (Kadıköy) in 451.^[101] During most of its existence, the Byzantine Empire was one of the most powerful economic, cultural, and military forces in Europe.^[102] Established in the Roman period, the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople is the oldest continuously active institution in Istanbul.^[103] The First Council of Constantinople in 381 recognized that the rights of the bishop of Constantinople are equal to those of the bishop of Rome.^[103]

Great Seljuk Empire

Further information: Turkic migration and Seljuk Empire

Malik Shah I^[104]

İnce Minareli Medrese in Konya (left), Çifte Minareli Medrese in Erzurum (center) and Divriği Great Mosque and Hospital (right) are among the finest examples of Seljuk architecture

.

The defeat of the Seljuk armies by the Mongols in 1243 caused the territories of the Seljuk Sultanate of Rûm (Anatolia) to slowly disintegrate into small Turkish principalities.^[16]

Ottoman Empire

Main article: Ottoman Empire

Further information: Sultanate of Rum

In the early 14th century, the

Mehmed the Conqueror. Mehmed II further expanded the territories of the Ottoman Empire in Anatolia and the Balkan peninsula. His expedition to Italy (1480–1481), commanded by Gedik Ahmed Pasha, began with the Ottoman invasion of Otranto and the nearby areas in Apulia. The invasion, which had the goal of establishing a foothold on the Italian peninsula for a subsequent conquest of Rome, started on 28 July 1480 and ended on 10 September 1481, four months after Mehmed II's death on 3 May 1481.^[112]

Following the end of the

Izmir, Selanik, Bursa and Edirne.^[113]

Topkapı and Dolmabahçe palaces in Istanbul were the primary residences of the Ottoman Sultans in 1465–1856^[114] and 1856–1922,^[115]

respectively.

In 1514, Sultan

a number of naval battles in the Red Sea, the Arabian Sea and the Persian Gulf. The Portuguese presence in the Indian Ocean was perceived as a threat to the Ottoman monopoly over the ancient trade routes between East Asia and Western Europe. Despite the increasingly prominent European presence, the Ottoman Empire's trade with the east continued to flourish until the second half of the 18th century.^[116]

The Ottoman Empire's power and prestige peaked in the 16th and 17th centuries, particularly during the reign of Suleiman the Magnificent, who personally instituted major legislative changes relating to society, education, taxation and criminal law.

The empire was often at odds with the Holy Roman Empire in its steady advance towards Central Europe through the Balkans and the southern part of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.^[117]

The Ottoman Navy contended with several Holy Leagues, such as those in 1538, 1571, 1684 and 1717 (composed primarily of Habsburg Spain, the Republic of Genoa, the Republic of Venice, the Knights of St. John, the Papal States, the Grand Duchy of Tuscany and the Duchy of Savoy), for the control of the Mediterranean Sea.

The second Ottoman siege of Vienna in 1683 (the first siege was in 1529) initiated the Great Turkish War (1683–1699) between the Ottomans and the Holy League

.

In the east, the Ottomans were often at war with Safavid Persia over conflicts between the 16th and 18th centuries.

Ottoman wars with Persia continued as the Zand, Afsharid, and Qajar dynasties succeeded the Safavids in Iran, until the first half of the 19th century

.

Even further east, there was an extension of the

send soldiers to their farthest and easternmost vassal and territory, the Aceh Sultanate^[119][120] in Southeast Asia, to defend it from European colonizers as well as the Latino invaders who had crossed from Latin America and had Christianized the formerly Muslim-dominated Philippines.^[121]

From the 16th to the 20th centuries, the Ottoman Empire also

fought twelve wars with the Russian Tsardom and Empire. These were initially about Ottoman territorial expansion and consolidation in southeastern and eastern Europe; but starting from the Russo-Turkish War (1768–1774), they became more about the survival of the Ottoman Empire, which had begun to lose its strategic territories on the northern Black Sea

coast to the advancing Russians.

From the second half of the 18th century onwards, the

constitutional movement of 1876, which introduced the First Constitutional Era, but these efforts proved to be inadequate in most fields, and failed to stop the dissolution of the empire.^[122]

The Süleymaniye Mosque is the largest Ottoman imperial mosque in Istanbul, located on the Third Hill in the city's historical peninsula. The mosque was commissioned by Suleiman the Magnificent and designed by the imperial architect Mimar Sinan

.

As the empire gradually shrank in size, military power and wealth; especially after the

rise in nationalist sentiment among its various subject peoples, leading to increased ethnic tensions which occasionally burst into violence, such as the Hamidian massacres of Armenians, which claimed up to 300,000 lives.^[126]

The loss of

London Conference of 1912–13 and the Treaty of London (1913) was a major shock for the Ottoman society and led to the 1913 Ottoman coup d'état. In the Second Balkan War (1913) the Ottomans managed to recover their former capital Edirne (Adrianople) and its surrounding areas in East Thrace, which was formalized with the Treaty of Constantinople (1913). The 1913 coup d'état effectively put the country under the control of the Three Pashas, making sultans Mehmed V and Mehmed VI

largely symbolic figureheads with no real political power.

• Monarchs of the Central Powers on a WWI postcard:
• Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany;
• Kaiser and King Franz Joseph of Austria-Hungary;
• Sultan Mehmed V of the Ottoman Empire;
• Tsar Ferdinand I

of Bulgaria

The Ottoman Empire entered

Assyrians and Greeks.^{[134][135][136]}

Following the

partition the Ottoman state through the 1920 Treaty of Sèvres.^[137]

Republic of Turkey

Main article: History of the Republic of Turkey

Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, founder and first President of the Turkish Republic, with the Liberal Republican Party leader Fethi Okyar (right) and Nermin Kırdar (Fethi Okyar's daughter) in Yalova

, 13 August 1930

The

Battle of Gallipoli, the Turkish War of Independence (1919–1923) was waged with the aim of revoking the terms of the Treaty of Sèvres (1920).^[138]

In 1922, the Greek, Armenian and French armies had been expelled,

abolished the Sultanate

, thus ending 623 years of monarchical Ottoman rule.

The Treaty of Lausanne of 24 July 1923, which superseded the Treaty of Sèvres,^[137][138] led to the international recognition of the sovereignty of the newly formed "Republic of Turkey" as the successor state of the Ottoman Empire, and the republic was officially proclaimed on 29 October 1923 in Ankara, the country's new capital.^[140] The Lausanne Convention stipulated a population exchange between Greece and Turkey.^[141]

social changes initiated by Atatürk.^[142]

Roosevelt, İnönü and Churchill at the Second Cairo Conference

, 1943

Following the liberalization of the economy in the 1980s, Turkey experienced stronger GDP growth and greater political stability in the last two decades of the 20th century; but inflation remained high throughout this period, and the GDP growth was interrupted by three economic crises in 1990, 1994 and 2000–2001.^[151]

Anıtkabir, the mausoleum of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk in Ankara

, is visited by crowds during national holidays, such as Republic Day on 29 October.

Turkey applied for full membership of the EEC in 1987, joined the European Union Customs Union in 1995 and started accession negotiations with the European Union in 2005.^[152][153] In a non-binding vote on 13 March 2019, the European Parliament called on the EU governments to suspend EU accession talks with Turkey, citing violations of human rights and the rule of law; but the negotiations, effectively on hold since 2018, remain active as of 2023.^[154]

In 2014, Turkish prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan won Turkey's first presidential election.^[155] On 15 July 2016, an unsuccessful coup attempt tried to oust the government.^[156]

With a

In 2018, Erdoğan won the presidential election for a second term, which ends in 2023. The 2023 Turkish presidential election is scheduled to take place on 18 June 2023 as part of the 2023 general elections, alongside parliamentary elections. President Erdoğan has signalled that the election might be held early, on 14 May 2023.^[158] According to Article 101 of the Constitution of Turkey: "A person can be elected as President maximum two times" (Turkish: "Bir kimse en fazla iki defa Cumhurbaşkanı seçilebilir").^[159][160] No amendments have been made to this definition in Article 101 with the referendum in 2017.^[159][160]

Administrative divisions

Ankara

is the capital of Turkey and the country's second largest city.

Turkey has a unitary structure in terms of administration and this aspect is one of the most important factors shaping the Turkish public administration. Turkey does not have a federal system, and the provinces are subordinate to the central government in Ankara.

When three powers (executive, legislative and judiciary) are taken into account as the main functions of the state, local administrations have little power. Local administrations were established to provide services in place and the government is represented by the province governors (vali) and town governors (kaymakam).

Other senior public officials are also appointed by the central government, except for the mayors (belediye başkanı) who are elected by the constituents.^[161] Turkish municipalities have local legislative bodies (belediye meclisi) for decision-making on municipal issues.

Within this unitary framework, Turkey is subdivided into 81 provinces (il or vilayet) for administrative purposes. Each province is divided into districts (ilçe), for a total of 973 districts.^[162] Turkey is also subdivided into 7 regions (bölge) and 21 subregions for geographic, demographic and economic purposes; this does not refer to an administrative division.

Ankara

Kırklareli

Edirne

Tekirdağ

Çanakkale

Balıkesir

Bursa

Yalova

Istanbul

Kocaeli

Sakarya

Düzce

Zonguldak

Bolu

Bilecik

Eskişehir

Kütahya

Manisa

İzmir

Aydın

Muğla

Denizli

Burdur

Uşak

Afyonkarahisar

Isparta

Antalya

Konya

Mersin

Karaman

Aksaray

Kırşehir

Kırıkkale

Çankırı

Karabük

Bartın

Kastamonu

Sinop

Çorum

Yozgat

Nevşehir

Niğde

Adana

Hatay

Osmaniye

K. Maraş

Kayseri

Sivas

Tokat

Amasya

Samsun

Ordu

Giresun

Erzincan

Malatya

Gaziantep

Kilis

Şanlıurfa

Adıyaman

Gümüşhane

Trabzon

Rize

Bayburt

Erzurum

Artvin

Ardahan

Kars

Ağrı

Iğdır

Tunceli

Elazığ

Diyarbakır

Mardin

Batman

Siirt

Şırnak

Bitlis

Bingöl

Muş

Van

Hakkâri

Government and politics

The Court of Cassation is Turkey's supreme court

for reviewing verdicts given by courts of criminal and civil justice.

Turkey is a presidential republic within a multi-party system.^[163] The current constitution was approved by referendum in 1982, which determines the government's structure, lays forth the ideals and standards of the state's conduct, and sets out the state's responsibility to its citizens. Furthermore, the constitution specifies the people's rights and obligations, as well as principles for the delegation and exercise of sovereignty that belongs to the people of Turkey.^[164] Turkish politics have become increasingly associated with democratic backsliding, being described as a competitive authoritarian system.^[165][166]

In the Turkish

The government, regulated by a system of separation of powers as defined by the constitution of Turkey, comprises three branches:

• Legislative: The unicameral Parliament makes laws, debates and adopts the budget bills, declares war, approves treaties, proclaims amnesty and pardon, and has the power of impeachment, by which it can remove incumbent members of the government.^[167]
• Executive: The president is the commander-in-chief of the military, can veto legislative bills before they become law (subject to parliamentary override), can issue presidential decrees on matters regarding executive power with the exception of fundamental rights, individual rights and certain political rights (parliamentary laws prevail presidential decrees), and appoints the members of the Cabinet and other officers, who administer and enforce national laws and policies.^[168]
• Council of State (final decision maker in administrative judiciary) and the Court of Jurisdictional Disputes (for resolving the disputes between courts for constitutional jurisdiction) are the four organizations that are described by the Constitution as supreme courts. The judges of the Constitutional Court are appointed by the president and the parliament.^[5]

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan
(AKP)
President

Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu
(CHP)
Main opposition leader

The 2018 parliamentary election was held for voting into office the members of the 27th Parliament of Turkey, which had an initial composition of 295 seats for the Justice and Development Party (AKP), 146 seats for the Republican People's Party (CHP), 67 seats for the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), 49 seats for the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) and 49 seats for the Good Party (İP).^[177] The next parliamentary election is scheduled to take place in 2023.

Law

Istanbul Justice Palace in the Şişli district on the European side

Istanbul Anadolu Justice Palace in the Kartal district on the Asian side

According to Article 142 of the Turkish Constitution, the organization, duties and jurisdiction of the courts, their functions and the trial procedures are regulated by law. In line with the aforementioned article of the Turkish Constitution and related laws, the court system in Turkey can be classified under three main categories; which are the Judicial Courts, Administrative Courts, and Military Courts. Each category includes first instance courts and high courts. In addition, the Court of Jurisdictional Disputes rules on cases that cannot be classified readily as falling within the purview of one court system.[180]

In the years of government by the AKP and Erdoğan, particularly since 2013, the independence and integrity of the Turkish judiciary has increasingly been said to be in doubt by institutions, parliamentarians and journalists both within and outside of Turkey; due to political interference in the promotion of judges and prosecutors, and in their pursuit of public duty.[181]^{[182][183][184]} The Turkey 2015 report of the European Commission stated that "the independence of the judiciary and respect of the principle of separation of powers have been undermined and judges and prosecutors have been under strong political pressure."^[181]

Foreign relations

The 2015 G20 Summit held in Antalya, Turkey, a founding member of the OECD (1961) and G20

(1999)

In line with its traditional Western orientation, relations with Europe have always been a central part of Turkish foreign policy. Turkey became one of the early members of the Council of Europe in 1950, applied for associate membership of the EEC (predecessor of the European Union) in 1959 and became an associate member in 1963. After decades of political negotiations, Turkey applied for full membership of the EEC in 1987, became an associate member of the Western European Union in 1992, joined the EU Customs Union in 1995 and has been in formal accession negotiations with the European Union since 2005.^[152][153]

Turkey has been in formal accession negotiations with the European Union since 2005.^[152][153]

The common threat posed by the Soviet Union during the Cold War led to Turkey's membership of NATO in 1952, ensuring close bilateral relations with the US. Subsequently, Turkey benefited from the United States' political, economic and diplomatic support, including in key issues such as the country's bid to join the European Union.^[201] In the post–Cold War environment, Turkey's geostrategic importance shifted towards its proximity to the Middle East, the Caucasus and the Balkans.^[202]

The Turkish Armed Forces collectively rank as the second-largest standing military force in NATO.^[203]

Members and observers of the Organization of Turkic States

Following the Arab Spring in December 2010, the choices made by the AKP government for supporting certain political opposition groups in the affected countries have led to tensions with some Arab states, such as Turkey's neighbor Syria since the start of the Syrian civil war, and Egypt after the ousting of President Mohamed Morsi.^[207][208] As of 2022^[update], Turkey does not have an ambassador in either Syria or Egypt,^[209] but relations with both countries have started to improve.^{[210][211][212][213][214]} Diplomatic relations with Israel were also severed after the Gaza flotilla raid in 2010, but were normalized following a deal in June 2016.^[215] These political rifts have left Turkey with few allies in the East Mediterranean, where large natural gas fields have recently been discovered.^[216][217] There is a dispute over Turkey's maritime boundaries with Greece and Cyprus and drilling rights in the eastern Mediterranean.^[218][219]

After the

TAI TF-X, a twin-engine fifth generation air superiority fighter, is currently being produced by Turkish Aerospace Industries for the Turkish Air Force. ^{[228][229][230][231][232]} The taxiing and ground running tests of the prototype began on March 16, 2023. ^[233][234]

The Turkish Armed Forces consist of the General Staff, the Land Forces, the Naval Forces and the Air Force. The Chief of the General Staff is appointed by the President. The President is responsible to the Parliament for matters of national security and the adequate preparation of the armed forces to defend the country. However, the authority to declare war and to deploy the Turkish Armed Forces to foreign countries or to allow foreign armed forces to be stationed in Turkey rests solely with the Parliament.^[235]

The

Every fit male Turkish citizen otherwise not barred is required to serve in the military for a period ranging from three weeks to a year, dependent on education and job location.^[236] Turkey does not recognize conscientious objection and does not offer a civilian alternative to military service.^[237]

Turkey has the second-largest standing military force in NATO, after the United States, with an estimated strength of 890,700 military personnel as of February 2022.^[238]