Turkey

Wealth and National Well-Being

Country Comparisons:
2010: See chart

Economy and Population Growth

World Factbook: "Turkey's dynamic economy is a complex mix of modern industry and commerce along with a traditional agriculture sector that still accounts for about 30% of employment. It has a strong and rapidly growing private sector, yet the state remains a major participant in basic industry, banking, transport, and communication. The largest industrial sector is textiles and clothing, which accounts for one-third of industrial employment; it faces stiff competition in international markets with the end of the global quota system. However, other sectors, notably the automotive and electronics industries, are rising in importance within Turkey's export mix." 2008: $12,400

As of 2003, Switzerland's per capita GDP is almost 5 times as large as Turkey's but it spends 25 times per person on health care.

Unemployment rate
2010: 12.4%

Public debt as a percentage of GDP
2010: 48.1%
2009: 48.3%

People

Living in an urban area
2010: 70%
2008: 69%

Literacy, Age 15 and Older
2004: Males 95.3 percent, Females 79.6 percent

Ethnicities
2008: Turkish 70-75%, Kurdish 18%, other minorities 7-12%

Religions
Turkey is 99.8 percent Muslim -- mostly Sunni. Christians and Jews:0.2%.

Geography

East of Greece and Bulgaria. North of Syria and Iraq. West of Armenia and Iran. In the north, coastline along the Black Sea. In the west and south, coastline along the Aegean and Mediterranean Seas. Slightly larger than Texas.

Government

World Factbook: "Republican parliamentary democracy." Capital: Ankara.

Recent History

Turkey has been a member of NATO since 1952.

According to Wikipedia, during the 1970s and 1980s, right-of center secular politicians allied themselves with devout Muslims as a bulwark against left-of-center secular leaders. Wikipedia:

The state's more tolerant attitude toward Islam encouraged the proliferation of private religious activities, including the construction of new mosques, Koran schools in the cities, the establishment of religiously oriented professional and women's journals. The printing of newspapers, the publication of religious books, and the growth of innumerable religious projects ranging from health centers, child-care facilities, and youth hostels to financial institutions and consumer cooperatives flourished.

Nov 17, 2005: Turkey has a law against insulting Turkishness or the republic, something open to interpretation by prosecutors. It has relaxed its intimidation of writers and publishers lately in the interest of entering the European Union. But a writer of international standing, Orpha Pamuk, is now indicted for speaking to a Swiss magazine about the deaths of “thirty-thousand Kurds and one million Armenians." The more advanced and politically mature countries, Finland, Norway, the United States, Britain, et cetera, have no such law.

Jun 12, 2010: Someone from Turkey who called himself THISISIT wrote to the Richard Dawkins Foundation complaining of a rise in thought control. He wrote of the party headed by Prime Minister Erdogan as an Islamic party and entering its 8th year of power. Actually, the party is not officially tied to Islam, but the writer was concerned about the lack of respect for the rights of atheists and secularists. THISISIT wrote, "You can barely see any news against government." He wrote that a ban on websites has started and added: "Youtube is banned in turkey, Google is banned in turkey, Google services are banned in turkey." He wrote of the ban on Richard Dawkins two years previously. Islam, he wrote, "...ruined our country once but we were lucky to have Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. He founded the modern, secular Turkish Republic out of the ashes of the Ottoman Empire." THISISIT complained that "...secularists are in danger; i don't know what to do but I don't have any hope for my country."

A few days later, the website travelfusion.com wrote:

Turkey's Telecommunication Ministry has been blocking IP addresses belonging to Google as of late last Thursday. As a result, all Google services -- including Mail, Maps, Analytics, Docs, Sites, browser tool bars, and a variety of services integrated into other websites -- have been inaccessible or extremely slow loading for internet users located in Turkey.

Sep 12, 2010: Turkey held a referendum on constitutional changes proposed by Prime Minister Erdogan's government. The government described its purpose as making Turkey more democratic. The existing constitution, ratified in a referendum in 1982, has been criticized as outmoded and curtailing human rights. The opposition Republican People's Party -- the old secularist party of the center-left -- claimed that the ruling party was seeking more control over the secular judiciary. The "Yes" vote was 58 percent, the "No" vote 42 percent.

Sep 27, 2010: Following the relaxation of authoritarian political controls in Turkey in 1946 and the revival in devotion to Islam in many countries in recent decades, Islam has been growing in influence in Turkey.

Feb 14, 2011: During 18-day uprising in Egypt, Turkey expressed sympathy with the Egyptian people -- the demonstrators. President Gul, visiting Iran, at a news conference said:

My view is that what is happening should in no way be regarded as a surprise. In this age of communication, in an age where everybody is aware of each other, the demands and desires of the people are very realistic ...We see that sometimes when the leaders and heads of countries do not pay attention to the nations' demands, the people themselves take action to achieve their demands.

Jun 11, 2011: A report on BBC News tells of the government's "Kurdish opening" based on tolerance and greater autonomy, including greater cultural freedom -- freedom to use the Kurdish language. The article mentioned young Kurds "angry and rootless in the cities...not afraid of the security forces, like their parents. They did not experience the war of the 1990s. But they have inherited the deeply-ingrained sense of injustice from that time."

Jun 13, 2011: According to preliminary results, the Islamist-leaning Justice and Development (AK) Party has won 326 parliament seats among 550 seats. This gives the party's leader Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan a third term in office. (He's been PM since March 15, 2003.) Mr Erdogan promises to build consensus with the country's other political parties.

Aug 8, 2011: Civilian rule asserts itself over the military -- the military traditionally political and a defender of secularism. BBC News: "A Turkish court has ordered the arrests of seven generals and admirals accused of trying to undermine the government. They have been under investigation for their alleged involvement in setting up anti-government websites in 2009."