2008 Rally of Turkey 9th Rally of Turkey
Round 8 of the 2008 World Rally Championship ← Previous event Next event →
Host country	Turkey
Rally base	Antalya
Dates run	June 12 – 15 2008
Stages	19 (360.74 km; 224.15 mi)
Stage surface	Gravel
Overall distance	1,263.74 km (785.25 mi)
Results
Overall winner	Mikko Hirvonen BP Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team
Crews	60 at start, 38 at finish

The 9th Rally of Turkey, the 8th round of the 2008 World Rally Championship season took place between June 12–15, 2008. The event returned after a year sabbatical and was held in the south west of Turkey, with the rally headquarters and service park based in the seaside resort of Kemer. The special stages are held on gravel mountain roads to the south west of Antalya.^[1] The rally was won by Finland's Mikko Hirvonen, with Jari-Matti Latvala finishing second and Sébastien Loeb third. With this result Hirvonen took a three point lead over Loeb in the drivers world championship going into the six week summer break.

Event[link]

Day one[link]

The event kicked off with a short superspecial stage on Thursday evening, which was won by Sébastien Loeb. On Friday - the first full day of the rally - he was due to run first and 'clean' the roads. This had a big impact on his performance (his stage times were up to 29 seconds quicker on the second pass through the stages) and meant that he would only win one stage on the day. Despite this he would still be leading the end of day one as the Ford drivers all took a tactical approach to the final stage of the day in order to secure a more advantageous road position for day two ^[2] - a tactic criticised by the Citroën Total team boss Olivier Quesnel.^[3] Behind Loeb were the drivers for the BP-Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team and the Stobart VK M-Sport team, with the last of the Ford quartet, fifth place man Mikko Hirvonen, a mere 6.2 seconds behind Loeb at the end of day one. Ahead of Hirvonen was Gigi Galli in fourth place. Galli won three stages, with his team mate Henning Solberg winning one stage and finishing the day in second place. The remaining Ford driver was Jari-Matti Latvala who ended the day in third place after an astonishing performance that saw him take two stage wins (one by a margin of 15 seconds) and pick up two punctures.

Behind the leaders was Subaru driver Petter Solberg. The new Subaru was more disappointing than on its debut in Greece with Petter Solberg nearly 50 seconds off the pace. Matthew Wilson was in seventh spot, just over a minute behind despite suffering with a cold.^[4] In the final points paying position was Dani Sordo. Sordo was running in fifth until suspension damage on stage 7^[5] put him back into 8th place.

Day two[link]

Daniel Elena and Sébastien Loeb

The Citroën teams fears about road sweeping were confirmed throughout the day as Loeb lost time to both factory Ford drivers. By the end of the day Loeb was 34 seconds adrift of new rally leader Mikko Hirvonen, yet Loeb still believed that "anything was possible^[6]". Hirvonen had earlier said that he needed a lead of 50 seconds ^[7] to hang on to his lead throughout Sunday. With a lead of only 16 seconds over his team mate Latvala - there was still everything to play for going into Sunday. Behind the three leaders, the two Stobart drivers both had a less successful day. After starting brightly, Gigi Galli suffered turbo problems throughout stages 12 and 13 ^[8] which dropped him to 8th place by the end of the day. Galli had to retire from the rally at this stage as he was suffering from dehydration and exhaustion. Henning Solberg had a quiet day and gradually dropped time, finishing up just over two minutes off the pace in 4th place with Dani Sordo looming large, only 7 seconds behind. Petter Solberg and Matthew Wilson continued their steady runs in 6th and 7th place respectively.

Day three[link]

Rally winner Mikko Hirvonen

With over sixty five kilometres of special stages still to go, the rally was still wide open. The tension was increased further after the first special stage of the day as Hirvonen stalled at the start line and lost nine seconds of his advantage to Latvala.^[9] Everything had looked settled after special stage 18, with Latvala making a small mistake and losing the advantage he had gained at the previous stage, but the final thirty kilometre stage saw drama right to the end. Both the challengers to Hirvonen's lead were making significant inroads at the mid way split. Latvala was 4.3 seconds faster than Hirvonen, with Loeb 11.3 seconds faster^[10] and putting both Ford drivers under enormous pressure - pressure that was increased when Hirvonen suffered a puncture near the end of the stage.^[11] However, Latvala and Loeb's tyres were also very worn and they could not maintain their final stage attack. At the end Hirvonen hung on to win by 7.9 seconds from Latvala, with Loeb 25 seconds back in third.

Behind the podium finishers, Citroën's Dani Sordo easily picked off Henning Solberg to claim fourth place. Henning's brother Petter Solberg maintained his sixth position, never really being in a position to challenge the Stobart Ford driver. Matthew Wilson shrugged off his cold to finish in seventh with eighth place going to privateer Conrad Rautenbach, scoring his second points finish of the season. Federico Villagra and Barry Clark finished ninth and tenth, thus earning the Munchi's Ford team three valuable manufacturer points.

Results[link]

Pos.	Driver	Co-driver	Car	Time	Difference	Points
WRC
1.	Mikko Hirvonen	Jarmo Lehtinen	Ford Focus RS WRC 07	4:42:07.1	0.0	10
2	Jari-Matti Latvala	Miikka Antilla	Ford Focus RS WRC 07	4:42:15.0	7.9	8
3	Sébastien Loeb	Daniel Elena	Citroën C4 WRC	4:42:32.8	25.7	6
4	Dani Sordo	Marc Marti	Citroën C4 WRC	4:44:32.7	2:25.6	5
5	Henning Solberg	Cato Menkerud	Ford Focus RS WRC 07	4:44:40.8	2:33.7	4
6	Petter Solberg	Phil Mills	Subaru Impreza WRC 2008	4:44:55.3	2:48.2	3
7	Matthew Wilson	Scott Martin	Ford Focus RS WRC 07	4:46:31.3	4:24.2	2
8	Conrad Rautenbach	David Senior	Citroën C4 WRC	4:49:53.8	7:46.7	1
PCWRC
1	Andreas Aigner	Klaus Wicha	Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9	5:02:21.6	0.0	10
2	Patrik Sandell	Emil Axelsson	Peugeot 207 S2000	5:03:10.3	48.7	8
3	Mirco Baldacci	Giovanni Agnese	Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9	5:05:22.6	3:01.0	6
4	Martin Raum	Silver Kutt	Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9	5:07:52.6	5:31.0	5
5	Armindo Araujo	Miguel Ramalho	Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9	5:08:45.4	6:23.8	4
6	Evgeniy Vertunov	Georgy Troshkin	Subaru Impreza	5:09:14.6	6:53.0	3
7	Simone Campedelli	Danilo Fappani	Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9	5:14:40.7	12:19.10	2
8	Giorgio Bacco	Silvio Stefanelli	Subaru Impreza	5:25:14.3	22:52.7	1

Retirements[link]

• Gigi Galli - ill health (SS16)
• Toni Gardemeister - engine (SS15)
• Per-Gunnar Andersson - electrical (SS15)
• Urmo Aava - (SS19)
• Toshi Arai - (SS16)
• Martin Prokop - excluded (SS11)
• Eyvind Brynildsen - (SS15)
• Uwe Nittel - (SS17)
• Francesco Trevisin - (SS9)
• Amjad Farrah - (SS9)
• Evgeny Novikov - (SS9)
• Evgeny Aksakov - (SS9)

Special stages[link]

Day	Stage	Time	Name	Length	Winner	Time	Avg. spd.	Rally leader
1 (12/13 JUN)	SS1	17:25	Antalya SSS 1	2.60 km	S. Loeb	2:07.6	73.4 km/h	S. Loeb
	SS2	08:38	Perge 1	22.43 km	U. Aava	16:03.6	83.8 km/h	M. Hirvonen
	SS3	09:21	Myra 1	24.15 km	J. Latvala	21:05.3	68.7 km/h
	SS4	09:59	Kumluca 1	9.90 km	G. Galli	7:47.4	76.3 km/h
	SS5	12:57	Perge 2	22.43 km	G. Galli	15:42.8	85.6 km/h
	SS6	13:40	Myra 2	24.15 km	J. Latvala	20:46.0	69.8 km/h	J. Latvala
	SS7	14:18	Kumluca 2	9.90 km	S. Loeb	7:38.9	77.7 km/h	M. Hirvonen
	SS8	17:01	Chimera 1	16.94 km	G. Galli	12:21.5	82.2 km/h
	SS9	17:47	Phaselis 1	22.40 km	H. Solberg	17:49.3	75.6 km/h	S. Loeb
2 (14 JUN)	SS10	09:28	Chimera 2	16.94 km	M. Hirvonen	11:57.3	85.0 km/h
	SS11	10:16	Silyon 1	27.36 km	M. Hirvonen	21:53.5	75.0 km/h	M. Hirvonen
	SS12	12:59	Kemer 1	20.50 km	U. Aava	15:06.9	81.4 km/h
	SS13	13:49	Silyon 2	27.36 km	M. Hirvonen	21:36.8	75.9 km/h
	SS14	16:32	Kemer 2	20.50 km	J. Latvala	14:49.4	83.0 km/h
	SS15	18:23	Phaselis 2	22.40 km	M. Hirvonen S. Loeb	17:19.2	77.6 km/h
	SS16	19:01	Antalya SSS 2	2.60 km	S. Loeb	2:06.3	74.1 km/h
3 (15 JUN)	SS17	09:38	Olympos 1	31.03 km	U. Aava	25:07.5	74.1 km/h
	SS18	12:04	Camyuva	5.50 km	S. Loeb	4:11.2	78.8 km/h
	SS19	13:07	Olympos 2	31.03 km	J. Latvala	24:48.9	75.0 km/h

Championship standings after the event[link]

Drivers' championship[link]

Pos Driver MON SWE MEX ARG JOR ITA GRC TUR FIN GER NZL ESP FRA JPN GBR  Pts  1 Mikko Hirvonen 2 2 4 5 1 2 3 1 59 2 Sébastien Loeb 1 Ret. 1 1 10 1 1 3 56 3 Jari-Matti Latvala 12 1 3 15 7 3 7 2 34 4 Chris Atkinson 3 21 2 2 3 6 Ret. 13 31 5 Dani Sordo 11 6 17 3 2 5 5 4 30 6 Petter Solberg 5 4 12 Ret. Ret. 10 2 6 20 7 Gigi Galli 6 3 Ret. 7 8 4 Ret. Ret. 17 8 Henning Solberg 9 13 5 Ret. 4 7 8 5 16 9 Matthew Wilson 10 Ret. 6 Ret. 5 12 6 7 12 10 Federico Villagra 7 6 6 14 13 9 8 11 Conrad Rautenbach Ret. 16 16 4 26 13 10 8 6 Urmo Aava 18 Ret. 8 4 Ret. 6 13 François Duval 4 5 14 Andreas Mikkelsen 5 Ret. 19 4 15 Jean-Marie Cuoq 7 2 Toni Gardemeister Ret. 7 Ret. Ret. Ret. Ret. 9 Ret. 2 17 Per-Gunnar Andersson 8 Ret. Ret. 24 Ret. 9 11 Ret. 1 Juho Hänninen 8 1 Sébastien Ogier 8 11 22 1 Andreas Aigner 31 8 14 11 1 Pos Driver MON SWE MEX ARG JOR ITA GRC TUR FIN GER NZL ESP FRA JPN GBR Pts

Colour Result Gold Winner Silver 2nd place Bronze 3rd place Green Points finish Blue Non-points finish Purple Did not finish (Ret) Black Disqualified (DSQ) White Did not start (DNS) Blank Did not practice (DNP) Injured or ill (Inj) Excluded (EX) Suspended (SUS) Did not arrive (DNA) Withdrew entry before the event (WD)

Manufacturers' championship[link]

Rank	Team	Event															Total points
		MON	SWE	MEX	ARG	JOR	ITA	GRC	TUR	FIN	GER	NZL	ESP	FRA	JPN	GBR
1	BP Ford World Rally Team	8	18	11	7	13	14	10	18	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	99
2	Citroën Total World Rally Team	11	4	10	16	9	14	15	11	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	90
3	Subaru World Rally Team	10	6	9	8	6	3	8	3	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	53
4	Stobart M-Sport Ford	8	8	3	3	7	5	3	4	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	41
5	Munchi's Ford World Rally Team	0	0	6	4	4	2	0	3	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	19
6	Suzuki World Rally Team	2	3	0	1	0	1	3	0	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	10

References[link]

External links[link]

• Results from the official site wrc.com
• Results at eWRC.com
• Results at Jonkka's World Rally Archive

The Rally of Turkey is a rally competition on the FIA World Rally Championship (WRC) schedule.

History[link]

First international rally in Turkey was held in 1972, starting and finishing in İstanbul. In 1999, the idea of creating an all-new event as a WRC candidate was conceived. The next year in 2000, the Anatolian Rally based in İzmir was born. After being observed by the FIA, the rally became an official reserve event for the WRC.

Antalya and Kemer, a holiday region in southwestern Turkey was chosen in 2001 as the start and finish venue for the Anatolian Rally adopting a WRC format. In 2002, first foreign entries took part, Sébastien Loeb in a Citroën Saxo and Juuso Pykälistö in a Peugeot 206 WRC.

Turkey debuted in the World Rally Championship in the 2003 season in which only 27 of the 62 entries finished. The first two years were dedicated to Junior World Rally Championship (JWRC) for gaining experience. In 2005, the Rally of Turkey hosted for the first time Production Car World Rally Championship (PWRC) drivers.

76 rally teams took part in the 2005 Rally of Turkey. Only 53 teams finished the total distance of 1,228 km. Repeating his victory of previous year, Sébastien Loeb of France won the cup at 4.21.48.00' with his co-driver Daniel Elena.

The 2006 event was held from October 13 to October 15, 2006 around Kemer – Kumluca – Antalya in southwestern Turkey on rough, gravel roads up into occasionally snowy mountain roads. Rally headquarters and the service park were located in Kemer.

The Rally of Turkey returned to the WRC calendar in for the 2008 season. The 2008 Rally of Turkey took place between June 12-15 and was won by Mikko Hirvonen ahead of Jari-Matti Latvala and Sébastien Loeb.

Winners[link]

• 2010 – Sébastien Loeb, Citroën C4 WRC
• 2008 – Mikko Hirvonen, Ford Focus RS WRC 07
• 2007 – Nicolas Vouilloz, Peugeot 207 S2000 (IRC)
• 2006 – Marcus Grönholm, Ford Focus RS WRC 06
• 2005 – Sébastien Loeb, Citroën Xsara WRC
• 2004 – Sébastien Loeb, Citroën Xsara WRC
• 2003 – Carlos Sainz, Citroën Xsara WRC

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Rally of Turkey

• Rally of Turkey official site

Of
—  District  —
Of Location of Of within Turkey.
Coordinates: 40°56′42″N 40°15′52″E / 40.945°N 40.26444°E / 40.945; 40.26444
Country	Turkey
Region	Black Sea
Province	Trabzon
Government
• Mayor	Murat Saral (AKP)
Area
• Total	330 km2 (130 sq mi)
Elevation	10 m (30 ft)
Population (2009)[1]
• Total	43,293
• Density	131/km2 (340/sq mi)
Time zone	EET (UTC+2)
• Summer (DST)	EEST (UTC+3)
Postal code	61830
Area code(s)	(+90) 462
Licence plate	61
Website	www.of.bel.tr

Of^{[pronunciation?]} is a town and district of Trabzon Province in the Black Sea region of Turkey. It is located in the eastern part of Trabzon and is an important historical district of the province. The mayor is Oktay Saral (AKP).

Name[link]

There are several stories about the origins of its name. According first assumption it means "village", "settlement" in Laz (Laz: oput'e) - the old name of the town is mentioned as "Opinute". By the other version its name is the replica of the word ofis, a Greek word for "snake". The other assumption suggests that the name of the district stems from "Op" which means "gun" in the old South Siberian Turkic language.

The history of Trabzon started with the Greek colonies in the region.

Notable people[link]

• Yaser Hacımustafaoğlu (1991) footballer
• Fatih Öztürk (1983) footballer
• Mehmet Yılmaz (1979) footballer

References[link]

External links[link]

• District governor's official website (Turkish)

v t e Of, Turkey in Trabzon Province (in the Black Sea region) of Turkey Urban districts Trabzon Rural districts Akçaabat - Araklı - Arsin - Beşikdüzü - Çarşıbaşı - Çaykara - Dernekpazarı - Düzköy - Hayrat - Köprübaşı - Maçka - Of - Şalpazarı - Sürmene - Tonya - Vakfıkebir - Yomra Regions Provinces Aegean Afyonkarahisar - Aydın - Denizli - Izmir - Kütahya - Manisa - Muğla - Uşak Black Sea Amasya - Artvin - Bartın - Bayburt - Bolu - Çorum - Düzce - Giresun - Gümüşhane - Karabük - Kastamonu - Ordu - Rize - Samsun - Sinop - Tokat - Trabzon - Zonguldak Central Anatolia Aksaray - Ankara - Çankırı - Eskişehir - Karaman - Kayseri - Kırıkkale - Kırşehir - Konya - Nevşehir - Niğde - Sivas - Yozgat Eastern Anatolia Ağrı - Ardahan -Bingöl - Bitlis - Elâzığ - Erzincan - Erzurum - Hakkâri - Iğdır - Kars - Malatya - Muş - Siirt - Tunceli - Van Marmara Balıkesir - Bilecik - Bursa - Çanakkale - Edirne - Istanbul - Kırklareli - Kocaeli - Sakarya - Tekirdağ - Yalova Mediterranean Adana - Antalya- Burdur - Hatay - Isparta - Kahramanmaraş - Mersin - Osmaniye Southeastern Anatolia Adıyaman - Batman - Diyarbakır - Gaziantep - Kilis - Mardin - Şanlıurfa - Şırnak

This article about a Black Sea Region of Turkey location is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v t e

Republic of Turkey Türkiye Cumhuriyeti
Flag
Anthem: İstiklal Marşı Independence March
Location of Turkey
Capital		Ankara 39°55′N 32°50′E / 39.917°N 32.833°E / 39.917; 32.833
Largest city		Istanbul
Official language(s)		Turkish
Demonym		Turkish
Government		Parliamentary republic
-	Founder	Mustafa Kemal Atatürk
-	President	Abdullah Gül
-	Prime Minister	Recep Tayyip Erdoğan
-	Speaker of the Parliament	Cemil Çiçek
-	President of the Constitutional Court	Haşim Kılıç
Legislature		Grand National Assembly
Succession		to the Ottoman Empire
-	Treaty of Lausanne	24 July 1923
-	Declaration of Republic	29 October 1923
Area
-	Total	783,562 km2 (37th) 302,535 sq mi
-	Water (%)	1.3
Population
-	2011 estimate	74,724,269[1] (18th)
-	2000 census	67,803,927[2]
-	Density	97/km2 (108th) 239.8/sq mi
GDP (PPP)		2011 estimate
-	Total	$1.073 trillion[3] (16th)
-	Per capita	$14,517[3] (64th)
GDP (nominal)		2011 estimate
-	Total	$778.089 billion[3] (18th)
-	Per capita	$10,522[3] (62nd)
Gini (2008)		40[4] (medium)
HDI (2011)		0.699[5] (high) (92nd)
Currency		Turkish lira[6] (TRY)
Time zone		EET (UTC+2)
-	Summer (DST)	EEST (UTC+3)
Date formats		dd/mm/yyyy (AD)
Drives on the		right
ISO 3166 code		TR
Internet TLD		.tr
Calling code		90

Turkey (Turkish: Türkiye), known officially as the Republic of Turkey ( Türkiye Cumhuriyeti (help·info)), is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia (mostly in the Anatolian peninsula) and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe. Turkey is bordered by eight countries: Bulgaria to the northwest; Greece to the west; Georgia to the northeast; Armenia, Azerbaijan (the exclave of Nakhchivan) and Iran to the east; and Iraq and Syria to the southeast. The Mediterranean Sea and Cyprus are to the south; the Aegean Sea is to the west; and the Black Sea is to the north. The Sea of Marmara, the Bosphorus and the Dardanelles (which together form the Turkish Straits) demarcate the boundary between East Thrace and Anatolia; they also separate Europe and Asia.^[7]

Turkey is one of the six independent Turkic states. The vast majority of the population are Muslims.^[8] The country's official language is Turkish, whereas Kurdish and Zazaki languages are spoken by Kurds and Zazas, who constitute 18% of the population.^[9]

Oghuz Turks began migrating into the area now called Turkey (derived from the Medieval Latin Turchia, i.e. "Land of the Turks") in the 11th century. The process was greatly accelerated by the Seljuk victory over the Byzantines at the Battle of Manzikert.^[10] Several small beyliks and the Seljuk Sultanate of Rûm ruled Anatolia until the Mongol invasion. Starting from the 13th century, the Ottoman beylik united Anatolia and created an empire encompassing much of Southeastern Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. After the Ottoman Empire collapsed following its defeat in World War I, parts of it were occupied by the victorious Allies. A cadre of young military officers, led by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk and his colleagues, organized a successful resistance to the Allies; in 1923, they would establish the modern Republic of Turkey with Atatürk as its first president.

Turkey is a democratic, secular, unitary, constitutional republic with an ancient cultural heritage. Turkey has become increasingly integrated with the West through membership in organisations such as the Council of Europe, NATO, OECD, OSCE and the G-20 major economies. Turkey began full membership negotiations with the European Union in 2005, having been an associate member of the European Economic Community since 1963 and having joined the EU Customs Union in 1995. Turkey has also fostered close cultural, political, economic and industrial relations with the Middle East, the Turkic states of Central Asia and the African countries through membership in organisations such as the Turkic Council, Joint Administration of Turkic Arts and Culture, Organisation of Islamic Cooperation and the Economic Cooperation Organisation.

Turkey's location at the crossroads of Europe and Asia makes it a country of significant geostrategic importance.^[11][12][13] Given its strategic location, large economy and military strength, Turkey is a major regional power.^[13][14]

Etymology[link]

The name of Turkey, Türkiye in the Turkish language, can be divided into two components: the ethnonym Türk and the abstract suffix –iye meaning "owner", "land of" or "related to" (derived from the Arabic suffix –iyya, which is similar to the Greek and Latin suffixes –ia). The first recorded use of the term "Türk" or "Türük" as an autonym is contained in the Orkhon inscriptions of the Göktürks (Celestial Turks) of Central Asia (c. 8th century). The English word "Turkey" is derived from the Medieval Latin Turchia (c. 1369).^[15] The Greek cognate of this name, Tourkia (Greek: Τουρκία) was originally used by the Byzantines to describe medieval Hungary^{[dn 1][16][page needed][17]} (since pre-Magyar Hungary was occupied by proto-Turkic and Turkic tribes, such as the Huns, Avars, Bulgars, Kabars, Pechenegs and Cumans.) Similarly, the medieval Khazar Empire, a Turkic state on the northern shores of the Black and Caspian seas, was referred to as Tourkia (Land of the Turks) in Byzantine sources. However, the Byzantines later began using this name to define the Seljuk-controlled parts of Anatolia in the centuries that followed the Battle of Manzikert in 1071.

History[link]

Antiquity[link]

The Anatolian peninsula, comprising most of modern Turkey, is one of the oldest continuously inhabited regions in the world. The earliest Neolithic settlements such as Çatalhöyük (Pottery Neolithic), Çayönü (Pre-Pottery Neolithic A to Pottery Neolithic), Nevalı Çori (Pre-Pottery Neolithic B), Hacılar (Pottery Neolithic), Göbekli Tepe (Pre-Pottery Neolithic A) and Mersin (Yumuktepe) are considered to be among the earliest human settlements in the world.^[18]

Portion of the legendary walls of Troy (VII), identified as the site of the Trojan War (ca. 1200 BCE.)

The settlement of Troy started in the Neolithic and continued into the Iron Age. Through recorded history, Anatolians have spoken Indo-European, Semitic and Kartvelian languages, as well as many languages of uncertain affiliation. In fact, given the antiquity of the Indo-European Hittite and Luwian languages, some scholars have proposed Anatolia as the hypothetical center from which the Indo-European languages radiated.^[19] The Hattians were an ancient people who inhabited the Central Anatolia, noted at least as early as ca. 2300 BC. Indo-European Hittites came to Anatolia and gradually absorbed Hattians ca. 2000–1700 BC. The first major empire in the area was founded by the Hittites, from the eighteenth through the 13th century BC. The Assyrians colonized parts of southeastern Turkey as early as 1950 BC until the year 612 BC, when the Assyrian Empire was conquered by the Chaldean dynasty in Babylon.^[20][21] Following the Hittite collapse, the Phrygians, an Indo-European people, achieved ascendancy until their kingdom was destroyed by the Cimmerians in the 7th century BC.^[22] The most powerful of Phrygia's successor states were Lydia, Caria and Lycia. The Lydians and Lycians spoke languages that were fundamentally Indo-European, but both languages had acquired non-Indo-European elements prior to the Hittite and Hellenistic periods.

The Celsus Library in Ephesus, dating from 135 AD.

Starting around 1200 BC, the coast of Anatolia was heavily settled by Aeolian and Ionian Greeks. Numerous important cities were founded by these colonists, such as Miletus, Ephesus, Smyrna (modern İzmir), and Byzantium (later Constantinople and Istanbul). The first state established in Anatolia that was called Armenia by neighboring peoples (Hecataeus of Miletus and Behistun Inscription) was the state of the Armenian Orontid dynasty. Anatolia was conquered by the Persian Achaemenid Empire during the 6th and 5th centuries BC and later fell to Alexander the Great in 334 BC.^[23] Anatolia was subsequently divided into a number of small Hellenistic kingdoms (including Bithynia, Cappadocia, Pergamum, and Pontus), all of which had succumbed to the Roman Republic by the mid-1st century BC.^[24]

In 324, the Roman emperor Constantine I chose Byzantium to be the new capital of the Roman Empire, renaming it New Rome (later Constantinople and Istanbul). After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, it became the capital of the Byzantine Empire (Eastern Roman Empire).^[25]

Turks and the Ottoman Empire[link]

Ottoman territories acquired between 1481 and 1683.

The House of Seljuk was a branch of the Kınık Oğuz Turks who resided on the periphery of the Muslim world, in the Yabghu Khaganate of the Oğuz confederacy, to the north of the Caspian and Aral Seas, in the 9th century.^{[26][page needed]} In the 10th century the Seljuks started migrating from their ancestral homeland into Persia, which became the administrative core of the Great Seljuk Empire.

In the latter half of the 11th century the Seljuks began penetrating into the eastern regions of Anatolia. The victory of the Seljuk sultan Alp Arslan against the Byzantine emperor Romanos IV Diogenes at the Battle of Manzikert in 1071 gave rise to the Anatolian Seljuk Sultanate, which developed as a separate branch of the Great Seljuk Empire that covered parts of Central Asia, Persia, Anatolia, the Levant and southeast Arabia.^{[27][page needed]}

In 1243, the Seljuk armies were defeated by the Mongols, causing the Seljuk Empire's power to slowly disintegrate. In its wake, one of the Turkish principalities governed by Osman I would, over the next 200 years, evolve into the Ottoman Empire, expanding throughout Anatolia, the Balkans and the Levant.^{[28][page needed]} In 1453, the Ottomans completed their conquest of the Byzantine Empire by capturing its capital, Constantinople.

The Selimiye Mosque in Edirne is one of the most famous architectural legacies of the Ottoman Empire.

The Ottoman Empire's power and prestige peaked in the 16th and 17th centuries, particularly during the reign of Suleiman the Magnificent. 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.^{[12][page needed]} At sea, the Ottoman Navy contended with several Holy Leagues (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 control of the Mediterranean Sea. In the Indian Ocean, the Ottoman Navy frequently confronted Portuguese fleets in order to defend the empire's monopoly over the historic maritime trade routes between East Asia and Western Europe; these routes faced new competition with the Portuguese discovery of the Cape of Good Hope in 1488, which had a considerable impact on the Ottoman economy. In addition, the Ottomans were occasionally at war with Safavid Persia over territorial disputes or caused by religious differences between 16th and 18th centuries.^[29]

During nearly two centuries of decline, the Ottoman Empire gradually shrank in size, military power, and wealth. It entered World War I on the side of the Central Powers and was ultimately defeated. During the war, an estimated 1.5 million Armenians were deported and exterminated in the Armenian Genocide.^[30][31] The Turkish government denies that there was an Armenian genocide and claims that Armenians were only relocated from the eastern war zone.^[32] Large scale massacres were also committed against the empire's other minority groups such as the Greeks and Assyrians.^[33][34][35] Following the Armistice of Mudros on 30 October 1918, the victorious Allied Powers sought to partition the Ottoman state through the 1920 Treaty of Sèvres.^[28]

Republic era[link]

Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, founder and first President of the Republic of Turkey.

The occupation of Constantinople and Smyrna by the Allies in the aftermath of World War I prompted the establishment of the Turkish national movement.^[12] Under the leadership of Mustafa Kemal Pasha, a military commander who had distinguished himself during the Battle of Gallipoli, the Turkish War of Independence was waged with the aim of revoking the terms of the Treaty of Sèvres.^[11]

By 18 September 1922, the occupying armies were expelled, and the new Turkish state was established. On 1 November, the newly founded parliament formally abolished the Sultanate, thus ending 623 years of Ottoman rule. The Treaty of Lausanne of 24 July 1923, 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 the new capital of Ankara.^[12]

Mustafa Kemal became the republic's first President and subsequently introduced many radical reforms with the aim of founding a new secular republic from the remnants of its Ottoman past.^[12] With the Surname Law of 1934, the Turkish Parliament bestowed upon Mustafa Kemal the honorific surname "Atatürk" (Father of the Turks.)^[11]

Roosevelt, İnönü and Churchill at the Second Cairo Conference which was held between 4–6 December 1943.

Turkey remained neutral during most of World War II, but entered the war on the side of the Allies on 23 February 1945, as a ceremonial gesture; and on 26 June 1945, became a charter member of the United Nations.^[36] Difficulties faced by Greece after the war in quelling a communist rebellion, along with demands by the Soviet Union for military bases in the Turkish Straits, prompted the United States to declare the Truman Doctrine in 1947. The doctrine enunciated American intentions to guarantee the security of Turkey and Greece, and resulted in large-scale U.S. military and economic support.^{[37][page needed]} Both countries were included in the Marshall Plan and OEEC for rebuilding European economies in 1948, and subsequently became founding members of the OECD in 1961.

After participating with the United Nations forces in the Korean War, Turkey joined NATO in 1952, becoming a bulwark against Soviet expansion into the Mediterranean. Following a decade of Cypriot intercommunal violence and the Greek military junta backed coup in Cyprus on 15 July 1974 staged by the EOKA B paramilitary organization, which overthrew President Makarios (who fled to the United Kingdom) and installed the pro-Enosis (union with Greece) Nikos Sampson as dictator, Turkey invaded Cyprus on 20 July 1974 upon the request for guarantorship intervention by the Turkish Cypriot leader and Vice President of the Republic of Cyprus Rauf Denktaş.^[38] Nine years later the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, which is recognised only by Turkey, was established.^[39]

The single-party period ended in 1945. It was followed by a tumultuous transition to multiparty democracy over the next few decades, which was interrupted by military coups d'état in 1960, 1971, 1980 and 1997.^{[40][page needed]} In 1984, the PKK began an insurgency against the Turkish government; the conflict, which has claimed over 40,000 lives, continues today.^[41] Since the liberalisation of the Turkish economy during the 1980s, the country has enjoyed stronger economic growth and greater political stability.^[42]

Politics[link]

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has been elected three times as Prime Minister: In 2002 (with 34% of the popular vote), in 2007 (with 47%) and in 2011 (with 49%).

Turkey is a parliamentary representative democracy. Since its foundation as a republic in 1923, Turkey has developed a strong tradition of secularism.^[43] Turkey's constitution governs the legal framework of the country. It sets out the main principles of government and establishes Turkey as a unitary centralized state.

The President of the Republic is the head of state and has a largely ceremonial role. The president is elected for a five-year term by direct elections. Abdullah Gül was elected as president on 28 August 2007, by a popular parliament round of votes, succeeding Ahmet Necdet Sezer.^[44]

Executive power is exercised by the Prime Minister and the Council of Ministers which make up the government, while the legislative power is vested in the unicameral parliament, the Grand National Assembly of Turkey. The judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature, and the Constitutional Court is charged with ruling on the conformity of laws and decrees with the constitution. The Council of State is the tribunal of last resort for administrative cases, and the High Court of Appeals for all others.^[45]

The prime minister is elected by the parliament through a vote of confidence in the government and is most often the head of the party having the most seats in parliament. The current prime minister is the former mayor of İstanbul, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, whose conservative Justice and Development Party won an absolute majority of parliamentary seats in the 2002 general elections, organized in the aftermath of the economic crisis of 2001, with 34% of the suffrage.^[46]

The Grand National Assembly of Turkey in Ankara during a speech of U.S. President Barack Obama on 6 April 2009.

In the 2007 general elections, the AKP received 46.6% of the votes and could defend its majority in parliament.^[47] Although the ministers do not have to be members of the parliament, ministers with parliament membership are common in Turkish politics. In 2007, a series of events regarding state secularism and the role of the judiciary in the legislature occurred. These included the controversial presidential election of Abdullah Gül, who in the past had been involved with Islamist parties;^[48] and the government's proposal to lift the headscarf ban in universities, which was annulled by the Constitutional Court, leading to a fine and a near ban of the ruling party.^[49]

Universal suffrage for both sexes has been applied throughout Turkey since 1933, and every Turkish citizen who has turned 18 years of age has the right to vote. As of 2004, there were 50 registered political parties in the country.^[50] The Constitutional Court can strip the public financing of political parties that it deems anti-secular or separatist, or ban their existence altogether.^[51][52]

There are 550 members of parliament who are elected for a four-year term by a party-list proportional representation system from 85 electoral districts which represent the 81 administrative provinces of Turkey (İstanbul is divided into three electoral districts, whereas Ankara and İzmir are divided into two each because of their large populations). To avoid a hung parliament and its excessive political fragmentation, only parties winning at least 10% of the votes cast in a national parliamentary election gain the right to representation in the parliament.^[50] Because of this threshold, in the 2007 elections only three parties formally entered the parliament (compared to two in 2002).^[53][54]

Human rights in Turkey have been the subject of much controversy and international condemnation. Between 1998 and 2008 the European Court of Human Rights made more than 1,600 judgements against Turkey for human rights violations, particularly the right to life and freedom from torture. Other issues such as Kurdish rights, women's rights and press freedom have also attracted controversy. Turkey's human rights record continues to be a significant obstacle to future membership of the EU.^[55] The Turkish Journalists Association says that 58 of the country's journalists have been imprisoned. A former U.S. State Department spokesman, Philip J. Crowley, said that the United States had "broad concerns about trends involving intimidation of journalists in Turkey."^[56]

Foreign relations[link]

Turkey is a founding member of the OECD and the G-20 major economies.

Turkey began full membership negotiations with the European Union in 2005, having been an associate member of the EEC since 1963, and having joined the EU Customs Union in 1995.

Turkey is a founding member of the United Nations (1945), the OECD (1961), the OIC (1969), the OSCE (1973), the ECO (1985), the BSEC (1992) and the G-20 major economies (1999). On 17 October 2008, Turkey was elected as a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council.^[57] Turkey's membership of the council effectively began on 1 January 2009.^[57] Turkey had previously been a member of the U.N. Security Council in 1951–1952, 1954–1955 and 1961.^[57]

In line with its traditional Western orientation, relations with Europe have always been a central part of Turkish foreign policy. Turkey became a founding member of the Council of Europe in 1949, 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 EU since 2005.^[58]

Since 1974, Turkey has not recognized the (essentially Greek Cypriot) Republic of Cyprus as the sole authority on the island, but instead supports the Turkish Cypriot community in the form of the de facto Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, which was established in 1983 and is recognized only by Turkey.^[59]

The other defining aspect of Turkey's foreign relations has been its ties with the United States. Based on the common threat posed by the Soviet Union, Turkey joined NATO in 1952, ensuring close bilateral relations with Washington throughout the Cold War. In the post–Cold War environment, Turkey's geostrategic importance shifted towards its proximity to the Middle East, the Caucasus and the Balkans. In return, Turkey has 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.

The independence of the Turkic states of the Soviet Union in 1991, with which Turkey shares a common cultural and linguistic heritage, allowed Turkey to extend its economic and political relations deep into Central Asia,^[60] thus enabling the completion of a multi-billion-dollar oil and natural gas pipeline from Baku in Azerbaijan to the port of Ceyhan in Turkey. The Baku–Tbilisi–Ceyhan pipeline forms part of Turkey's foreign policy strategy to become an energy conduit to the West. However, Turkey's border with Armenia, a state in the Caucasus, remains closed following Armenia's occupation of Azerbaijani territory during the Nagorno-Karabakh War.^[61]

Military[link]

Troops of the Turkish Army; S-353 TCG Preveze; and a Turkish F-16 Fighting Falcon.

Turkey joined NATO in 1952.

The Turkish Armed Forces consists of the Army, the Navy and the Air Force. The Gendarmerie and the Coast Guard operate as parts of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in peacetime, although they are subordinated to the Army and Navy Commands respectively in wartime, during which they have both internal law enforcement and military functions.^[62]

The Turkish Armed Forces is the second largest standing armed force in NATO, after the U.S. Armed Forces, with a combined strength of just over a million uniformed personnel serving in its five branches.^[63] Since 2003, Turkey contributes military personnel to Eurocorps and takes part in the EU Battlegroups.^[64] Turkey is also considered to be the strongest military power of the Middle East region besides Israel.^[14]

Every fit male Turkish citizen otherwise not barred is required to serve in the military for a period ranging from three weeks to fifteen months, dependent on education and job location.^[65] Turkey does not recognise conscientious objection and does not offer a civilian alternative to military service.^[66]

Turkey is one of nine partner states of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) development and production programme.

Turkey is one of five NATO member states which are part of the nuclear sharing policy of the alliance, together with Belgium, Germany, Italy, and the Netherlands.^[67] A total of 90 B61 nuclear bombs are hosted at the Incirlik Air Base, 40 of which are allocated for use by the Turkish Air Force.^[68]

In 1998, Turkey announced a programme of modernisation worth US$160 billion over a twenty year period in various projects including tanks, fighter jets, helicopters, submarines, warships and assault rifles.^[69] Turkey is a Level 3 contributor to the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) programme.^[70]

Turkey has maintained forces in international missions under the United Nations and NATO since 1950, including peacekeeping missions in Somalia and former Yugoslavia, and support to coalition forces in the First Gulf War. Turkey maintains 36,000 troops in northern Cyprus; their presence is supported and approved by the de facto local government, but the Republic of Cyprus and the international community regard it as an illegal occupation force, and its presence has also been denounced in several United Nations Security Council resolutions.^[71] Turkey has had troops deployed in Afghanistan as part of the United States stabilisation force and the UN-authorized, NATO-commanded International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) since 2001.^[63][72] In 2006, the Turkish parliament deployed a peacekeeping force of Navy patrol vessels and around 700 ground troops as part of an expanded United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) in the wake of the Israeli-Lebanon conflict.^[73]

The Chief of the General Staff is appointed by the president and is responsible to the prime minister. The Council of Ministers is responsible to 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.^[62] The actual commander of the armed forces is the Chief of the General Staff General Necdet Özel since August 4, 2011.^[74]

Administrative divisions[link]

Districts of Turkey

The capital city of Turkey is Ankara. The territory of Turkey is subdivided into 81 provinces for administrative purposes. The provinces are organized into 7 regions for census purposes; however, they do not represent an administrative structure. Each province is divided into districts, for a total of 923 districts.

Provinces usually bear the same name as their provincial capitals, also called the central district; exceptions to this custom are the provinces of Hatay (capital: Antakya), Kocaeli (capital: İzmit) and Sakarya (capital: Adapazarı). Provinces with the largest populations are Istanbul (13 million), Ankara (5 million), İzmir (4 million), Bursa (3 million) and Adana (2 million).

The biggest city and the pre-Republican capital Istanbul is the financial, economic and cultural heart of the country.^[75] An estimated 75.5% of Turkey's population live in urban centers.^[76] In all, 19 provinces have populations that exceed 1 million inhabitants, and 20 provinces have populations between 1 million and 500,000 inhabitants. Only two provinces have populations less than 100,000.

Ankara

Kırklareli

Edirne

Tekirdağ

Çanakkale

Balıkesir

Bursa

Yalova

Istanbul

Kocaeli

Sakarya

Düzce

Zonguldak

Bolu

Bilecik

Eskişehir

Kütahya

Manisa

İzmir

Aydın

Muğla

Denizli

Burdur

Uşak

Afyon

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

Elâzığ

Diyarbakır

Mardin

Batman

Siirt

Şırnak

Bitlis

Bingöl

Muş

Van

Hakkâri

Geography[link]

Bosphorus Bridge in Istanbul, connecting Europe and Asia.

Turkey is a transcontinental^[77] Eurasian country. Asian Turkey (made up largely of Anatolia), which includes 97% of the country, is separated from European Turkey by the Bosphorus, the Sea of Marmara, and the Dardanelles (which together form a water link between the Black Sea and the Mediterranean). European Turkey (eastern Thrace or Rumelia in the Balkan peninsula) comprises 3% of the country.^[78]

The territory of Turkey is more than 1,600 kilometres (1,000 mi) long and 800 km (500 mi) wide, with a roughly rectangular shape.^[75] It lies between latitudes 35° and 43° N, and longitudes 25° and 45° E. Turkey's area, including lakes, occupies 783,562^[79] square kilometres (300,948 sq mi), of which 755,688 square kilometres (291,773 sq mi) are in Southwest Asia and 23,764 square kilometres (9,174 sq mi) in Europe.^[75] Turkey is the world's 37th-largest country in terms of area. The country is encircled by seas on three sides: the Aegean Sea to the west, the Black Sea to the north and the Mediterranean to the south. Turkey also contains the Sea of Marmara in the northwest.^[80]

Marmaris on the Turkish Riviera.

The European section of Turkey, East Thrace, forms the borders of Turkey with Greece and Bulgaria. The Asian part of the country, Anatolia, consists of a high central plateau with narrow coastal plains, between the Köroğlu and Pontic mountain ranges to the north and the Taurus Mountains to the south. Eastern Turkey has a more mountainous landscape and is home to the sources of rivers such as the Euphrates, Tigris and Aras, and contains Lake Van and Mount Ararat, Turkey's highest point at 5,137 metres (16,854 ft).^[80][81] Lake Tuz, Turkey's third-largest lake, is a macroscopically visible feature in the middle of the country.

Turkey is divided into seven census regions: Marmara, Aegean, Black Sea, Central Anatolia, Eastern Anatolia, Southeastern Anatolia and the Mediterranean. The uneven north Anatolian terrain running along the Black Sea resembles a long, narrow belt. This region comprises approximately one-sixth of Turkey's total land area. As a general trend, the inland Anatolian plateau becomes increasingly rugged as it progresses eastward.^[80]

Mount Ararat (Ağrı Dağı) is the highest peak in Turkey at 5,137 metres (16,854 ft)

Turkey's varied landscapes are the product of complex earth movements that have shaped the region over thousands of years and still manifest themselves in fairly frequent earthquakes and occasional volcanic eruptions. The Bosphorus and the Dardanelles owe their existence to the fault lines running through Turkey that led to the creation of the Black Sea. There is an earthquake fault line across the north of the country from west to east, which caused a major earthquake in 1999.^[82]

Climate[link]

The coastal areas of Turkey bordering the Aegean Sea and the Mediterranean Sea have a temperate Mediterranean climate, with hot, dry summers and mild to cool, wet winters. The coastal areas of Turkey bordering the Black Sea have a temperate Oceanic climate with warm, wet summers and cool to cold, wet winters. The Turkish Black Sea coast receives the greatest amount of precipitation and is the only region of Turkey that receives high precipitation throughout the year. The eastern part of that coast averages 2,500 millimetres annually which is the highest precipitation in the country.

The coastal areas of Turkey bordering the Sea of Marmara (including Istanbul), which connects the Aegean Sea and the Black Sea, have a transitional climate between a temperate Mediterranean climate and a temperate Oceanic climate with warm to hot, moderately dry summers and cool to cold, wet winters. Snow does occur on the coastal areas of the Sea of Marmara and the Black Sea almost every winter, but it usually lies no more than a few days. Snow on the other hand is rare in the coastal areas of the Aegean Sea and very rare in the coastal areas of the Mediterranean Sea.

Conditions can be much harsher in the more arid interior. Mountains close to the coast prevent Mediterranean influences from extending inland, giving the central Anatolian plateau of the interior of Turkey a continental climate with sharply contrasting seasons.

Winters on the plateau are especially severe. Temperatures of −30 °C to −40 °C (−22 °F to −40 °F) can occur in eastern Anatolia, and snow may lie on the ground at least 120 days of the year. In the west, winter temperatures average below 1 °C (34 °F). Summers are hot and dry, with temperatures generally above 30 °C (86 °F) in the day. Annual precipitation averages about 400 millimetres (15 in), with actual amounts determined by elevation. The driest regions are the Konya plain and the Malatya plain, where annual rainfall frequently is less than 300 millimetres (12 in). May is generally the wettest month, whereas July and August are the driest.^[83]

Economy[link]

A cruise ship (left) and Seabus (right) navigating through the Bosphorus strait in Istanbul. Turkish port cities and coastal towns like Istanbul, Izmir and Kuşadası are among the popular destinations of cruise ship holiday tours in the Mediterranean Sea.

Turkey has the world's 15th largest GDP-PPP^[84] and 17th largest nominal GDP.^[85] The country is a founding member of the OECD and the G-20 major economies. During the first six decades of the republic, between 1923 and 1983, Turkey has mostly adhered to a quasi-statist approach with strict government planning of the budget and government-imposed limitations over private sector participation, foreign trade, flow of foreign currency, and foreign direct investment. However, in 1983 Prime Minister Turgut Özal initiated a series of reforms designed to shift the economy from a statist, insulated system to a more private-sector, market-based model.^[42]

The reforms, combined with unprecedented amounts of foreign loans, spurred rapid economic growth; but this growth was punctuated by sharp recessions and financial crises in 1994, 1999 (following the earthquake of that year),^[86] and 2001;^[87] resulting in an average of 4% GDP growth per annum between 1981 and 2003.^[88] Lack of additional fiscal reforms, combined with large and growing public sector deficits and widespread corruption, resulted in high inflation, a weak banking sector and increased macroeconomic volatility.^[89] Since the economic crisis of 2001 and the reforms initiated by the finance minister of the time, Kemal Derviş, inflation has fallen to single-digit numbers, investor confidence and foreign investment have soared, and unemployment has fallen.

Entrance to the Şişli station of the Istanbul Metro in front of Istanbul Cevahir, Europe's largest shopping mall.

Turkey has gradually opened up its markets through economic reforms by reducing government controls on foreign trade and investment and the privatisation of publicly owned industries, and the liberalisation of many sectors to private and foreign participation has continued amid political debate.^[90] The public debt to GDP ratio, while well below its levels during the recession of 2001, reached 46% in 2010 Q3. The GDP growth rate from 2002 to 2007 averaged 7%,^[91] which made Turkey one of the fastest growing economies in the world during that period. However, growth slowed to 1% in 2008, and in 2009 the Turkish economy was affected by the global financial crisis, with a recession of 5%. The economy was estimated to have returned to 8% growth in 2010.^[92]

In the early years of this century the chronically high inflation was brought under control and this led to the launch of a new currency, the Turkish new lira, on 1 January 2005, to cement the acquisition of the economic reforms and erase the vestiges of an unstable economy.^[93] On 1 January 2009, the new Turkish lira was renamed once again as the Turkish lira, with the introduction of new banknotes and coins. As a result of continuing economic reforms, inflation dropped to 8% in 2005, and the unemployment rate to 10%.^[94]

One of the fastest growing airline companies in the world, Turkish Airlines won Europe's Best Airline and Southern Europe's Best Airline awards by Skytrax.^[95] Turkish Airlines was chosen as the official carrier by Europe's leading football clubs like FC Barcelona^[96] and Manchester United.^[97] The company is also the primary sponsor of Euroleague Basketball.^[98]

Tourism in Turkey has experienced rapid growth in the last twenty years, and constitutes an important part of the economy. In 2008 there were 31 million visitors to the country, who contributed $22 billion to Turkey's revenues.^[99] Other key sectors of the Turkish economy are banking, construction, home appliances, electronics, textiles, oil refining, petrochemical products, food, mining, iron and steel, machine industry and automotive. Turkey has a large and growing automotive industry, which produced 1,147,110 motor vehicles in 2008, ranking as the 6th largest producer in Europe (behind the United Kingdom and above Italy) and the 15th largest producer in the world.^[100][101] Turkey is also one of the leading shipbuilding nations; in 2007 the country ranked 4th in the world (behind China, South Korea and Japan) in terms of the number of ordered ships, and also 4th in the world (behind Italy, USA and Canada) in terms of the number of ordered mega yachts.^[102]

Esenboğa International Airport in Ankara.

Turkey's economy is becoming more dependent on industry in major cities, mostly concentrated in the western provinces of the country, and less on agriculture. However, traditional agriculture is still a major pillar of the Turkish economy. In 2010, the agricultural sector accounted for 9% of GDP, while the industrial sector accounted for 26% and the services sector 65%.^[92] However, agriculture still accounted for 24.7% of employment.^[103] In 2004, it was estimated that 46% of total disposable income was received by the top of 20% income earners, while the lowest 20% received 6%.^[104] According to Eurostat data, Turkish PPS GDP per capita stood at 49% of the EU average in 2010.^[105]

Turkish brands like Beko and Vestel are among the largest producers of consumer electronics and home appliances in Europe.

Turkey has taken advantage of the European Union – Turkey Customs Union, signed in 1995, to increase its industrial production destined for exports, while at the same time benefiting from EU-origin foreign investment into the country. Turkey now has also opportunity of a free trade agreement with the European Union (EU) – without full membership – that allows it to manufacture for tarif-free sale throughout the EU market.^[106][107]

By 2009 exports were $110 bn and in 2010 it was $117 bn (main export partners in 2009: Germany 10%, France 6%, UK 6%, Italy 6%, Iraq 5%). However larger imports, which amounted to $166 billion in 2010, threatened the balance of trade (main import partners in 2009: Russia 14%, Germany 10%, China 9%, US 6%, Italy 5%, France 5%).^[92]

After years of low levels of foreign direct investment (FDI), Turkey succeeded in attracting $22 billion in FDI in 2007 and is expected to attract a higher figure in following years.^[108] A series of large privatisations, the stability fostered by the start of Turkey's EU accession negotiations, strong and stable growth, and structural changes in the banking, retail, and telecommunications sectors have all contributed to a rise in foreign investment.^[90]

Demographics[link]

The last official census was in 2000 and recorded a total country population of 67,803,927 inhabitants.^[2] According to the Address-Based Population Recording System of Turkey, the country's population was 74.7 million people in 2011,^[1] nearly three-quarters of whom lived in towns and cities. According to the 2011 estimate, the population is increasing by 1.35% each year. Turkey has an average population density of 97 people per km². People within the 15–64 age group constitute 67,4% of the total population; the 0–14 age group corresponds to 25.3%; while senior citizens aged 65 years or older make up 7.3%.^[110] In 1927, when the first official census was recorded in the Republic of Turkey, the population was 13.6 million.^[111]

Life expectancy stands at 71.1 years for men and 75.3 years for women, with an overall average of 73.2 years for the populace as a whole.^[112] Education is compulsory and free from ages 6 to 15. The literacy rate is 97.79% for males and 90.13% for females as of the year 2010.^[113]

The historic İstiklal Avenue in Istanbul's cosmopolitan Beyoğlu district.

Article 66 of the Turkish Constitution defines a "Turk" as "anyone who is bound to the Turkish state through the bond of citizenship"; therefore, the legal use of the term "Turkish" as a citizen of Turkey is different from the ethnic definition. However, the majority of the Turkish population are of Turkish ethnicity. They are estimated at 70–75% by the CIA^[114] and at 76.0% by a survey of Milliyet in 2007.^[109]

The Kurds, a distinct ethnic group concentrated mainly in the southeastern provinces of the country, are the largest non-Turkic ethnicity, estimated at about 18% of the population according to the CIA^[114] and at 15.7% according to a survey by the Milliyet daily newspaper.^[109] Minorities other than the three officially recognized ones do not have any special group privileges, while the term "minority" itself remains a sensitive issue in Turkey. Reliable data on the ethnic mix of the population is not available, because Turkish census figures do not include statistics on ethnicity.^[115]

The three officially recognized major minorities ethnic groups (per the Treaty of Lausanne), i.e. are: Armenians, Greeks and Jews. Signed on 30 January 1923, a bilateral accord of population exchange between Greece and Turkey took effect in the 1920s, with close to 1.5 million Greeks moving from Turkey and some 500,000 Turks coming from Greece.^[116] Other ethnic groups include Abkhazians, Albanians, Arabs, Assyrians, Bosniaks, Circassians, Georgians, Hamshenis, Laz, Pomaks (Bulgarians), Roma.

Minorities of West European origin include the Levantines (or Levanter, mostly of French, Genoese and Venetian descent) who have been present in the country (particularly in Istanbul^[117] and İzmir^[118]) since the medieval period.

An estimated 71% of the population live in urban centers.^[119] In all, 18 provinces have populations that exceed 1 million inhabitants, and 21 provinces have populations between 1 million and 500,000 inhabitants. Only two provinces have populations less than 100,000.

v t e Largest cities or towns of Turkey TurkStat. Address-based calculation from December, 2011.[120]
	Rank	City name	Province	Pop.	Rank	City name	Province	Pop.
Istanbul Istanbul Ankara	1	Istanbul	Istanbul	13,301,345	11	Kayseri	Kayseri	844,656	İzmir Bursa
	2	Ankara	Ankara	4,338,620	12	Eskişehir	Eskişehir	648,396
	3	İzmir	Izmir	2,783,866	13	Gebze	Kocaeli	545,229
	4	Bursa	Bursa	1,704,441	14	Şanlıurfa	Şanlıurfa	515,199
	5	Adana	Adana	1,609,790	15	Denizli	Denizli	511,751
	6	Gaziantep	Gaziantep	1,376,352	16	Samsun	Samsun	500,995
	7	Konya	Konya	1,073,791	17	Adapazarı	Sakarya	429,331
	8	Antalya	Antalya	964,886	18	Kahramanmaraş	Kahramanmaraş	428,724
	9	Diyarbakır	Diyarbakır	875,069	19	Malatya	Malatya	419,959
	10	Mersin	Mersin	859,680	20	Erzurum	Erzurum	382,383

Language[link]

Turkish is the sole official language throughout Turkey. Reliable figures for the linguistic breakdown of the populace are not available for reasons similar to those cited above.^[115] According to the CIA World Factbook, the Turkish language is spoken by about 70–75% of Turkey's population, while Kurdish is spoken by approximately 18%.^[92] The public broadcaster TRT broadcasts programmes in the local languages and dialects of Arabic, Bosnian, Circassian and Kurdish a few hours a week.^[121] A Kurdish language public television channel, TRT 6, was opened on 1 January 2009.^[122] It was followed by TRT Avaz which was launched on 21 March 2009 and broadcasts in the Azeri, Kazakh, Kyrgyz, Uzbek and Turkmen languages; while the TRT Arabic television channel started broadcasting on 4 April 2010.^[123]

Religion[link]

Sultan Ahmed Mosque (Blue Mosque) in Istanbul.

Turkey is a secular state with no official state religion; the Turkish Constitution provides for freedom of religion and conscience.^[124][125] Islam is the dominant religion of Turkey, it exceeds 99% if secular people of Muslim background are included.^{[92][126][127]} Research firms suggest the actual Muslim figure is around 98%^[128] or 97%.^[8]

There are about 120,000 people of different Christian denominations, including an estimated 80,000 Oriental Orthodox,^[129] 35,000 Roman Catholics,^[130] 5,000 Orthodox (of them 3,000–4,000 being Greeks)^[129] and smaller numbers of Protestants. Today there are 236 churches open for worship in Turkey.^[131] The Orthodox Church has been headquartered in Istanbul since the 4th century. Christians represent less than 0.2% of Turkey's population, according to the CIA World Factbook.^[132]