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.
Turkey is one of the six independent Turkic states. The vast majority of the population are Muslims. The country's official language is Turkish, whereas Kurdish and Zazaki languages are spoken by Kurds and Zazas, who constitute 18% of the population.
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).
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.
Ilham Heydar oglu Aliyev (Azerbaijani: İlham Heydər oğlu Əliyev, born 24 December 1961, Baku) is the President of Azerbaijan since 2003. He also functions as the Chairman of the New Azerbaijan Party and the head of the National Olympic Committee. Apart from his native Azerbaijani, he speaks Turkish, English, French and Russian. Ilham Aliyev is the son of Heydar Aliyev, who was Azerbaijan's president from 1993-2003.
In 1977 Aliyev entered the Moscow State University of International Relations (MSUIR) and in 1982 continued his education as a postgraduate. In 1985 he received a PhD degree in history. From 1985-1990 Aliyev lectured at MSUIR.
In May 1994, Ilham Aliyev was appointed vice-president of the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR). He participated as one of the key figures during the negotiations between Azerbaijani government and Western oil companies during the conclusion of new contracts now known as Contract of the century. The following year Aliyev was elected to the National Assembly of Azerbaijan and later became president of the National Olympic Committee (still incumbent) and head of the Azerbaijan delegation to the Council of Europe. In August 2003, two months prior to the presidential elections, he was appointed prime minister. In October, Heydar Aliyev, suffering failing health, stepped down as president and in a controversial move, appointed his son, an independent candidate, as his party's sole presidential candidate.
Taner Yıldız (b. 3 April 1962, Devecipınar, Boğazlıyan) is a Turkish politician. He is a member of the Justice and Development Party and the Energy and Natural Resources Minister of Turkey.
Taner Yıldız is graduated from the Istanbul Technical University as an electrical engineer. He worked with the Kayseri Electricity Generation Company. He was elected to the Parliament in 2002. Taner Yıldız served as an energy adviser to the prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. On 1 May 2009, after reshuffle of the cabinet, he took the post of the Energy and Natural Resources Minister.
He is married and has 4 children.
According to a report published by the newspaper Zaman, Yıldız was punched in the face on Tuesday, April 20, 2010, by an assailant during a funeral of a Turkish soldier killed in a military operation against the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in the eastern province of Sirnak.
Yıldız suffered a broken nose and deep cuts in his forehead and was hospitalized after the assault.
“This is the fist of the Turkish nation; here comes the initiative,” the attacker reportedly said while punching Yıldız's face.
Serzh Azati Sargsyan (Armenian: Սերժ Ազատի Սարգսյան, born June 30, 1954) is the third President of Armenia. He won the February 2008 presidential election with the backing of the conservative Republican Party of Armenia, a party in which he serves as chairman, and took office in April 2008.
Serzh Sargsyan was born on June 30, 1954 in Stepanakert, Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast, Azerbaijan SSR. He was admitted to Yerevan State University in 1971, served in the Soviet Armed Forces during 1971-72, and graduated from the Philological Department of Yerevan State University in 1979. In 1983, he married his wife, Rita. They have two daughters, Anush and Satenik, and one granddaughter, Mariam. He is the chairman of the Chess Federation of Armenia. In addition to his native Armenian, he is fluent also in Russian. He is of no relation to the current Prime Minister of Armenia, Tigran Sargsyan.
Sargsyan's career began in 1975 at the Electrical Devices Factory in Yerevan, where he worked as a metal turner until 1979 when he became head of the Stepanakert City Communist Party Youth Association Committee. Then served as second secretary, first secretary, the Stepanakert City Committee Propaganda Division Head, the Nagorno-Karabakh Regional Committee Communist Organizations' Unit Instructor, and finally as the assistant to Genrikh Poghosyan, the First Secretary of the Nagorno-Karabakh Regional Committee.