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Turkey,
which hopes to get a date Friday from the European
Union summit in Brussels to launch membership talks,
stands at the center of a strategic zone between the
Caucasus, the Middle East and the Balkans.
Following is a factsheet on Turkey, comparing some
figures with those of the European Union:
GEOGRAPHY: Covering an area of 779,452 square
kilometres (311,781 square miles) unevenly divided
between Europe and Asia, Turkey borders Armenia,
Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Georgia, Greece, Iran, Iraq
and Syria,and and is washed by the Mediterranean to
the south, the Aegean to the west and the Black Sea
to the north, and surrounds the Sea of Marmara. The
area west of the Dardanelles and the Bosphorus (the
straits between Europe and Asia) accounts for five
percent of the total.
Comparatively, the total area of the EU countries is
3,691,214 sq km (1,476,486 sq miles).
POPULATION: 70.7 million inhabitants (2003),
including 13 to 19 million Kurds.
With Turkey joining, the EU's population, which
stood at 455 million in January 2004, would pass the
half-billion mark.
CAPITAL: Ankara, population 3.5 million.
Istanbul is the country's largest city and
industrial and commercial hub with a population in
excess of 10 million (Turkish State Statistics
Institute, 2000 - latest figures available).
OFFICAL LANGUAGE: Turkish.
The EU currently has 20 official, but only three
working languages: English, French and German.
RELIGION: Muslim (99 percent): 80 percent
Sunni, 20 percent Alevi. Armenians form the largest
largest religious minority, with about 45,000
people, followed by some 35,000 Jews.
Turkey's entry into the EU would bring the number of
Muslims in the European bloc to around 80 million.
RECENT HISTORY: Founded in 1923, the Republic
of Turkey was created after the collapse of the
Ottoman empire at the end of World War I. The
republic became a modern secular state under its
founder, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk ("father of the
Turks"), who presided over it until his death in
1938. His successor, Ismet Inonu, ran the country
under a single-party system until 1946, when he
introduced multi-party democracy. Turkey was the
scene of military coups followed by periods of
repression in 1960, 1971 and 1980.
From 1984 to 1999, the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK)
led an armed rebellion in southeastern Turkey, which
claimed more than 37,000 lives. The PKK, which is
considered a terrorist organization by Turkey and
many other countries and international
organisations, called a unilateral truce after the
capture in Kenya in 1999 of its founder and leader,
Abdullah Ocalan, who was tried and sentenced to
death; his sentence was later commuted to life
imprisonment.
The PKK has changed names since, and its latest
incarnation, the Kurdistan People's Congress (KONGRA-GEL),
in June announced the end of their truce, which the
Turkish army had never recognized.
POLITICAL INSTITUTIONS: Ahmet Necdet Sezer has been
president since May 5,
Necmettin Erbakan, leader of the Welfare Party,
became Turkey's first Islamist prime minister on
June 28, 1996, in a coalition with his predecessor,
Tansu Ciller, the country's first woman premier.
He was pressured into resigning by the army in June
1997 and was replaced by Mesut Yilmaz, leader of the
Motherland Party, who headed a left-right coalition.
The Yilmaz coalition fell from power in November
1998 amid allegations of corruption and links to
organised crime. It was replaced by another
left-right coalition, led by Bulent Ecevit.
In general elections in November 2002, the Justice
and Devlopment Party (AKP), which has its roots in
radical Islam but describes itself as simply
"conservative", swept to power and obtained an
absolute majority in Parliament. Its leader, Recep
Tayyip Erdogan, became prime minister in March
ECONOMY: The economy, which is based mainly on
textiles, light industry, tourism and agriculture,
saw considerable growth until it was hit by a severe
crisis in the aftermath of the first Gulf War in
1991.
With 14 million foreign visitors generating 13.2
billion dollars of income, tourism in 2003 was the
country's biggest earner. Incoming tourist figures
increased by 43.5 percent for the first six months
of this year compared with the same period in 2003.
Turkey is linked to the EU with an association
accord signed in 1963 and a customs agreement signed
in 1996.
Turkey's candidacy for EU membership was rejected
in 1989, largely due to its human rights record,
but was accepted on December 10, 1999.
GNP PER CAPITA: 2.790 dollars.
By comparison, the highest per capita GNP in the EU
belongs to Luxembourg, with 38,830 dollars; the
lowest, Latvia's, is 3,480 dollars. The average per
capita GNP of the EU is 19,775 dollars (World Bank,
2003).
FOREIGN DEBT: 147.035 billion dollars
(Turkish State Statistics Institute,
ARMED FORCES: 514,850 men, of whom 402,000
are land forces, 52,750 naval forces and 60,100 air
forces (IISS 2003/2004).
Turkey has been a NATO member since 1952.
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