Politics of Turkey

Country name:
conventional long form: Republic of Turkey
conventional short form: Turkey
local long form: Turkiye Cumhuriyeti
local short form: Turkiye

Data code: TU

Government type: republican parliamentary democracy

Capital: Ankara

Administrative divisions: 80 provinces (iller, singular - il):

Adana, Adiyaman[?], Afyon[?], Agri[?], Aksaray[?], Amasya[?], Ankara, Antalya[?], Ardahan[?], Artvin[?], Aydin[?], Balikesir[?], Bartin[?], Batman, Bayburt[?], Bilecik[?], Bingol, Bitlis[?], Bolu[?], Burdur[?], Bursa, Canakkale[?], Cankiri[?], Corum, Denizli[?], Diyarbakir[?], Edirne, Elazig[?], Erzincan[?], Erzurum[?], Eskisehir[?], Gazi Antep[?], Giresun[?], Gumushane[?], Hakkari[?], Hatay[?], Icel[?], Igdir[?], Isparta[?], Istanbul, Izmir, Kahraman Maras[?], Karabuk[?], Karaman[?], Kars[?], Kastamonu[?], Kayseri, Kilis[?], Kirikkale[?], Kirklareli[?], Kirsehir[?], Kocaeli[?], Konya, Kutahya[?], Malatya[?], Manisa[?], Mardin[?], Mugla[?], Mus[?], Nevsehir[?], Nigde[?], Ordu[?], Osmaniye[?], Rize[?], Sakarya[?], Samsun[?], Sanli Urfa[?], Siirt[?], Sinop, Sirnak[?], Sivas[?], Tekirdag[?], Tokat[?], Trabzon, Tunceli[?], Usak[?], Van, Yalova[?], Yozgat[?], Zonguldak[?]

note: Karabuk, Kilis, Osmaniye and Yalova are the four newest provinces (there may be a fifth - Duzce[?])

the US Board on Geographic Names is awaiting an official Turkish administrative map for verification of the boundaries

Independence: October 29, 1923 (successor state to the Ottoman Empire)

National holiday: Anniversary of the Declaration of the Republic, October 29, (1923)

Constitution: November 7, 1982

Legal system: derived from various European continental legal systems; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations

Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal

Executive branch:

  chief of state: President Ahmed Necdet Sezer[?] (since May 16, 2000) 

  head of government: Prime Minister Bulent ECEVIT (since January 11, 1999) 
  

  cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the president on the nomination 
  of the prime minister 

  note: there is also a National Security Council that serves as an advisory 
  body to the president and the cabinet 

  elections: president elected by the National Assembly for a seven-year 
  term; election last held 5 May 2000 (next scheduled to be held NA May 2007); 
  prime minister and deputy prime minister appointed by the president 

  election results: Ahmed Necdet SEZER elected president; percent 
  of National Assembly vote - 60% 

Legislative branch: unicameral Grand National Assembly of Turkey or Turkiye Buyuk Millet Meclisi (550 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms)
elections: last held 18 April 1999 (next to be held NA 2004)
election results: percent of vote by party - DSP 22%, MHP 18%, FP 15%, ANAP 13%, DYP 12% ; seats by party - DSP 136, MHP 130, FP 110, DYP 86, ANAP 88; note - as of 7 March 2000 seating was DSP 136, MHP 127, FP 103, DYP 85, ANAP 88 independents 6, vacancies 5
Government formed by DSP, ANAP, and MHP

Judicial branch: Constitutional Court, judges appointed by the president; Court of Appeals, judges are elected by the Supreme Council of Judges and Prosecutors

Political parties and leaders: Changing Turkey Party or DEPAR [Gokhan CAPOGLU]; Democracy and Peace Party or DBP [Yilmaz CAMLIBEL]; Democratic Left Party or DSP [Bulent ECEVIT]; Democratic Party or DP [Korkut OZAL]; Democratic Turkey Party or DTP [Husamettin CINDORUK]; Enlightened Turkey Party or ATP [Tugrul TURKES]; Freedom and Solidarity Party or ODP [Ufuk URAS]; Grand Unity Party or BBP [Muhsin YAZICIOGLU]; Labor Party or EP [Ihsan CARALAN]; Liberal Democratic Party or LDP [Besim TIBUK]; Motherland Party or ANAP [Mesut YILMAZ]; My Turkey Party or TP [Durmus Ali EKER]; Nation Party or MP [Aykut EDIBALI]; Nationalist Action Party or MHP [Devlet BAHCELI]; New Democracy Movement or YDH [Huseyin ERGUN]; Peace Party or BP [Ali Haydar VEZIROGLU]; People's Democracy Party or HADEP [Turhan DEMIR]; Republican People's Party or CHP [Altan OYMEN]; Revolutionary People's Party [Meral KIDIR]; Socialist Power Party or SIP [leader NA]; True Path Party or DYP [Tansu CILLER]; Virtue Party or FP [Recai KUTAN]; Workers' Party or IP [Dogu PERINCEK]
note: Welfare Party or RP [Necmettin ERBAKAN] was officially outlawed on 22 February 1998

Political pressure groups and leaders: Confederation of Revolutionary Workers Unions or DISK [Ridvan BUDAK]; Independent Industrialists and Businessmen's Association or MUSIAD [Erol YARAR]; Moral Rights Workers Union or Hak-Is [Salim USLU]; Turkish Industrialists' and Businessmen's Association or TUSIAD [Muharrem KAYHAN]; Turkish Confederation of Employers' Unions or TISK [Refik BAYDUR]; Turkish Confederation of Labor or Turk-Is [Bayram MERAL]; Turkish Union of Chambers of Commerce and Commodity Exchanges or TOBB [Fuat MIRAS]

International organization participation: AsDB, BIS, BSEC[?], CCC, CE, CERN (observer), EAPC, EBRD, ECE, ECO[?], ESCAP, EU (applicant), FAO, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IDB[?], IEA[?], IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, International Maritime Organization, Inmarsat, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO, ITU, NATO, NEA[?], OAS (observer), OECD, OIC, OPCW, OSCE, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNIKOM, UNMIBH, UNMIK, UNOMIG[?], UNRWA, UPU, WEU (associate), WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO

Diplomatic representation in the US:

  chief of mission: Ambassador Baki ILKIN

  chancery:

2525 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008
telephone: [1] (202) 612-6700
FAX: [1] (202) 612-6744
consulate(s) general: Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, and New York

Diplomatic representation from the US:

  chief of mission: Ambassador Robert PEARSON

  embassy:

110 Ataturk Boulevard, Ankara
mailing address: PSC 93, Box 5000, APO AE 09823
telephone: [90] (312) 468-6110
FAX: [90] (312) 467-0019
consulate(s) general: Istanbul
consulate(s): Adana

Flag description: red with a vertical white crescent (the closed portion is toward the hoist side) and white five-pointed star centered just outside the crescent opening

See also : Turkey

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