| Present-day Turkey was created
in 1923 from the Turkish remnants of the Ottoman Empire. Soon thereafter, the
country instituted secular laws to replace traditional religious fiats. In 1945
Turkey joined the UN, and in 1952 it became a member of NATO. Turkey intervened
militarily on Cyprus in 1974 to protect Turkish Cypriots and prevent a Greek takeover
of the island; the northern 37 percent of the island remains under Turkish Cypriot
control. Relations between the two countries remain strained, but have begun to
improve over the past few years. In 1984, the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK),
a Marxist-Leninist, separatist group, initiated an insurgency in southeast Turkey,
often using terrorist tactics to try to attain its goal of an independent Kurdistan.
The group - whose leader, Abdullah OCALAN, was captured in Kenya in February 1999
- has observed a unilateral cease-fire since September 1999, although there have
been occasional clashes between Turkish military units and some of the 4,000-5,000
armed PKK militants, most of whom currently are encamped in northern Iraq. The
PKK changed its name to the Kurdistan Freedom and Democracy Congress (KADEK) in
April 2002. |
| Border
countries: Armenia 268 km
Azerbaijan
9 km
Bulgaria 240 km
Georgia 252 km
Greece 206 km
Iran 499 km
Iraq 352 km
Syria 822 km
Coast line:
7,200 km
Airports: •
Ankara -ANK
•
Dalaman
•
Istanbul
| Area:
total: 780,580 sq km
water: 9,820 sq km
land: 770,760 sq km Population:
68,109,469 (July 2003 est.)
Language:
Turkish (official)
Kurdish, Arabic,
Armenian, Greek Climate:
temperate; hot,
dry summers with mild, wet winters; harsher in interior |
- 
