TURKEY COUNTRY PROFILE (Published in 2022)
GENERAL
Official Name: Republic of Turkey
Capital: Ankara
Population: 84,680,273 (2021)
Area: 783.356 sq km (total) (302,455 sq miles)
Official Language: Turkish
Major religion: Islam
Life expectancy: 72 years (men), 79 (women)
Currency: Turkish lira
Member of UN, World Bank
Once the centre of the Ottoman Empire, the modern secular republic was established in the 1923 by nationalist leader Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.
LOCATION
Straddling the continents of Europe and Asia, Turkey’s strategically important location has given it major influence in the region – and control over the entrance to the Black Sea.
POLITICS
AK Party is the ruling party (since 2002) and Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is the current president.
A referendum in April 2017 narrowly backed switching to a presidential system of government, which significantly increased Tayyip Erdogan’s powers. Critics say the move could usher in authoritarian rule, and amounts to a power grab. Recep Tayyip Erdogan won a new term in elections in June 2018 and also gained substantial new powers under a new system approved the previous year by voters.
Joining the European Union has been a longstanding ambition. Membership talks were launched in 2005, but have stalled over serious misgivings about Turkey’s human rights record, mainly and more…
COMMUNICATION
Turkey has hundreds of private TV and radio stations competing with the state broadcaster, TRT.
Television is by far the most influential news medium; both press and broadcasting outlets are operating by powerful business operators.
(updated November 2022)
