The Turkish Republic was proclaimed by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk on 29 November 1923. In 1960 an initial army coup occurred that returned power to civilian hands a year later. In 1980, in a time of serious crisis, the armed forces dissolved parliament again, repealed the Constitution and formed a military government. The new Constitution which was approved in 1982 reinstated the parliamentary system, but the armed forces maintained their role as guardians of the political life of the country; government tensions increased following the 2002 election victory of the Justice and Development Party (AKP), led by R.T. Erdoğan, with an Islamic stance. Thanks to the strong support of the people, Erdoğan was able to centralize power, gradually adopting increasingly authoritative policies and changing the country to a presidential system though a referendum on 16 April 2017. The large Kurdish minority, residing in the centre-east of the country on the border with Iran and Iraq, has been subjected to repression and discrimination in terms of civil and social rights since 1923.
Since 1984, the PKK (Kurdistan Workers’ Party) has been active in the southeastern regions of the country, who have taken up arms to claim their independence; the conflict flared up again in 2015, increasing instability in the border zone with Syria, where the PKK is engaged against extremist militias and the Turkish government supports rebel groups against the Syrian regime and Kurdish militias.
According to the constitutional amendments adopted in 2017, the country is a presidential republic: the President, elected through direct voting and holding a five-year term, leads the government and has wide-ranging powers; the National Assembly is made up of 600 deputies elected for a term of five years.

Defence.
Conscription is compulsory (6-18 months).
The military police acts as the police force.

Justice.
The legal system dates to Mustafa Kemal Atatürk’s regime, based on European models. The authoritarian regression of the regime has considerably reduced civil liberties, limiting freedom of expression and leading to a vast campaign of arbitrary arrests.

Population by age and gender (% - 2018)
	75+ 60-74 45-59 30-44 15-29 0-14
MALE	AGE	FEMALE

The country is an important transit stop before Europe for Syrian and Iraqi refugees; a negotiated agreement with the EU was signed in 2016 to block migratory flows.

Economic situation.
The difficult political situation and insecurity have curbed tourism and foreign investment, on which the rapid growth of previous years was based. The growing deficit, together with the large current account deficit and the lack of reforms have undermined international confidence and, alongside the uncertainties of the global market and slowdown of the European economy, have caused a withdrawal of foreign capital. The lira quickly depreciated and the Turkish economy, strongly dependent on credit, was crushed under the weight of its debt.
In 2018, the country entered a recession, while the inflation rate and unemployment rose.

Primary sector
Agriculture and forests.
Turkish agriculture, historically backward, based on smallholdings or large landed estates, has greatly developed, especially in terms of products for export. The main activity involves cereal crops (wheat, barley and maize). Turkey is one of the largest exporters of cotton, which is widely grown on the west coast. Citrus fruits and vines are also widely cultivated.
Along the southern coastal strip, Mediterranean crops are grown (vines, olives, figs, citrus fruits and almonds); particularly important from a commercial point of view is the production of raisins (sultanas and muscatel grapes) and dried figs.
On the Black Sea, tobacco and tea production is important, as is the production of hazelnuts, in which Turkey is the world leader. Inland, Anatolia opium poppies are also grown. There are also significant amounts of potatoes and tomatoes produced. Sugar beet and oil crops (sunflower and sesame seed) are grown on an industrial scale, as is the typical Turkish product of rose oil (distillation plants at Isparta).
There is also a small amount of timber production, especially in the areas near the Black Sea.
Livestock and fishing.
Livestock is an important resource, especially sheep, cattle and goats. Angora goats are very important as they provide the highly-prized mohair wool.
In western Anatolia and in Thrace, there is a traditional silkworm industry. Fishing (especially oily fish) is also practiced, mainly in the Sea of Marmara and in the Bosphorus.

Secondary sector
Minerals.
The country has rich and very varied mineral resources. Of great strategic importance is the extraction of chromium, of which Turkey is one of the world’s largest producers (Guleman and districts around Bursa, Eskişehir, Fethiye and Antalya). The mining of iron ore is also important (at Divriği, Hekimhan, Cavdar-Torbali and Milas), copper (mines at Ergani and Maden near Diyarbakir and Murgul), bauxite, antimony, magnesite, manganese (Kepez, Marmaris, Fethiye and Antalya), sulfur, zinc (Çayeli) and lead (Hoça Çermis, Balya, Bulgar-Maden). Turkish specialty minerals include boracites from Bandirma and sepiolite (“sea foam”) from Eskişehir.
As far as energy resources are concerned, lignite and coal production are significant, even more so anthracite and fossil carbon in the area of Ereğli.
There is a small amount of oil produced, which is extracted in the south-eastern provinces (Selmo, Beykan, Raman and Germik).
Energy and industry.
Most of the electricity is produced by coal-fired power plants and hydroelectric plants (the largest are those of the Atatürk, Karakaya and Keban dams on the Euphrates, and of the Ilısu dam on the Tigris). A nuclear power plant is being built in Büyükeceli. The most important industries are cement production, metal-working, textiles and foodstuffs.
The private sector is very active, but the state still maintains a strong presence. The main oil refineries are at Aliağa, Batman (supplied by the Batman-Yumurtalik oil pipeline), İzmit, Kırıkkale. The Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline and the two Kirkūk-Ceyhan pipelines are operational, transporting oil from the Caspian Sea and Iraq to the Mediterranean.
In 2018, the Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP) was inaugurated, which is part of the corridor intended to carry natural gas from the Caspian Sea through Turkey all the way to Europe. In 2017, work began on the TurkStream pipeline, running between Russia and European Turkey, passing under the Black Sea. Regasification terminals are located in Aliağa, Dörtyol and Marmara Ereğlisi.
Iron and steel works can be found in Karabük, Ereğli and İskenderun, there are also significant metal-working plants for copper, lead and aluminium (at Maden, Murgul Boçka, İstanbul and Kırıkkale); at Zonguldak metallurgical coke is produced. Chemical plants (at İzmit, Karabük, Aliaga, Kütahya, Samsun, Elazığ, İskenderun and Yarimca) produce significant quantities of sulfuric acid, nitrogenous and phosphate fertilizers, ammonia and soda. The cement industry is also important, encouraged by large public plants at Arslan, Kartal, Çanakkale, Gebze-Kocaeli, Ankara, Sivas, Adana, Afyon, Balıkesir, Çorum, Elazığ, Gaziantep, Pinarhisar and Söke. At Keçiborlu there is a sulfur-refining plant. As far as the machine industry is concerned, there are railway construction plants at Sivas and İzmit and aircraft construction at Kayseri. The automobile industry is growing (İstanbul, Bursa), thanks to joint ventures, often with foreign partners. The ship-building industry has yards at İstanbul and İzmir. In the textiles sector, cotton is the leading product with numerous production areas (Bakırköy-İstanbul, İzmit, Adana, Mersin, İzmir, Tarsus, Kayseri, Ereğli-Konya, Halkapınar, Nazilli and Malatya). Wool production is centred on İstanbul, Ankara, İzmit, Kütahya, Hereke, Defterdar, Bursa, Isparta, İzmir and Bünyan.
At Gemlik there are several factories producing synthetic fibres. Bursa is widely known for yarns and mohair textiles. Silk reeling and weaving and the production of quality carpets are also worthy of mention. Other industries include paper (at İzmit), glass (at Paşabahçe), tanning and leather, ceramics, rubber, beer and tobacco. There are many sugar factories, which works sugar beets and are largely state-owned.

Tertiary sector
Foreign trade.
There is a trade deficit. Imports consist largely of raw materials, machinery, consumer goods and fuels.
The main trading partners are the EU, Russia, China, Iraq and the USA.

Main exports (M US$ - 2017) 
apparel and accessories 14 801, iron and steel 13 841, machinery and home appliances 13 831, vehicles and parts 
thereof 12 131, cars 11 815, electrical and electronic equipment 8 097, 
gold 6 606, plastics 5 476, fruit and vegetables 4 943, jewels and precious stones 4 272, petroleum products 3 722

Finance and banking.
The banking system is regulated by a central bank (Merkez Bankası), which acts under the direct control of the government. A stock exchange has its headquarters in İstanbul.

Tourism. It is a very important national resource, but it reached a critical point in wake of the country’s political situation in 2015-16. The greatest attractions are the seaside areas, the numerous historic cities and archeological sites, amongst which are Ephesus, Miletus and Troy.

Transport.
The road and rail networks are extensive and have a satisfactory level of efficiency, especially in western areas. There is a high speed railway between Ankara-Konya and Ankara-İstanbul. The Ankara-Sivas and Ankara-İzmir lines are under construction. In 2013, a rail tunnel under the Bosphorus to Istanbul was inaugurated; other infrastructures are planned, such as the construction of a navigable canal connecting the Black Sea and the Aegean Sea, as an alternative to the Bosphorus.

Education, culture & research.
Education is compulsory and free between the ages of 6 and 18. The private education sector is growing fast.

Social security and health.
The National Health Service offers basic cover for all. There has recently been an increase in applications for supplementary health insurance.