Turkey Essay, Research Paper

Turkey, 65,599,206

population, is a republic in Asia and a

small part of southerneastern Europe.

It?s lying between the Black Sea and

the Mediterranean Sea. turkey is

mountainous, coastol plain slightly

larger than Texas. The weather is

hot and dry in the summer with mild

wet winters. The people areTurks.

They speak the Turkish language,

Kurdish and Arabic. The government

is republician parliamentary

democracy, with a president; chief of

state head of government, the prime

minister; the cabinet, the Council of

Ministers appointed by the presiednt;

they do have a National Security

Council that avise the Presiednt and

the cabinet, similar to our

government. The economy is a mixed

system. It?s most important export is

textiles and clothing. The religion is

Muslim. The Koran is their holly

Bible that they live by. Their

education system is improving with a

modern school system to bring

literacy to the Turks. The artistic

tradition has given way to a move

western orientation. They are very

proud and hard woking people. The

men are the superior over the women.

Turkey is a very growing and

improving country.

Government

The government of Turkey

fluctuated following World War I.

The Allied power and Greece wanted

the country for themselves. This led

to the Turkish War of Independence.

On October 29, 1923, the Turkish

Republic was formed. The Allies and

Greece failed at what they where

trying to attempt. After the war, the

Turkish people abolished the religious

courts. They where free to warship

in anyway they pleased. Because of

the war women gained the right to

vote to vote.

In 1946, the multiparty era

began. A military junta seized power

and governed from 1960 to 1961. In

1961, a new constitution was ratified,

and elections began. The 70?s were a

time of political violence and economic

uncertainty. Because of this, in 1980

a second junta was formed, which

instituted martial law and abolished

all political parties. The second junta

was dissolved because of a new

constitution, adopted in 1982.

Turkey then became a republican

parliamentary democracy.

The country of Turkey is a

republic led by an elected president,

which is similar to our country.

Their president is H. E. Ahmet

Necdet Sezer. He is the commander-

in- chief of the armed forces, he is

presiding officer at cabinet meetings,

and the head of state. The Executive

branch is made up of the chief of

state, which is President Ahmet

Necdet Sezer; the head of government

is Prime Minister Bulent, who

represents the majority party or

coalition in Parliament. The cabinet

consist of Council of Ministers

appointed by the President. The

cabinet members are nominated by the

Prime Minister and elected by the

President. The President of Turkey

is elected by the Grand National

Assembly for a seven year term. All

citizens over 20 years old are entitled

to vote. The legislatue of the country

is the Grand National Assembly,

which is the Parliament of Turkey.

They have the power to make laws,

ratify treaties, and declare war. But

unlike our Congress they are an

unicameral legislature. This means

that they only have one house of

legislature. The Grand National

Assembly consist of two chambers,

the National Assembly and the

Senate. The National Assembly

consist of 450 members, who are

elected for 4 year terms by the people.

The Senate has 150 members, plus 40

others who are not elected, but

appointed as members for life. The

elections were last held April 18,

1999. The seats held by varies

parties are subject to change due to

defections, creation of new parties,

and ouster or death of sitting

deputies, as of January 1, 1999.

They receive their power from the

Constitution of 1982. The Assembly

is headed by the Prime Minister,

Bulent Ecevit.

Parliament in Turkey?s

electoral system are elected according

to the proportion of votes they

attract, rather then with the most

votes won. A party needs 10% of the

national vote before it can be

considered for a seat in Parliament.

And a party must win 25% of the vote

in a four- seat constituency, 33%in a

three- seat constituency. The result

is that three parties dominate,

Motherland Party, the True Path

Party, and the Social Democrat

Populist Party. The administrative

divisions, local government is made

up of 80 provinces which are

administered by governors

representing the central government.

The local governments elect their own

mayors and councils. passes laws in

a some what similar way to our

Congress. First the bill passes

through the legislature and to the

President. The judicial branch

consist of a Constitutional Court,

which examines the constitutionality

of laws passed by Parliament. The

judges of the court are appointed by

the President. Court of Appeals,

judges are elected by Supreme Council

of Judges and Prosecutors. The final

court of appeal is known as the court

of cassation.

Economy

The economy of Turkey is a

complex mixed system. There are

traditional village agriculture and

crafts, modern industry, and

commerce. Agriculture is the

backbone of the Turkish economy. It

once provided all the major exports.

Now, it provides only half of what it

use to. The major agricultural

products are cotton, tobacco, fruit,

cereals, nuts, and opium. It has a

strong growing private sector, but the

state still has a major role in

industry, banking, transport, and

communication.

The people of Turkey are very

hard workers. They are fishermen,

miners, and farmers. The main

sources of employment are in jobs

such as ship building, automobiles,

pharmaceuticals, and machine parts.

The industries of Turkey are spread

across a vast field of products.

Turkey is the largest exporter in

textiles and clothing, which is almost

all in private hands. They lead in

manufacturing processed food, refined

petroleum, iron, cement, steel, and

chemicals. Coal, chromium, and

copper are mined. Tourism is very

important to their national economy.

The Turkish society relates to

ours in that they are into competitive

capitalism. The modern workers in

shipbuilding yards or pharmaceutical

plants are welling to work just as

hard for good pay as we are in the

U.S.

Health

In Turkey basic health care is

provided, but it doesn?t meet the

countries needs. In some parts of the

country facilities are modern and

satisfactory, but in other places,

facilities are poorly equipped.

People

Turkey is full of millions of

people. To be precise, there are

65,599,206 people in Turkey. The

avergae polulation density is about 80

person per sq km ( about 206 per sq

mi) About 69 percent of the people

lived in urban areas in the mid-1990s,

compared with about 21 percent in

1950. The highest population

concentrations were in Istanbul and

in coastal regions. The

official language is Turkish and

minor languages are Kurdish and

Arabic. And about 98% of these

people are Muslims. The people are

called Turks. The Turks are

descends from the Tatars. The Laz

and Hemsin are ethnic Turks. They

live mainly along the eastern coast of

the Black Sea. Kurds, ethnic group

live in an area called Kurdistan.

The Muslim religion plays an

important role in the life of the

Turkish people. Throughout their

lives, Muslims strive to live the five

pillars of Islam: professing Allah?s

name and Muhammad?s role as

prophet; fasting during the holy

month of Ramazan; giving aid to the

poor; making a pilgrimage to

Makkah, Saudi Arabia; and praying

daily at five specific times.

Ramazan is the ninth month

on the Muslim lunar calendar. Turks

fast for the entire month. At the end

of Ramazan they eat sweets for three

days. Those three days are called

Seker Bayrami, which means sugar

holiday. Another holiday is Kurban

Bayrami, which means sacrifice

holiday. It symbolize the Muslim

pilgrimage to Makkah and the

willingness of Abraham?s to sacrifice

his son. On that holiday an animal is

usually sacrificed.

The Koran is the Bible to the

Muslims. They believe the book

contains the words of Allah as

dictated to the Prophet Mohammed

and Arabic and through Arch Angel

Gabriel. The koran is so important to

them no one is allowed to criticize or

question it. Muslims believe that the

Koran is untranslatable. There are

114 chapters known as surbs, that

tough on many aspects of social life as

well. Mosque is where the Muslim

warship. Inside the Mosque the

words of the first pillar of Islam is

found painted on the wall. The

Mosque are often brightly decorated

on the outside with strings of colored

lights that sometime spell out

messages.

The Turkish wedding is a

short ceremony in the city hall, then a

private reception with food, drink,

and music. In the country side a

marriage is debated and bargained

over for a long time by both parents.

The old practice of paying a bride

price has not died out.

In Turkey, like in the United

States, people meet and greet each

other all day. But in small villages in

Turkey a person could go to another

person?s house uninvited. Relatives,

neighbors, and friends visit each other

all the time. But unlike in the U.S.,

you are always welcomed in, and

offered food and drink. But you

would have to remove your shoes and

put on slippers. It would be

considered impolite to turn down their

offering. The first time you go to a

person?s home in Turkey, you are

expected to bring a gift. If you did not

bring a gift that would be considered

rude, but they would still let you into

their home.

Turkish people eat breakfast

7:00 a.m. or earlier. Lunch is eaten at

12:00 p.m. and dinner around 7:00

p.m. Dinner in Turkey is their main

meal of the day. Families eat together

around their kitchen table. The

general way of eating is with the fork

in the left hand, and the knife in the

right hand. Before eating, they may

say Afiyet Olsun, which means, ?May

what you eat bring you well being.?

The typical Turkish citizen

wears western- style clothing.

Younger people like European fashion

more. Some Muslim women wear

scarf to cover their hair. But in

schools women can not wear a scarf.

The arts combine traditional

Turkish themes with Western styles.

Radio and t.v. broadcasting has

removed much of the isolation of rural

areas.

Soccer is a big thing for the

Turkish people?s entertainment.

They love the game. If I went to

Turkey I would be playing some of

the something?s I play here in the

states. For intense, football,

volleyball, basketball, cycling, and

swimming. But there are some games

that I do not play in the U.S., like

grease wrestling. I would also have to

learn how to folk dance.

The tradition in Turkish

culture Faber men over women.

Mainly because of the Islamic religion

for the Koran, their holly book allows

the men to have main wives and male

superiority. The women, for fun in

Turkey go over to each others home

and watch t.v. The men on the other

hand go out to cafe houses and talk.

The family is at the heart of the

Turks life. The meal is the most

common family celebration. During

Seker Bayrami it is very much a

family affair, because it marks the

end of the religious month of fasting.

Special visits are made to the eldest

member of the family, whose hand is

kissed as a mark of respect.

Turks are very proud people.

They have a high sense of national

identity. They have a famous

remark, ?Biz Bize Benzeriz? (We

resemble ourselves ), which they

believe in ones own special identity.

It is said about the Turks, that a

Turks first duty is to be proud.

Trivia

Did you know in Turkey that

only 82% of the population can

read and write.

Do you know what the highest

mountain in Turkey is called

and how high is it to the top?

The answer is Mt. Ararat it is

5,165 meters high.

Did you know that Turkey is

780,570 sq. km.

Did you know that 37% of the

country is for crops, 26% is for

forest, 12% is for pastures, and

25% is for other.

Did you know that the flag of

Turkey has red background with

a white cresent and a white five

pointed star.

Did you now that the capital of

Turkey is Ankara.

In Turkey when entering a

person?s home you must remove

your shoes.

A 15_ month period of military

service is required of all male

citizen between ages 20 and 32.

Did you know that in Turkey

people pray five times a day, at

five certain times.

Did you know that only men go

to funerals.

The whirling Dervishes.

Dancers seek to achieve a

mystical union with God.

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