Turkey
The Ottoman Empire in 1914
Abdul Hammid II
The Last Sultan
• 1842-1918
• Ruled 1876-1909
• Started out as a reformer, but
grew more autocratic.
- Approved a Constitution in
1877, suspended it in 1878.
• Removed from power by the
“Young Turks” in 1909.
The Young Turks Revolt: 1908
 The Committee of Union and Progress
 Mehmet Talaat

Grand Vizier,
1917-1918
 Enver Pasha

Minister of War

Ottoman Commanderin-Chief
The Young Turks Program
Pushed for reforms, basic democratic rights:
- freedom of speech.
- freedom of assembly.
- freedom of the press.
 Problem of nationalism within heterogeneous
empire.
World War I Alliances: 1914-1918
Europeans Carve
Up
the
Ottoman Empire
After WWI
Mustafa Kamal Atatürk
(1881-1938)
• 1881-1938. Born in area now in Greece. Family
was middle class; father was a timber merchant.
• A military commander who distinguished
himself during the WWI, waged a war revoke the
terms of the Treaty of Sèvres which had left Greek
and Russian forces in some areas of Anatolia and
had provided for an independent Kurdish State.
• By 1922, the occupying armies were repelled
and the newly founded parliament formally
abolished the Sultanate, ending 623 years of
Ottoman rule.
• The Treaty of Lausanne of 1923 led to the
international recognition of the sovereignty of the
newly formed "Republic of Turkey.“
• Turkish parliament presented Mustafa Kemal
with the honorific name "Atatürk" (Father of the
Turks) in 1934.
Mustafa Kemal’s
Republican People’s Party Goals:
- Republicanism (National Assembly)
- Nationalism (“Turkification”)
- Populism (for the benefit of the people)
- Statism (state-controlled economy)
- Secularism (free from religious control)
- 1924: Abolished the caliphate.
Atatürk’s Reforms
“Turkify” the Islamic faith
- Translate the Qur’an into Turkish
- Secular education
- Ministry of Religious Affairs abolished
- Sharia courts closed  new secular courts
- Abolishment of pious and royal titles
Westernization
- Adoption of surnames, the International calendar,
time and measurements
- Forbade the wearing of the fez, veiling of women
- Western-style men’s suits
- Western style universities
Atatürk’s Reforms
3. Language Reform:
- Roman alphabet replaced
the Arabic script.
- Literacy in new alphabet
required for government
positions.
4. State Socialism:
- State banks established to
finance governmentcontrolled
businesses.
5.
Atatürk’s Legacy
Military and Politics
• Military continues to support Ataturk’s nationalist, statist, secular program.
The military has traditionally been viewed by the public as guarantor of
economic and political stability and national security.
• Military coups in 1960, 1971, 1980, 1997.
- That of 1960 led to the death of the Prime Minister (Menderes).
- In 1980 there was political unrest due to economic problems,
ineffective political parties.
- In 1997 action was taken against Prime Minister Erbakan of the
Welfare Party, which drew on the philosophy of the Muslim Brotherhood
in its positions.
• Today there is an internal battle among Turkish Muslims between forces
that want to be part of the Western world and those that want to return
Turkey's political identity to be based primarily on Islamic solidarity. But it
isn't Ottoman Islam that these Islamist Turks seek to revive. Their Islam is
more in tune with the fanatically anti-Western principles of Saudi Wahhabi
Islam.
Military Power Over Turkey’s
Politics May Be Slipping
• July 2008, two retired generals and 84 other secular and nationalist
activists were arrested for an alleged plot to topple Turkey's Islamicrooted government.
• Battered by allegations of corruption and scandal, the authority of the
once-unchallenged military is being whittled away by an increasingly
assertive and confident public. The critics are a diverse array of
democracy advocates, head-scarf-wearing Muslim women, journalists
and others who complain that the military's grip on power has largely
benefited wealthy and secular elites.
• Most remarkably, senior officers, once immune from any kind of
prosecution, have been arrested in an alleged conspiracy to oust Prime
Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's party from power.
• The officers are accused of taking part in an underground organization,
known as Ergenekon, that allegedly plotted to overthrow Erdogan after
he was elected in 2002. The arrests have deeply demoralized and
rattled the military upon which Washington depends.
Military Power Over Turkey’s
Politics May Be Slipping
• Erdogan is pushing a major overhaul that would amend the country's
1982 military constitution with reforms including changes to statutes
covering the prosecution of military officers. In a recent poll, 58 percent
of respondents said Turkey needs a civilian constitution compared with
20 percent who said it doesn't. Three months ago, a law was passed
limiting the military's role to guard against external threats rather than
perceived domestic ones.
• Ataturk's image is still just about everywhere, but when Turkey issued a
new currency last year, the founder of the republic was put on only one
side of the bill rather than both. The military no longer guards the
parliament building, a symbolic change.
• Critics of the newly proposed amendments fear that the key changes —
the way appointments are made to the constitutional court, the main
watchdog of secularism in Turkey, and to the Senior Council of Judges
and Prosecutors, responsible for judicial appointments and monitoring
court officials — would damage Turkey’s founding principles.
Implications for Relations with
the West
• It is not clear whether the present government of Turkey really cares to
be part of the EU. Thus, when some European leaders insist that Turkey
has no place in Europe, they may be playing into the hands of the
Islamist forces in Turkey who can say, in effect, "The EU is a Christian
club which will never accept us, so we need to look elsewhere, to our
Muslim brothers."
• In addition, American involvement has not always proven helpful. The
U.S. attempted to reach out to radical leaders in a mistaken belief that
they were forces of moderate Islam, thus inadvertently granting them
legitimacy.
• If a moderate form of Turkish Islam is to be revived, it must stand up to
the onslaught of Wahhabism and the temptations of Islamism.
Turkey Today
The People
• Population: 71,892,808 (July 2008 est.)
– 70% Urban
• Ethnic groups: Turkish 80%, Kurdish 20%
• Religions: Muslim 99.8% (mostly Sunni),
other 0.2% (mostly Christians and Jews)
Turkic Speaking
Peoples
The Kurdish Problem
• Turkey's treatment of its citizens
of Kurdish origin has been a
frequent subject of international
criticism.
• Kurds have largely resisted
forcible assimilation policies of
the government since 1930s.
• The main strategy for
assimilating the Kurds has been
suppression of their language.
Most Kurds have retained their
native tongue, despite the
governmental efforts over
several decades to promote
Turkish among them.
Kurdish language in Turkey
• 1938, Kurdish banned; any individual using Kurdish in public
could be fined.
• 1961, with a new Turkish constitution, Kurdish publications
began to appear, often bilingual, but frequently banned as
soon as they appeared.
• From 1967 through the late 80s a series of laws was
promulgated which repressed the use of Kurdish.
• 1991, the Turkish government removed prohibitions on use
of Kurdish. Most Kurds in Turkey, even those who no longer
speak Kurdish, regard it as symbolic of their ethnic identity.
Kurdish Armed
Rebellions
• Armed rebellions in 1925, 1927-30, 1937, 1984-present
• Present led by Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), originally a
Marxist-based group, now more Kurdish nationalistic.
• Estimate that the number killed since 1984 exceed 40,000.
• Turkey makes frequent air and ground strikes into Northern
Iraq against suspected PKK bases.
• President Bush welcomed Prime Minister Erdogan to
Washington for a White House visit on November 5, 2007,
during which he committed to provide greater assistance to
Turkey in its fight against terrorism from the PKK, which he
characterized as a "common enemy" of Turkey, Iraq, and
the United States. He reiterated this commitment during
President Gul's January 8, 2008, White House visit.
Abdullah Ocalan
Kurdish Leader
Born around 1950, to a
peasant family in a small
village in southern Turkey.
Studied political science
at Ankara U. Founder of
Kurdish Workers’ Party,
PKK. Captured by Turkish
Intelligence (in Kenya) in
1999.
Death sentence
commuted to life.
The PKK is blamed for
~40,000 deaths since
early 1980s.
Turkish Political
Structure
Turkish Legislature
• 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 on 22 July 2007 (next to be held on
November 2012). Members appointed from Party lists
according to percentage of vote the Party receives. Only
parties surpassing 10% of the vote are entitled to
parliamentary seats
• Election Results: Justice and Development Party (AKP) 340,
Republican People's Party (CHP) 87, Nationalist Action
Party (MHP) 70, Democratic Society Party (DTP) 20,
Democratic Left Party (DSP) 13, independents 6, other 12,
vacant 2.
Political Parties
• 49 Official Parties
• The Justice and Development Party is the ideological successor
of the Welfare Party which incorporates Muslim Brotherhood ideas.
It also portrays itself as a moderate, conservative, pro-Western
party that advocates a liberal market economy and Turkish
membership in the European Union. Shifted the focus of religiouslyaffiliated politics from concern over Turkey’s lack of Islamic
characteristics to pushing for democratic and economic reforms in
addition to stressing moral values. THE SLAMISTS.
• Republican People's Party is a center-leftist political party with
traditional ties to middle and upper-middle classes such as whitecollar workers, retired generals, government bureaucrats,
academicians, college students, left-leaning intellectuals, labor
unions, and well-to-do entrepreneurs. THE SECULARISTS.
Political Parties
• Nationalist Action Party is focused on defending a unitary
state and a Turkish identity encompassing all of Turkey's
citizens in the face of demands for a federal state reflecting
regional ethnic differences. RIGHT WING.
• Democratic Left Party is a social democratic oriented party a
mix of social democracy, democratic socialism, secularism
and patriotism. The symbol of the, white dove was selected
to symbolize the pacifism and social accordance. TURKISH
NATIONALISTS ON LEFT
• Democratic Society Party was set up by the veteran Kurdish
politicians upon their release from prison in 2004. The
president of the DTP, Nurettin Demirtaş, remains
imprisoned. Party is alleged to have relations with the PKK
Kurdish militant secessionist group. Socialist
political/economic program. KURDISH NATIONALIST.
Turk Parliament
Composition
Execuctive Branch
• Chief of State: President Abdullah GUL (since 28 August 2007).
President elected by the National Assembly for one seven-year term;
President-elect must have a two-thirds majority of the National Assembly
on the first two ballots or a simple majority on the third ballot. Abdullah
GUL received 339 votes in the third round of voting on 28 August 2007,
after failing to garner the two thirds vote required by law in the first two
rounds. Pursuant to a constitutional amendment package approved by
voters in an October 2007 referendum, the next president will be directly
elected by the voters for a term of 5 years and can serve for a maximum
of two terms.
• Head of Government: Prime Minister Recep Tayyip ERDOGAN (since
14 March 2003); Prime minister appointed by the president from among
members of parliament. The parliament must approve the Prime Minister
through a vote of confidence in his government.
• Cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the president on the
nomination of the prime minister. Approved by legislature vote of
confidence in the government.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan
The Real Political Leader
• Born: 1954 into a lower middle class
family.
• Previously mayor of Istanbul,
where he had a reputation for honesty.
• Knows no foreign language, and
little economics.
• 1998: convicted of inciting
religious hatred;
• Charismatic leader.
• Pushing for entrance to EU, pledging
reforms to make Turkey more
democratic and pluralist and bring it
in line with the Union's membership
criteria. .
Attempt to Ban The
AKP
• During a trip to Spain, Prime Minister Erdogan remarked "What if head
scarf is a symbol (of political Islam)? Even if it were a political symbol,
does that give right to ban it?
• The Chief Public Prosecutor of the Supreme Court of Appeals filed an
indictment charging members of the AKP party of acted the area
between the "Person" and "God", which is banned to politicians by the
Turkish constitution.
• In addition to the AK Party's disbanding, the prosecutor demanded a
five-year ban from involvement in politics for 71 senior AK Party
administrators, including Prime Minister Erdoğan and President Abdullah
Gül.
• After deliberating for three days, the Constitutional Court gave its verdict
on July 30, 2008. The AKP was found guilty of becoming the focus of
anti-secularist actions. A qualified majority of seven out of eleven votes
is required to disband a political party. Six members of the Court voted
in favour of disbanding the party. The court did decide to cut the party's
state funding, worth about $58 million, in half. None of the AKP
members were banned.
International Relations
• Turkey's primary political, economic, and security ties are with the West,
although some voices call for a more "Eurasian" orientation.
• Turkey entered NATO in 1952 and serves as the organization's vital
eastern anchor, controlling the straits leading from the Black Sea to the
Mediterranean and sharing a border with Syria, Iraq, and Iran. A NATO
headquarters is located in Izmir.
• Turkey and the EU formed a customs union beginning January 1, 1996.
The agreement covers industrial and processed agricultural goods.
Turkey is harmonizing its laws and regulations with EU standards.
Turkey adopted the EU's Common External Tariff regime, effectively
lowering Turkey's tariffs for third countries, including the United States.
• In December 1999, Turkey became a candidate for EU membership. On
December 17, 2004, the EU decided to begin formal accession
negotiations with Turkey in October 2005.
• Turkey is also a member of the UN, the WTO, the OECD, the Council of
Europe, the OSCE and the Islamic Conference Organization.
International Relations
• Public anger flared over Israel‘s seizure last June of a Turkish-flagged
aid ship headed to the Gaza Strip, which is under an Israeli blockade.
The incident occurred as Turkey has been strengthening ties with
Muslim governments in the region -- becoming more vocally proPalestinian and trying to head off new U.N. sanctions on Iran.
• That has prompted worried speculation at home and abroad that Turkey
is turning away from the West.
• Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has become an
increasingly outspoken critic of Israel. He lambasted Israeli President
Shimon Peres during a conference in Switzerland on Jan. 29, 2009, over
Israel’s occupation of Arab lands, winning applause at home and in the
Middle East.
• Erdogan's picture was hoisted in the streets of Gaza after he accused
Israel of carrying out a "bloody massacre" in seizing the Turkish ship.
Nine activists on board, mostly Turkish, were killed when Israeli
commandos opened fire.
The Cypriot Issue
• Turkey invaded Cyprus by
sea and air on July 20, 1974,
following the failure of
diplomatic efforts to resolve
conflicts between Turkish and
Greek Cypriots. Turkey
unilaterally announced a
cease-fire on Aug. 16, after
having gained control of 40%
of the island. Turkish Cypriots
established their own state in
the north on Feb. 13, 1975.
U.S. Turkish Relations
• Difficulties faced by Greece after World War II in quelling a
communist rebellion and demands by the Soviet Union for
military bases in the Turkish Straits prompted the United
States to declare the Truman Doctrine in 1947.
• The doctrine enunciated American intentions to guarantee
the security of Turkey and Greece and resulted in large
scale U.S. military and economic aid under the Marshall
Plan. The United States loaned and granted Turkey more
than $12.5 billion in economic aid and $14 billion in military
assistance.
• Relations were strained when Turkey refused in March 2003
to allow U.S. troops to deploy through its territory to Iraq in
Operation Iraqi Freedom, but regained momentum steadily
thereafter and mutual interests remain strong across a wide
spectrum of issues.
U.S. Turkish Relations
• Turkey recalled its ambassador to the United States and
threatened to withdraw its support of the war in Iraq in
October 2007 after the U.S. House Foreign Relations
Committee passed a resolution labeling as genocide
Turkey's murder of some 1.5 million Armenians during
World War I. President George Bush strongly urged
members of the committee to vote against the resolution.
• According to the Pew Charitable Trust Global Attitudes
Survey, 23 % of Turks hold a favorable view of the U.S. ,
67% hold an unfavorable view.
The Economy
• The economy is currently in transition from a high degree of
reliance on agriculture and heavy industrial economy to a
more diversified economy with an increasingly large and
globalized services sector.
• Coming out of a tradition of a state-directed economy that
was relatively closed to the outside world, Prime Minister
and then President Turgut Ozal began to open up the
economy in the 1980s, leading to the signing of a Customs
Union with the European Union in 1995.
• Large numbers of Turks have migrated to Germany and
other western European countries as guest workers.
• Custom’s Union with European Union in 1995
• Free Trade Agreement with Israel in 1996.
• Limited FTA’s with Morocco and Syria in 2004
• GDP per capita: $12,000
The Economy
• Turkey's economy grew an average of 6.0% per
year from 2002 through 2007--one of the highest
sustained rates of growth in the world. It is
expected to grow about 5.5% in 2008. Inflation and
interest rates have fallen significantly, the currency
has stabilized, government debt has declined to
more supportable levels, and business and
consumer confidence have returned.
• Turkey's principal ongoing economic challenge is
providing for the needs of a fast-growing, young
population. Making the educational sector more
responsive to the needs of the economy is an
important goal.