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Turkey

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KOREAN

 Country Name: Republic of Turkey

Head of State: President – Recep Tayyip Erdoğan

Area: 780,580㎢

Government type: republican parliamentary democracy, cabinet member

Capital: Ankara

National day: 29 October (independence,1923)

Population: 80m. (July 2016)

Population growth rate: 0.9% (2016)

Population density: 86 p/㎢

Language: Turkish (official), Kurdish, other minority languages

Religion: Muslim 99.8% (mostly Sunni), other 0.2% (mostly Christians and Jews

Ethnic groups: Turkish 70-75%, Kurdish 18%, other minorities 7-12% (2008 est.)

GDP - real growth rate: 2.9% (2016)

GDP per capita (ppp): US$ 21,100 (2016)

Currency: TRY; January, 2005 new foreign exchange

GDP composition by sector: agriculture: 6.1%, industry: 28.5%, services: 65.5% (2016 est.)

Military expenditure/GDP: 1.69% (2016)

Fiscal year: 1.1 ~ 12.31

Life expectancy: total population: 74.8 yearrs, male: 72.5 years, female: 77.3 years (2016 est.)

          Illiteracy: total population: 5%, male: 1.6%, female: 8.2% (2016 est.)

Modern Turkey was founded in 1923 from the remnants of the defeated Ottoman Empire by national hero Mustafa KEMAL, who was later honored with the title Ataturk or "Father of the Turks." Under his leadership, the country adopted radical social, legal, and political reforms. After a period of one-party rule, an experiment with multi-party politics led to the 1950 election victory of the opposition Democrat Party and the peaceful transfer of power. Since then, Turkish political parties have multiplied, but democracy has been fractured by periods of instability and military coups (1960, 1971, 1980), which in each case eventually resulted in a return of formal political power to civilians. In 1997, the military again helped engineer the ouster - popularly dubbed a "post-modern coup" - of the then Islamic-oriented government. A coup attempt was made in July 2016 by a faction of the Turkish Armed Forces.

From 2015 and continuing through 2016, Turkey witnessed an uptick in terrorist violence, including major attacks in Ankara, Istanbul, and throughout the predominantly Kurdish southeastern region of Turkey. On 15 July 2016, elements of the Turkish Armed forces attempted a coup that ultimately failed following widespread popular resistance. The government accused followers of an Islamic transnational religious and social movement for allegedly instigating the failed coup and designates the followers as terrorists. Following the failed coup, the Turkish Government instituted a State of Emergency in July 2016 that has been extended to July 2017. The Turkish Government conducted a referendum on 16 April 2017 that will, when implemented, change Turkey from a parliamentary to a presidential system. (CIA World Factbook)