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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