Turkey, also spelled Türkiye, is a Middle Eastern country that lies both in Europe and in Asia. About 3 percent of Turkey lies in Thrace, at the eastern edge of southern Europe. To the east, the rest of Turkey covers a large, mountainous peninsula called Anatolia or Asia Minor. Istanbul, Turkey’s largest city, lies on both sides of the Bosporus (also spelled Bosphorus), a narrow body of water between Thrace and Anatolia.
Turkey borders Bulgaria and Greece on the northwest; Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Iran on the east; and Iraq and Syria on the southeast. The Black Sea lies to the north, the Aegean Sea to the west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the south.
Three bodies of water—the Bosporus, the Sea of Marmara, and the Dardanelles—separate Anatolia from Thrace. The Bosporus and the Dardanelles, often called the Straits, have played a major role in Turkey’s history. By its control of the Straits, Turkey has been able to regulate ship movement between the Mediterranean and Black seas. See Bosporus; Dardanelles; Marmara, Sea of.
Turkey has several large cities, including Istanbul and its capital city of Ankara, and areas of rich farmland. But much of the country is rocky, barren, and mountainous. About three-fourths of Turkey’s people live in cities or towns. Most of the rest live in villages. Nearly all the people are Muslims—that is, followers of Islam. Turkey is a developing country, and about a fourth of its workers are farmers. But the economy has become increasingly industrialized since the 1950’s. Manufacturing now contributes more to national income than does agriculture.
Various Asian and European peoples have ruled what is now Turkey since ancient times. During the A.D. 1300’s, a group of Muslim Turks called the Ottomans began to build a powerful empire that eventually controlled much of the Middle East, southeastern Europe, and northern Africa. The Ottoman Empire ended in 1922. The next year, Turkey became a republic.
Islamic law had strongly influenced Turkish life for nearly 1,000 years. Beginning in the 1920’s, however, Turkey’s new republican government introduced sweeping cultural and political changes that discouraged or outlawed many traditional Islamic practices. Most people accepted the changes, but others, especially in rural areas, resisted them. Turkey’s people continue to debate the role of Islam in Turkish life. 
Government
National government.
Turkey is a republic. Its current Constitution was adopted in 1982. For many years, Turkey operated under a parliamentary form of government that included a president, a prime minister and cabinet, and a legislature called the Grand National Assembly. In 2018, the government changed to a presidential system that eliminated the post of prime minister. The president is the head of government and state and commander in chief of the armed forces. The president directly appoints ministers, judges, vice presidents, and other positions. The people elect the president to a five-year term.
Loading the player...Turkey national anthem
The Grand National Assembly makes Turkey’s laws, ratifies treaties, and has the power to declare war. The Assembly consists of 600 deputies elected by the voters to five-year terms.
Court system.
Courts throughout Turkey handle commercial disputes, family law, criminal trials, and other cases. Appeals courts review the decisions of lower courts. The Constitutional Court determines the legality of laws passed by the legislature.
Local government.
Turkey is divided into about 80 provinces. Each province has a governor appointed by the central government and an assembly elected by the province’s voters. Provinces are divided into counties, districts, and villages. Settlements with more than 2,000 people are organized as municipalities. The mayor and municipal council are elected by the people of the municipality.
Political parties.
Turkey has a number of political parties. Among the largest are a pro-Islamic party called the Justice and Development Party, the center-left Republican People’s Party, and a Turkish nationalist party called the Nationalist Movement Party.
Armed forces.
Turkey has one of the largest standing armies in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. At some time between the ages of 20 and 41, nearly all men must serve in the Turkish armed forces. The military has high status and can, in effect, overrule certain government decisions.
People
Most of Turkey’s people live in cities and towns. The number of urban dwellers has increased rapidly since the 1940’s. Hundreds of thousands of people have left their farms and villages to seek work in the cities. But the cities do not have enough jobs for all the people. In the 1960’s and 1970’s, many of Turkey’s people went abroad to work. About 4 million Turkish citizens live in European countries, especially Germany. Other countries where Turkish citizens work include other Middle Eastern countries and Australia. 
Ancestry.
About 75 percent of Turkey’s people consider themselves descendants of a people called Turks. The Turks began migrating from central Asia to Anatolia during the A.D. 900’s. Kurds form Turkey’s largest minority group, with about 15 percent of the population. Many Kurds live in mountainous regions in the southeast. Arabs, most of whom are farmers, live near the Syrian border. Caucasians—people whose ancestors came from the Caucasus Mountains region just northeast of Turkey—live in the provinces bordering the Black Sea. Greeks, Armenians, and Jews live mostly in the Istanbul area. During the 1800’s and 1900’s, many Greeks and Armenians left Turkey, either voluntarily or by force. 
Turkish folk dance
Languages.
Most people speak Turkish, the country’s official language. Many Kurds speak Kurdish. Small groups of people speak Arabic, Armenian, Circassian, Greek, or other minority languages.
The government began to develop the modern Turkish language during the late 1920’s. For hundreds of years, the written language was Ottoman Turkish, a complicated language written in Arabic characters and using some Persian and Arabic vocabulary. The Arabic alphabet had no letters to represent many sounds used in spoken Turkish. Ottoman Turkish was so difficult that only scholars and the ruling class learned to read it. In 1928, the government established a new alphabet and eliminated most foreign words from the language.
Way of life
In the 1920’s, when the Republic of Turkey was established, the government set out to make Turkey a modern state. Government officials began a program to sweep away the customs and traditions of centuries.
One of the government’s major goals has been to change the status of women in Turkish life. Men have dominated Turkish society for hundreds of years. Before the 1920’s, women had almost no civil rights. Parents arranged the marriages of their daughters by means of a contract with the groom’s family. Women could not vote and had difficulty getting a divorce. During the 1920’s, the government outlawed the arrangement of marriages by contract, made it easier for women to get a divorce, and gave women the right to vote. Today, increased educational opportunities are gradually improving the position of Turkish women. Women now make up about 40 percent of all university students in Turkey.
The government also tried to bring the Kurds and other tribal people into the mainstream of Turkish life. Many Kurds lived in tribal groups as nomads or in isolated communities for centuries. During the 1920’s, the government began to force these people to abandon their tribal way of life as a means of modernizing Turkish society. The Kurds revolted against these attempts several times in the 1920’s and 1930’s. Since then, many Kurds have adopted modern Turkish culture. The majority of Kurds now live in large cities. Others are settled in rural villages, where they farm or raise livestock. See Kurds.
City life.
The look of most Turkish cities has changed greatly since the mid-1900’s. Much new construction has taken place to accommodate the growing population. Most cities are dominated by small factories, retail shops, restaurants, and professional offices. The western part of Turkey has several important industrial cities, such as Izmit and Bursa. Large parts of the cities have many poor people and lack basic services. 
Rural life
has changed rapidly since the 1980’s. Almost all villages have electric power and telephone connections. Most rural households have a television set and a refrigerator. Villagers in the western regions and on the southern coast are generally well off. Much more poverty exists in the mountainous eastern area and in parts of the northern Black Sea region.
Housing
varies throughout Turkey. Peasants who live near the Black Sea build thatch-roofed cottages with timber from nearby forests. Many villagers in central Anatolia live in flat-roofed houses of sun-dried brick. Stone houses are common in southern and western Anatolia. In rural areas of Turkey, many people have replaced their old traditional homes with one-story houses of cinder blocks. New urban construction throughout Turkey is mostly reinforced concrete and brick.
Most wealthy Turks own comfortable private apartments in the city centers, on the outskirts, or in the suburbs. Most middle-class city dwellers live in apartment buildings. The rapid growth of the cities has created neighborhoods of low-quality, makeshift housing. These shantytowns lack good roads and basic services.
Clothing
worn in Turkey changed dramatically during the 1920’s. The government discouraged or forbade the wearing of certain garments required by Islamic custom. City dwellers and many rural people then adopted clothing styles similar to those worn in Western countries. But some rural people still follow Islamic tradition. A few men wear the traditional loose-fitting cloak and baggy trousers. Some peasant women wear a simple blouse and pantaloons. They cover their head and sometimes the lower part of their face with a scarf as a sign of modesty. A few women, especially in the poorer parts of large cities, wear a long black cloth that covers the head and drapes over their other clothing.
Food and drink.
Wheat bread is the chief food of most people in Turkey. Other common foods are rice, vegetables, and lamb. In villages, a meal often consists of bulgur (cracked wheat) and yogurt, along with fruit, vegetables, and bread. Turkish cooking is especially famous for shish kebab, which consists of pieces of lamb, tomatoes, peppers, and onions cooked together on a skewer. People also enjoy borek, a flaky pastry stuffed with meat or cheese. A popular dessert is baklava, made of thin layers of pastry, honey, and chopped nuts. Another pastry, kadayif, is made with shredded wheat. Favorite beverages in Turkey include tea, thick coffee, and a liquor called raki, which is flavored with anise.
Recreation.
Many men spend their leisure time in coffee houses playing the ancient dice game of backgammon and various card games. One tradition in the cities is the meyhane, a kind of restaurant where cold dishes and drinks, usually beer or raki, are served.
Soccer is extremely popular and a favorite topic of conversation. Everywhere in Turkey, boys and men kick soccer balls around on the street.
Turkish people also enjoy concerts, motion pictures, and stage plays. Large stadium concerts by Turkish and foreign pop music stars draw big crowds.
Religion.
Almost all of the Turkish people are Muslims. However, Turkey has no state religion, and the Constitution guarantees religious freedom. Some people are Armenian Apostolic and Eastern Orthodox Christians, Roman and Eastern Catholics, and Jews. The highest spiritual leader of the Eastern Orthodox Churches, known as the patriarch of the Church of Constantinople or the ecumenical patriarch, resides in Istanbul. See Eastern Orthodox Churches.
In the 1920’s, the government adopted an official policy of secularism (the separation of religion and politics). It declared religion to be a strictly private matter and restricted many traditional religious practices. Many people objected to the restrictions. Today, the dispute continues over what part Islam should play in Turkish life. The army and most citizens prefer a secular state. Some groups, however, dislike the idea of strict separation between government and religion. One dispute concerns regulations that have prohibited women from covering their heads while attending university classes or working in public offices. Many people believe Muslim women should be allowed to cover their heads in public if they wish.
Education.
Almost all of Turkey’s people can read and write. The government spends about 10 percent of its budget on public education. But rising costs and teacher shortages prevent the nation from providing enough schools and teachers, especially in rural areas.
Turkish law requires all children to attend an eight-year primary school until they graduate or reach the age of 15. But this law is difficult to enforce. After graduation, students may attend high school for three years, enroll in a vocational school, or enter the work force. Many high school graduates go on to college. They must pass through a highly competitive testing process to determine the universities and fields of study for which they qualify. Turkey has dozens of universities. Istanbul University, the oldest university in Turkey, traces its history back to a religious school that was founded in 1453.
The arts.
Turkey’s most important contribution to the arts is in the field of architecture. In Istanbul stands the great-domed cathedral Hagia Sophia, a classic example of Byzantine architecture. It was built in the A.D. 500’s, when the area was part of the Byzantine Empire. Many of Turkey’s finest buildings were built during the 1400’s and the 1500’s, when the Ottoman Empire was at its height. Many were designed by Turkey’s greatest architect, Mimar Sinan. Mimar means the architect. Sinan’s Mosque of Suleyman I in Istanbul is one of the world’s most beautiful mosques (Islamic houses of worship). 
For hundreds of years, Turkish craftworkers have made excellent dishes, bowls, and other ceramic objects. Richly colored ceramic tiles decorate many mosques and palaces in Turkey. Especially famous are elegant tiles with designs featuring a distinctive shade of blue that were made in Iznik during the 1500’s and 1600’s (see Islamic art). Turkish weavers have long been famous for their elaborately designed rugs. They made many of the first Oriental rugs used in Europe. Turkish villagers still produce these beautiful rugs on traditional hand looms (see Rugs and carpets (Oriental rugs)).
Much Turkish literature before the 1920’s was written in the complicated Ottoman Turkish language and deals with religious themes and life during Ottoman rule. Modern Turkish literature centers largely on nationalism, social justice, and history. Two of the most famous modern Turkish writers are novelists Orhan Pamuk and Yasar Kemal. In 2006, Pamuk became the first Turkish writer to receive the Nobel Prize in literature. Istanbul and Ankara have a lively art scene of young painters and graphic artists.
The land
Turkey lies in the northwestern part of the Middle East. Much of Thrace and the coastal areas of Anatolia consist of lowlands and green, rolling plains. A broad expanse of dry highlands called the Anatolian Plateau stretches across central Anatolia. The plateau is bordered by the Pontic Mountains on the north and the Taurus Mountains on the south.
Turkey has several large saltwater lakes and numerous rivers. But most of the rivers dry up during the hot, dry summers. In the spring, many rivers in Turkey become torrents as waters from the melting snows rush down from the mountains and overflow the riverbanks.
Turkey can be divided into eight land regions. They are (1) the Northern Plains, (2) the Western Valleys, (3) the Southern Plains, (4) the Western Plateau, (5) the Eastern Plateau, (6) the Northern Mountains, (7) the Southern Mountains, and (8) the Mesopotamian Lowlands.
The Northern Plains
cover Thrace and extend along the Black Sea coast of Anatolia. Thrace’s gently rolling grasslands make it an important farming and grazing region. Along the Black Sea coast, farmers raise corn, fruits, nuts, tea, and tobacco.
The Western Valleys
are broad, fertile river valleys along the coast of the Aegean Sea. The region produces barley, cotton, olives, tobacco, and wheat. The value of its crop output is the highest of any region in Turkey.
The Southern Plains
are a narrow strip of land along the Mediterranean Sea. A great variety of crops, including cereal grains, citrus fruits, cotton, and pulses (peas and beans), grow in the region’s rich soil. Farmers must irrigate their fields during the hot, dry summer.
The Western Plateau,
a region of highlands and scattered river valleys, extends across central Anatolia. The region receives little rainfall. Farmers raise barley and wheat in the river valleys and wherever irrigation water is available. Goats, sheep, and other livestock graze on uncultivated land. 
The Eastern Plateau
is an area of towering mountains and barren plains. It extends from the Western Plateau to Turkey’s eastern border. The Taurus and Pontic mountains meet in the Eastern Plateau. Mount Ararat, Turkey’s highest point, rises 16,946 feet (5,165 meters) above sea level near the Iranian border. Most people in the region have small farms and raise sheep and cattle. 
The Northern Mountains,
or Pontic Mountains, rise between the Northern Plains and the Anatolian Plateau. Only a few roads and railroads cross the mountains to connect the plateau with the Black Sea.
The Southern Mountains
consist of the Taurus Mountains and smaller ranges on the southern edge of the Anatolian Plateau. These mountains almost completely cut off the plateau from the Mediterranean Sea.
The Mesopotamian Lowlands
in southeastern Anatolia consist of fertile plains and river valleys. Cereal grains and fruits grow well in the region’s rich soil. The Southeast Anatolian Project, a massive development program begun in the 1990’s, has built a number of airports, dams, irrigation networks, and roads in the region.
Climate
The climate differs greatly from one region of Turkey to another. The south and west coasts of Anatolia have mild, rainy winters and hot, dry summers. Summer temperatures along the Aegean often rise above 90 °F (32 °C). The Black Sea coast has cooler summers, with an average temperature of about 72 °F (22 °C). Yearly rainfall in coastal areas averages from 20 to 30 inches (51 to 76 centimeters) along the Aegean and Mediterranean to more than 100 inches (254 centimeters) near the Black Sea. Northeastern Turkey has mild summers but bitterly cold winters. Temperatures sometimes fall to –40 °F (–40 °C). Southeastern Turkey and the interior of Anatolia have cold winters with heavy snowstorms. Summers are hot, windy, and extremely dry.
Economy
Turkey has a developing and rapidly changing economy. The western and coastal regions of Turkey are wealthier than the interior and the eastern areas. Also, the cities are richer than rural areas.
The government has long been heavily involved in many aspects of Turkey’s economy. The government has owned much of the country’s transportation and communications industries, and it has controlled other industries as well. However, since the late 1980’s, the government has reduced its control of industries and allowed more private ownership.
Agriculture
accounts for only about 9 percent of the value of all goods and services produced in Turkey in a year. About 20 percent of the country’s people work in agriculture.
Turkey’s most productive farmlands are in the coastal regions, which have fertile soil and a mild climate. The desertlike Anatolian Plateau often has long droughts that cause serious losses of crops.
Much of Turkey’s cropland is used for grains. Wheat is the chief grain. Barley and corn are also important grains. Cotton is grown for both fiber and cottonseed oil. Tobacco is grown along the Black and Aegean seas. Turkish farmers grow many fruits, nuts, and vegetables. Turkey is a leading producer of apples, cherries, eggplants, grapes, hazelnuts, melons, olives, onions, spinach, strawberries, tomatoes, and walnuts. The country is also a leading producer of both sugar beets and tea. Milk is the country’s most valuable livestock product. Many people raise beef cattle, chickens, sheep, and other livestock.
Manufacturing.
When Turkey’s republican government came to power in the 1920’s, the country was almost entirely agricultural. Today, Turkey has thousands of factories. Manufacturing employs only about 20 percent of all workers, but the value of industrial production is about twice that of agricultural output.
Two of Turkey’s largest manufacturing industries are food and beverage processing and textile production. Turkey also manufactures automobiles, cement, electronics, fertilizers, machinery, paper products, petrochemicals (chemicals made from petroleum and natural gas), and steel. Most factories and mills lie in and around the large cities of the north and west.
Mining.
Turkey is rich in mineral resources, but the mining industry contributes only a small amount to Turkey’s economy. The country’s most abundant mineral is coking coal, which is used in making steel. Turkey is one of the world’s leading producers of chromite, the mineral from which chromium is obtained. Turkey is also a major producer of boron.
Oil is mined in southeastern Turkey. Natural gas is recovered from the Sea of Marmara. However, Turkey only produces a small amount of the oil and natural gas that it needs. Other minerals produced in Turkey include bauxite, copper, iron ore, and meerschaum, a soft, white mineral that is used to make jewelry and tobacco pipes.
Energy.
Except for coal and hydroelectric power, almost all of Turkey’s energy is imported. Much of the imported natural gas and oil comes from Russia. Several large refineries process imported oil. Natural gas has been replacing coal in heating urban buildings, helping to reduce air pollution.
International trade.
Turkey imports more than it exports. Turkey’s chief imports include chemicals, iron and steel, machinery, motor vehicles, and petroleum. The country’s major exports include chemicals, iron and steel, machinery, and transportation equipment. Fruits, nuts, and vegetables are also important exports. Turkey’s main trading partners include France, Germany, Italy, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States. 
Tourism
has become a significant activity in Turkey. Millions of tourists visit the country every year, most of them from Europe and Russia. The visitors spend beach holidays on the Mediterranean and Aegean coasts. They also visit Turkey’s cities; ancient sites, such as Troy and Pergamum, in northwestern Turkey, and Ephesus, near present-day Izmir; and the unusual rock formations and other natural wonders of Cappadocia in east-central Turkey and the Eastern Plateau.
Transportation and communication.
Turkey’s road network varies in quality but reaches almost all the nation’s towns. The railroad system links only the largest cities on slow tracks. Cities in Turkey with international airports include Ankara, Antalya, Istanbul, and Izmir. Turkish Airlines serves many cities in Turkey, Europe, and the Middle East. Turkey has many fine natural harbors. Istanbul, Izmir, Izmit, and Mersin are the primary ports. 
Turkey has dozens of daily newspapers, representing many different political views. Most people, however, get their information from television. Radio and television stations operate under both private and state ownership.
History
Archaeologists have found evidence of an advanced society in what is now Turkey dating from about 7200 B.C. One of the world’s earliest known human settlements is at Catalhoyuk (also spelled Catalhuyuk or Catal Huyuk). It lies near Konya and is still being excavated. The area’s first inhabitants to be recorded in history were called the Hittites. About 2000 B.C., they began migrating to central Anatolia from Europe or central Asia. In the next several hundred years, they conquered much of Anatolia and parts of Mesopotamia and Syria. By 1500 B.C., the Hittites had created a powerful empire that made them the leading rulers of the Middle East. See Hittites.
From about 1200 to 500 B.C., large areas of Anatolia fell to the Phrygians, the Lydians, and other peoples. Between about 550 and 513 B.C., the Persian Empire seized control of Anatolia and Thrace. The Persians held control until Alexander the Great of Macedonia crushed their army in 331 B.C. After Alexander’s death in 323 B.C., Anatolia became a battleground in the wars among his successors (see Galatia). Small kingdoms rose and fell until 63 B.C., when the Roman general Pompey conquered the region. Anatolia was at peace under Roman rule for about 400 years.
In A.D. 330, the Roman emperor Constantine the Great established a new capital of the Roman Empire at the ancient town of Byzantium, on the Bosporus. Byzantium was renamed Constantinople, meaning city of Constantine. In 395, the Roman Empire split into the West Roman Empire and the East Roman Empire, also called the Byzantine Empire, which included Anatolia and Thrace. Byzantine emperors ruled all of what is now Turkey until the late 1000’s. See Byzantine Empire. 
The Seljuk Turks
became one of the first Turkic peoples to rule in what is now Turkey. The Seljuks were Muslims from central Asia east of the Caspian Sea. During the mid-1000’s, they conquered Persia (now Iran) and Mesopotamia (now Iraq). Then they invaded Syria, Palestine, and Anatolia. In 1071, the Seljuks destroyed most of the Byzantine power in Anatolia by defeating the Byzantine army in the Battle of Manzikert. They set up an empire with Iconium (now Konya) as the capital. From that time onward, the Christian religion and the Greek language of the Byzantine Empire were gradually replaced in Anatolia by Islam and the Turkish language. See Seljuks.
In 1095, Christians in Western Europe organized the first of a series of military expeditions called the Crusades to drive the Seljuk Turks from the Holy Land (see Crusades). During the First Crusade (1096-1099), Christian troops defeated the Seljuks in western Anatolia. As a result, the Byzantine Empire recovered about a third of Anatolia. But the crusaders then left the peninsula to fight in the Holy Land, also called Palestine. The Seljuk Empire thus endured until 1243, when it was invaded by Asian nomads known as Mongols (see Mongol Empire).
The rise of the Ottoman Empire.
The Mongol Empire was torn by internal struggles and soon fell apart. As a result, the Turks’ influence in Anatolia continued to grow. During the 1300’s, a group of Turks who became known as the Ottomans began to build a mighty empire. In 1326, they seized the Anatolian city of Bursa, which became their capital. By the late 1300’s, the Ottomans had conquered the western two-thirds of Anatolia; most of Thrace; and much of the Balkan Peninsula, including Greece. All that remained of the Byzantine Empire was the area around Constantinople. 
In 1453, Ottoman forces led by Mehmet II captured Constantinople, ending the Byzantine Empire. The Ottomans called the city Istanbul and made it their capital. By 1481, their empire extended from the Danube River in Europe to southern Anatolia.
The Ottoman Empire reached its height in the 1500’s. During the reign of Sultan Bayezit II, who ruled from 1481 to 1512, the empire became the leading naval power in the Mediterranean region. Ottoman forces conquered Syria in 1516 and Egypt in 1517. Suleyman I, whom Europeans called the Magnificent, ruled from 1520 to 1566. In 1526, his army conquered much of Hungary in the Battle of Mohacs. Suleyman also expanded the empire’s borders to Yemen on the south, Morocco on the west, and Persia on the east. 
The Ottoman decline.
After the Battle of Mohacs, European powers feared that the Ottomans would overrun Europe. However, European forces successfully defended Vienna, Austria, during an Ottoman attack in 1529. In 1571, European fleets defeated the Ottoman navy in the Battle of Lepanto, near Greece. The Ottomans again failed to capture Vienna in 1683.
During the 1700’s, the Ottoman Empire continued to weaken. In 1774, the Ottomans lost a six-year war against Russia and were forced to allow Russian ships to pass through the Straits—the waters linking the Black Sea with the Mediterranean. The Ottoman Empire lost Crimea, a peninsula in the Black Sea, to Russia in 1783.
The empire lost more territory during the 1800’s. In 1821, Greek nationalists revolted against Ottoman rule. France, the United Kingdom, and Russia sided with the Greeks and sent forces to fight the Ottomans (see Greece (History)). The Treaty of Adrianople (Edirne) ended the fighting in 1829. This treaty acknowledged the independence of Greece and gave Russia control of the mouth of the Danube River. The Ottomans also lost other Balkan territory in a series of wars with Russia (see Russo-Turkish wars). European powers forced Russia to give up much of its gains at the Congress of Berlin in 1878. But the Ottoman Empire continued to decline. The empire had lost Algeria to France in 1830, and France seized Tunisia in 1881. The United Kingdom gained Cyprus in 1878 and began to effectively rule Egypt in 1882, although both areas officially remained part of the Ottoman Empire until 1914.
Ottoman leaders tried to halt the empire’s decline through a reform program starting in 1839. They reorganized the military and improved the educational system. In 1876, the empire’s first constitution was adopted. It provided for representative government and granted the people various freedoms. But Sultan Abdulhamit II, who came to the throne the same year, set the constitution aside and ruled as a dictator (see Abdulhamit II). Government policies became increasingly oppressive, and Abdulhamit ruled by the use of fear. Religious persecution began to spread as members of various religious minorities became revolutionaries. Nationalist feelings were strong among the minorities. Ottoman officials, fearing further collapse of the already declining empire, reacted harshly. Violent attacks took place. Between 1894 and 1918, Christian Armenians in the Ottoman Empire suffered an especially large loss of life (see Armenia (History)).
The Young Turks.
During the late 1890’s, small groups of students and military officers who opposed Abdulhamit’s harsh policies banded together secretly. These groups were collectively known as the Young Turks. The most influential group was the Committee of Union and Progress. In 1908, members of this group led a revolt against Abdulhamit and forced him to restore constitutional government. The Young Turks made him give up the throne in 1909. They then ruled the empire through his brother Mehmet V.
The Young Turks wanted to restore the greatness of the Ottoman Empire. However, many people no longer cared about the idea of maintaining an empire. The empire’s Christian minorities demanded freedom from Ottoman rule. And so the empire continued to crumble. Soon after the revolution in 1908, Bulgaria declared its independence, and Austria-Hungary annexed Bosnia-Herzegovina. Italy took Libya in 1912. In 1913, the Ottoman Empire surrendered Crete, part of Macedonia, southern Epirus, and many Aegean islands to Greece. By 1914, the empire had lost all its European territory except eastern Thrace. 
World War I.
In 1914, the Ottoman Empire entered World War I on the side of Germany and Austria-Hungary in an attempt to regain lost territory. In 1915, Allied troops tried to gain control of the Straits so that aid could be shipped to Russia. The Ottomans drove back the invaders at the Gallipoli Peninsula west of the Dardanelles, dealing the Allies a crushing defeat.
Throughout the war, Russian and Ottoman troops battled in the Caucasus. Numerous battles killed thousands of soldiers. Concerned with Armenian support for Russia, the Ottoman government moved Armenians into a desert area in what is now part of Syria. About 1 1/2 million Armenians were killed or died from lack of water and food. These mass deaths are often referred to as the Armenian Genocide. The term genocide refers to the systematic extermination of an ethnic or racial group.
The Allies won the war in 1918, and they then set out to break up the Ottoman Empire. Allied troops occupied Istanbul and the Straits. In May 1919, Greek troops, protected by Allied fleets, landed at the Ottoman port of Izmir and advanced into the country. Turks deeply resented the Ottoman government’s inability to defend their homeland.
Mustafa Kemal, a Turkish military hero, quickly organized a nationalist movement. Under his leadership, a series of nationalist congresses met in Anatolian cities and formed a provisional (temporary) government. In April 1920, a new Turkish Grand National Assembly met in Ankara and elected Kemal as Assembly president.
In August 1920, the sultan’s government signed the harsh Treaty of Sèvres with the Allies (see Sèvres, Treaty of). The treaty granted independence to some parts of the empire and gave other parts to various Allied powers. The empire was reduced to Istanbul and a portion of Anatolia. As a result of the treaty, the sultan’s popularity among the Turks declined further, while the power of Kemal and the nationalists grew. In September 1922, the nationalist forces finally drove the Greeks from Turkey. The Allies agreed to draw up a new peace treaty with the nationalists. The Treaty of Lausanne, signed in 1923, set Turkey’s borders about where they are today. 
The republic of Turkey.
The Grand National Assembly proclaimed Turkey to be a republic on Oct. 29, 1923, and elected Kemal as president. Kemal and other nationalist leaders believed that the new nation could not survive without sweeping social changes. 
During the 1920’s and 1930’s, the government did away with such traditions as Muslim schools, the Islamic legal system, and the wearing of the veil by women and the fez (brimless, flat-topped cap) by men. It abolished the religious and civil office of the caliph. It also outlawed polygyny, the practice of having more than one wife at the same time. Women received the right to vote and to hold public office. All Turks were required to choose a family name. At the same time, the Grand National Assembly gave Kemal his surname—Ataturk, which means father of the Turks. See Ataturk, Kemal.
Ataturk held enormous political power. He controlled the Assembly and could appoint and dismiss the prime minister and cabinet without Assembly approval. Some Turks opposed Ataturk’s anti-Islamic policies. The Kurds revolted against the policies in 1925, but the government put down the uprising.
Ataturk served as Turkey’s president until he died in 1938. Ismet Inonu then became president. Under Inonu’s leadership, Turkey avoided entering World War II (1939-1945) until February 1945. See Inonu, Ismet.
The 1950’s and 1960’s.
The Republican People’s Party, established by Ataturk, had governed Turkey since the establishment of the republic. However, in 1950, the Democrat Party won a majority in the Grand National Assembly. Celal Bayar became president, and Adnan Menderes became prime minister. Unlike the Republicans, the Democrats encouraged foreign investment and wanted less government control of the economy. But by the late 1950’s, a rise in the national debt and restrictions on freedom of speech made the Democrat Party government unpopular.
Turkish military forces believed the Democrats had strayed too far from Ataturk’s political principles. In 1960, army units seized control of the government and set up a provisional government. The military placed many former government leaders on trial. Prime Minister Menderes was hanged. President Bayar was sentenced to life imprisonment but was later released.
In 1961, Turkey adopted a new constitution. The provisional government then held free national elections. No party won a majority in the legislature. Inonu, of the Republican People’s Party, was chosen to become prime minister. In 1965, the Justice Party won a majority, and party leader Suleyman Demirel became prime minister.
The Cyprus crisis.
During the 1960’s, Turkey and Greece nearly went to war over the issue of the Mediterranean island of Cyprus. In 1964 and 1967, fighting broke out on Cyprus between inhabitants of Turkish ancestry and inhabitants of Greek ancestry. Turkish Cypriots make up a minority of the people, and Greek Cypriots make up the majority. Both Turkey and Greece threatened to intervene before outside peacemakers arranged a settlement. But in 1974, Greek military officers overthrew the president of Cyprus. Turkish troops then invaded the island and captured much territory Turkish Cypriots later set up a separate government. They declared the captured territory an autonomous (self-governing) region in 1975, and an independent republic in 1983. But Greek Cypriots protested strongly against these actions. See Cyprus (History).
Political changes.
In the late 1960’s, radical groups of Turks began staging bombings, kidnappings, and murders in an attempt to overthrow the government. In the 1970’s, deep divisions developed between secular and religious groups. No political party could form a stable government. During this period, Demirel headed several coalition governments. In 1980, the military seized control of the government and ruled until Turkey returned to civilian rule in 1983.
The Motherland Party, led by Turgut Ozal, controlled the government from 1983 until the True Path party won the most legislative seats in 1991 elections. Suleyman Demirel, who had become leader of the True Path, again became prime minister. The legislature elected Demirel president in 1993. Tansu Ciller of the True Path then became Turkey’s first woman prime minister.
In elections in 1995, the Welfare Party, a strongly pro-Islamic party, won the most seats in the legislature. In 1996, the Welfare and True Path parties formed a coalition government. Necmettin Erbakan, the Welfare Party leader, served as prime minister until pressure from the military led him to resign in 1997. He was the first person from an Islamic party to head the government since Turkey became a republic.
In 1998, the Constitutional Court banned the Welfare Party, ruling that its goal of creating an Islamic state was unconstitutional. Some Welfare Party members joined the more moderate pro-Islamic Virtue Party. Following elections in 1999, former Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit, the leader of the Democratic Left Party, became head of a coalition government. In 2000, Turkey’s legislature elected Ahmet Necdet Sezer president. The Constitutional Court banned the Virtue Party in 2001. Moderate Islamists then formed the Justice and Development Party.
Recent developments.
A Kurdish nationalist movement developed in southeastern Turkey in the 1980’s. The Turkish government battled Kurdish guerrillas throughout the late 1980’s and the 1990’s. About 30,000 people died in the fighting. In 1999, Turkish intelligence agents arrested the Kurdish guerrilla leader Abdullah Ocalan. A Turkish court convicted Ocalan of treason and separatism. After Ocalan’s capture, most of the fighting ended.
In August 1999, a powerful earthquake struck northwestern Turkey. More than 17,000 people were killed. 
Also in 1999, the European Union (EU) accepted Turkey as a candidate for membership. In the early 2000’s, to meet EU requirements, Turkey passed several political and economic reforms. These reforms included the abolishment of capital punishment, the revision of other criminal penalties, the expansion of civil rights for Kurds and women, and the reduction of the military’s role in politics. Since 2005, EU membership talks with Turkey have stalled and restarted several times. Ongoing disagreements over Cyprus, along with other concerns, have proven to be obstacles.
During the 1990’s, Turkey’s economy became increasingly unstable. The government’s attempts to control parts of the economy conflicted with strong global pressures to let markets take charge. By 2000, Turkey’s annual inflation rate was more than 50 percent. In 2001, the national currency lost about half its value, thousands of businesses closed, and hundreds of thousands of workers lost their jobs. Economic conditions improved the following year.
In 2002, Abdullah Gül, deputy leader of the Justice and Development Party, became prime minister. In 2003, the party’s leader, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, was elected to the legislature and replaced Gül as prime minister. In 2007, the Justice and Development Party again won the most seats in the legislature, and Erdogan remained prime minister. In August, the legislature elected Abdullah Gül president. Turkish voters later approved a constitutional referendum allowing for direct election of the president by the public. 
In 2013, antigovernment protests in Istanbul’s Taksim Square led to violent clashes with police. Protesters argued that Erdogan’s government had taken on authoritarian tendencies. Later in the year, corruption accusations swept through Erdogan’s government. The resulting mass firing of police officers, judges, and prosecutors raised further democratic concerns. In May 2014, a coal mine fire in the western town of Soma killed more than 300 workers and sparked further antigovernment protests. Despite the unrest, Erdogan won Turkey’s first direct presidential election in August.
Since 2011, Turkey has been the main outlet for people fleeing war and terrorist violence in Syria and Iraq. Millions of refugees have temporarily lodged in Turkey or passed through on their way to seek asylum in Europe.
In July 2015, Turkey joined the U.S.-led coalition battling the terrorist group Islamic State (also known as ISIS or ISIL) in neighboring Iraq and Syria. Turkey had resisted joining the coalition until an Islamic State bombing attack killed 32 student activists in the southern Turkish town of Suroç. Turkey then began allowing coalition warplanes to use its airbases, and Turkish warplanes began flying combat missions against Islamic State targets. At the same time, violence reignited between Kurds and Turkish government forces. The Islamic State was blamed for a terrorist bombing in Ankara in October that killed 97 people and injured hundreds more. Terrorist and Kurd-related violence continued in Turkey in 2016, including an Islamic State attack on Istanbul Atatürk Airport in late June that killed more than 40 people.
In July, a faction of the Turkish military tried but failed to overthrow the government of President Erdogan. More than 200 people were killed in the violent takeover attempt, and more than 1,400 others were injured. Thousands of people suspected of supporting the attempted coup were arrested or suspended from their jobs. In April 2017, voters narrowly approved a constitutional referendum that expanded presidential powers and eliminated the post of prime minister. The referendum took effect in June 2018, as Erdogan was reelected president and the ruling Justice and Development Party maintained control of the legislature.
Beginning in early 2020, Turkey faced a public health crisis as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic (worldwide epidemic). COVID-19 is a sometimes-fatal respiratory disease caused by a coronavirus. Turkish authorities closed bars and restaurants and recommended that residents practice social distancing. Nevertheless, by April, the disease had spread to every Turkish province. Authorities issued curfews in Istanbul and other densely populated areas to curb the spread of the disease. In June, the government allowed some businesses to reopen. Infections and deaths spiked late in the year, and the government implemented weekend lockdowns. Turkey began administering COVID-19 vaccines in February 2021. By early 2023, more than 17 million people in Turkey had been infected with the coronavirus, and more than 100,000 had died from COVID-19.
In February 2023, a powerful earthquake struck south-central Turkey and nearby parts of northern Syria. In total, about 60,000 people were killed, more than 120,000 were injured, and more than 3 million were left homeless. Over 53,000 of the deaths occurred in Turkey. In May, Erdogan was elected for a third term as president, despite widespread criticism of the government’s response to the earthquake and to ongoing economic problems in Turkey.
