Politics
- Conventional Long Form Name: Republic of Turkey
- Capital City: Ankara
- Type of Government: republican parliamentary democracy
- Date of Independence: October 29, 1923 (successor state to the Ottoman Empire)
- National Holiday: Republic Day; October 29, 1923
- Chief of State: President Abdullah Gul
- Head of Government: Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan
- Executive Branch/Powers: Council of Ministers appointed by the president on the nomination of the prime minister; president elected directly for a five-year term (eligible for a second term); prime minister appointed by the president from among members of parliament,
- Legislative Branch/Powers: unicameral Grand National Assembly of Turkey; (550 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms)
- Judicial Branch/Powers: Constitutional Court (consists of 17 members); Supreme Court of Appeals organized into 15 divisions with 38 civil and criminal chambers and consisting of 250 high judges and 440 rapporteur judges); Constitutional Court judges appointed by the president from among candidates submitted by plenary assemblies of other courts, the Higher Education Council, senior government administrators, and lawyers; judges appointed for 12-year, non-renewable terms and with mandatory retirement at age 65; Supreme Court of Appeals judges appointed by the Supreme Council of Judges and Public Prosecutors; judge tenure NA
- Suffrage: 18 years of age, universal
- Ambassador to the US: Ambassador Namik Tan
- Embassy in the US: 2525 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008
- Consulates in the US: Chicago, Houston, New York, Newton
- US Ambassador to Turkey: Ambassador Francis J. Ricciardone, Jr.
- US Embassy in Turkey: 110 Ataturk Boulevard, Kavaklidere, 06100 Ankara
- US Consulates in Turkey: Istanbul, Adana, Izmir
- UN Representative: N/A
- Description of Symbolism of Flag: red with a vertical white crescent moon (the closed portion is toward the hoist side) and white five-pointed star centered just outside the crescent opening; the flag colors and designs closely resemble those on the banner of the Ottoman Empire, which preceded modern-day Turkey; the crescent moon and star serve as insignia for the Turks, as well as being traditional symbols of Islam; according to legend, the flag represents the reflection of the moon and a star in a pool of blood of Turkish warriors
- National Symbol: star and crescent
- Description of International Disputes: complex maritime, air, and territorial disputes with Greece in the Aegean Sea; status of north Cyprus question remains; Syria and Iraq protest Turkish hydrological projects to control upper Euphrates waters; Turkey has expressed concern over the status of Kurds in Iraq; in 2009, Swiss mediators facilitated an accord reestablishing diplomatic ties between Armenia and Turkey, but neither side has ratified the agreement and the rapprochement effort has faltered; Turkish authorities have complained that blasting from quarries in Armenia might be damaging the medieval ruins of Ani, on the other side of the Arpacay valley
- Quantity of Refugees inside Country and Country of Origin of Refugees: 11,322 (Iraq); 559,994 (Syria)
- Quantity of Internally Displaced Persons: at least 954,000-1.2 million (displaced from 1984-2005 because of fighting between Kurdish PKK and Turkish military; most IDPs are Kurds from eastern and southeastern provinces; no information available on persons displaced by development projects) (2012)
- Quantity of Stateless Persons: 780
- Description of Human Trafficking issues: N/A
- Illicit Drug trafficking/use: key transit route for Southwest Asian heroin to Western Europe and, to a lesser extent, the US - via air, land, and sea routes; major Turkish and other international trafficking organizations operate out of Istanbul; laboratories to convert imported morphine base into heroin exist in remote regions of Turkey and near Istanbul; government maintains strict controls over areas of legal opium poppy cultivation and over output of poppy straw concentrate; lax enforcement of money-laundering controls
Flag of Turkey
- Description of Symbolism of Flag: red with a vertical white crescent moon (the closed portion is toward the hoist side) and white five-pointed star centered just outside the crescent opening; the flag colors and designs closely resemble those on the banner of the Ottoman Empire, which preceded modern-day Turkey; the crescent moon and star serve as insignia for the Turks, as well as being traditional symbols of Islam; according to legend, the flag represents the reflection of the moon and a star in a pool of blood of Turkish warriors
- National Symbol: star and crescent
President Abdullah Gul
- Chief of State
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan
- Head of Government