Traveling Luck for Turkey
Turkey is located in Southeastern Europe and Southwestern Asia (that portion of Turkey west of the Bosporus is geographically part of Europe), bordering the Black Sea, between Bulgaria and Georgia, and bordering the Aegean Sea and the Mediterranean Sea, between Greece and Syria.
Land in Turkey is high central plateau (Anatolia); narrow coastal plain; several mountain ranges.
Turkish land covers an area of 780580 square kilometers which is slightly larger than Texas
As for the Turkish climate; temperate; hot, dry summers with mild, wet winters; harsher in interior.
Turk(s) speak Turkish (official), Kurdish, Dimli (or Zaza), Azeri, Kabardian
note: there is also a substantial Gagauz population in the Europe part of Turkey.
Places of note in Turkey
Turkish National Map
Regions of Turkey
- Bartın İli
- Turkey (general)
Modern Turkey was founded in 1923 from the Anatolian 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 authoritarian leadership, the country adopted wide-ranging 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 Democratic Party and the peaceful transfer of power. Since then, Turkish political parties have multiplied, but democracy has been fractured by periods of instability and intermittent military coups (1960, 1971, 1980), which in each case eventually resulted in a return of 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. Turkey intervened militarily on Cyprus in 1974 to prevent a Greek takeover of the island and has since acted as patron state to the "Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus," which only Turkey recognizes. A separatist insurgency begun in 1984 by the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) - now known as the People's Congress of Kurdistan or Kongra-Gel (KGK) - has dominated the Turkish military's attention and claimed more than 30,000 lives. After the capture of the group's leader in 1999, the insurgents largely withdrew from Turkey, mainly to northern Iraq. In 2004, KGK announced an end to its ceasefire and attacks attributed to the KGK increased. Turkey joined the UN in 1945 and in 1952 it became a member of NATO. In 1964, Turkey became an associate member of the European Community; over the past decade, it has undertaken many reforms to strengthen its democracy and economy, enabling it to begin accession membership talks with the European Union.
Turkey's dynamic economy is a complex mix of modern industry and commerce along with a traditional agriculture sector that still accounts for more than 35% of employment. It has a strong and rapidly growing private sector, yet the state still plays a major role in basic industry, banking, transport, and communication. The largest industrial sector is textiles and clothing, which accounts for one-third of industrial employment; it faces stiff competition in international markets with the end of the global quota system. However, other sectors, notably the automotive and electronics industries, are rising in importance within Turkey's export mix. Real GNP growth has exceeded 6% in many years, but this strong expansion has been interrupted by sharp declines in output in 1994, 1999, and 2001. The economy is turning around with the implementation of economic reforms, and 2004 GDP growth reached 9%. Inflation fell to 7.7% in 2005 - a 30-year low. Despite the strong economic gains in 2002-05, which were largely due to renewed investor interest in emerging markets, IMF backing, and tighter fiscal policy, the economy is still burdened by a high current account deficit and high debt. The public sector fiscal deficit exceeds 6% of GDP - due in large part to high interest payments, which accounted for about 37% of central government spending in 2004. Prior to 2005, foreign direct investment (FDI) in Turkey averaged less than $1 billion annually, but further economic and judicial reforms and prospective EU membership are expected to boost FDI. Privatization sales are currently approaching $21 billion.
Turkish natural resources include coal, iron ore, copper, chromium, antimony, mercury, gold, barite, borate, celestite (strontium), emery, feldspar, limestone, magnesite, marble, perlite, pumice, pyrites (sulfur), clay, arable land, hydropower
strategic location controlling the Turkish Straits (Bosporus, Sea of Marmara, Dardanelles) that link Black and Aegean Seas; Mount Ararat, the legendary landing place of Noah's Ark, is in the far eastern portion of the country
Turkish religion is Muslim 99.8% (mostly Sunni), other 0.2% (mostly Christians and Jews).
Natural hazards in Turkey include severe earthquakes, especially in northern Turkey, along an arc extending from the Sea of Marmara to Lake Van.
- There is a high threat from terrorism in Turkey. We believe that international terrorist groups, as well as indigenous ones, are currently active in Turkey. Attacks in public places, including in tourist areas, could well occur.
- Targets have included Mediterranean and Aegean tourist areas, Istanbul and Turkey's South East. In August 2006, explosions in the Aegean resort of Marmaris injured 21 people, including 10 British nationals. In November 2003, terrorist attacks against the British Consulate-General and the headquarters of HSBC in Istanbul caused 33 deaths and injured several hundred.
- On 8 February 2007, Turkish Authorities confirmed an outbreak of Avian Influenza (Bird Flu) in Batman province, South East Turkey. In January 2006 outbreaks of Avian Influenza resulted in four deaths in Eastern Turkey. For further information see the Health section below and also read the FCO’s Avian and Pandemic Influenza Factsheet.
- Almost 1.8 million British tourists visited Turkey in 2005. Most visits are trouble-free. The main type of incident for which British nationals require consular assistance in Turkey is for replacing lost passports and death from natural causes.
- We strongly recommend that you obtain comprehensive travel and medical insurance before travelling to Turkey. You should check any exclusions, and that your policy covers you for the activities you want to undertake. Please see: Travel Insurance
SAFETY AND SECURITY
- On 28 August 2006, in Marmaris, a series of explosions injured 21 people, including 10 British nationals.
- On 28 August 2006, in Antalya, three people were killed in an explosion and at least 30 were injured, including foreign nationals.
- On 25 June 2006, an explosion in Manavgat, east of the southern coastal resort of Antalya, killed four people, including three foreign nationals, and injured several more.
- On 2 April 2006, three people died and two were injured in Istanbul when a bus was attacked and set alight by masked individuals. No foreign nationals were involved.
- On 31 March 2006, an explosion occurred in the Fatih district of central Istanbul, near the Golden Horn. One person was killed and eleven were injured. No foreign nationals were involved. No foreign nationals were involved.
- On 9 February 2006, there was an explosion in a café in the Bayrampasa district of central Istanbul. 14 people were injured; one later died. No foreign nationals were involved.
- On 12 September 2006, an explosion in the south eastern city of Diyarbakir killed 11 people and injured at least 13. No foreign nationals were involved.
- In late March and early April 2006 demonstrations, some of which were violent with stones and Molotov cocktails being thrown and property being set alight or destroyed, resulted in 13 deaths and many more injuries in the neighbouring provinces of Diyarbakir, Batman, Mardin and Sanliura.
LOCAL LAWS AND CUSTOMS
Avian Influenza (Bird Flu)
On 8 February 2007, Turkish Authorities confirmed an outbreak of Avian Influenza (Bird Flu) in Batman province, South East Turkey. In January 2006 outbreaks of Avian Influenza in Turkey resulted in four deaths in eastern Turkey, believed to have arisen through close contact with infected poultry. Since the end of 2003, a number of human deaths have also occurred in Azerbaijan, Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Iraq, Thailand, Egypt and Vietnam.