Turkey

Turkey is one of the six independent Turkic states. The vast majority of the population are Muslims. The country's official language is Turkish, whereas Kurdish and Zazaki languages are spoken by Kurds and Zazas, who constitute 18% of the population.

The Capital is Ankara. The largest city is Istanbul. The President is Dr. Abdullah Gül , and the Prime Minister is Recep Tayyip Erdoğan . As of August 28, 2014, the PM is Ahmet Davutoğlu; he resigned on 5.22.16. On 8.28.14 Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was elected President.

The Country profile .

5.15.14: Turkey updated profile .

Interactive map .

They are a NATO member .

11.23.11: Turkey officially apologizes for 1930's mass killings of Kurds .

7.3.14: At age 27, Leyla Imret is Turkey’s youngest mayor .

7.15.16: President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has denounced a military coup attempt as an "act of treason" and insisted his government remains in charge.

The coup attempt began late Friday night;7.15.16. It escalated quickly as military units closed key routes into Ankara and Istanbul and seized control of state-run television stations. There were clashes between crowds of government supporters and a military group calling itself the Peace at Home Council. The coup plotters issued a statement through the military saying they wanted to take control “to reinstall constitutional order, democracy, human rights and freedoms, (and) to ensure that the rule of law once again reigns in the country." Critics blame Erdogan’s increasingly authoritarian rule for eroding democracy and secular laws.


10.9.19 Turkey invades northern Syria and launches an attack on U.S.- allied Kurdish forces. The attack followed a sudden and unexpected decision on Sunday by U.S. President Donald Trump to withdraw American troops from northern Syria ahead of the operation. Both members of Trump’s Republican Party and the Democratic Party expressed strong opposition to the withdrawal decision. Critics said the U.S. is abandoning its ally, the Kurdish fighters who fought with American troops against the Islamic State (IS). Turkey has long threatened to attack the Kurdish fighters in northern Syria. It says the Kurdish fighters are terrorists linked to a Kurdish rebellion in Turkey. But world powers fear the latest Turkish action could expand Syria’s eight-year-old civil war.

Who are the Kurds?