National holiday:
Republic Day, 29 October (1923)
Constitution:
7 November 1982
Legal system:
civil law system derived from various European continental legal
systems; note - member of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR),
although Turkey claims limited derogations on the ratified European
Convention on Human Rights
Suffrage:
18 years of age; universal
Executive branch:
chief of state: President Ahmet Necdet SEZER (since 16 May 2000)
head of government: Prime Minister Recep Tayyip ERDOGAN (14 March
2003)
cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the president on the
nomination of the prime minister
elections: president elected by the National Assembly for a single
seven-year term; election last held 5 May 2000 (next to be held May
2007); prime minister appointed by the president from among members
of parliament
election results: Ahmed Necdet SEZER elected president on the third
ballot; percent of National Assembly vote - 60%
note: president must have a two-thirds majority of the National
Assembly on the first two ballots and a simple majority on the third
ballot
Legislative branch:
unicameral Grand National Assembly of Turkey or Turkiye Buyuk
Millet Meclisi (550 seats; members are elected by popular vote to
serve five-year terms)
elections: last held 3 November 2002 (next to be held in 2007); note
- a special rerun of the General Election in the province of Siirt
on 9 March 2003 resulted in the election of Recep Tayyip ERDOGAN to
a seat in parliament, a prerequisite for becoming prime minister, on
14 March 2003
election results: percent of vote by party - AKP 34.3%, CHP 19.4%,
DYP 9.6%, MHP 8.3%, Anavatan 5.1%, DSP 1.1%, and other; seats by
party - AKP 363, CHP 178, independents 9; note - parties surpassing
the 10% threshold are entitled to parliamentary seats; seats by
party as of 1 December 2005 - AKP 357, CHP 154, ANAVATAN 22, DYP 4,
SHP 4, HYP 1, independents 4, vacant 4
Judicial branch:
Constitutional Court; High Court of Appeals (Yargitay); Council of
State (Danistay); Court of Accounts (Sayistay); Military High Court
of Appeals; Military High Administrative Court
Political parties and leaders:
Anavatan Partisi (once was Motherland Party) or ANAVATAN [Erkan
MUMCU]; Democratic Left Party or DSP [Mehmet Zeki SEZER]; Democratic
People's Party or DEHAP [Tuncer BAKIRHAN]; Felicity Party (sometimes
translated as Contentment Party) or SP [Necmettin ERBAKAN]; Justice
and Development Party or AKP [Recep Tayyip ERDOGAN]; Liberal
Democratic Party or LDP; Nationalist Action Party or MHP [Devlet
BAHCELI]; People's Rise Party (Halkin Yukselisi Partisi) or HYP
[Yasr Nuri OZTURK]; Republican People's Party or CHP [Deniz BAYKAL];
Social Democratic People's Party or SHP [Murat KARAYALCIN]; True
Path Party (sometimes translated as Correct Way Party) or DYP
[Mehmet AGAR]
note: the parties listed above are some of the more significant of
the 49 parties that Turkey had on 1 December 2004
Political pressure groups and leaders:
Confederation of Public Sector Unions or KESK [Sami EVREN];
Confederation of Revolutionary Workers Unions or DISK [Suleyman
CELEBI]; Independent Industrialists' and Businessmen's Association
or MUSIAD [Omer BOLAT]; Moral Rights Workers Union or Hak-Is [Salim
USLU]; Turkish Confederation of Employers' Unions or TISK [Refik
BAYDUR]; Turkish Confederation of Labor or Turk-Is [Salih KILIC];
Turkish Confederation of Tradesmen and Craftsmen or TESK [Dervis
GUNDAY]; Turkish Industrialists' and Businessmen's Association or
TUSIAD [Omer SABANCI]; Turkish Union of Chambers of Commerce and
Commodity Exchanges or TOBB [M. Rifat HISARCIKLIOGLU]
International organization participation:
AsDB, Australia Group, BIS, BSEC, CE, CERN (observer), EAPC, EBRD,
ECO, EU (applicant), FAO, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA,
IDB, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM,
IPU, ISO, ITU, MIGA, NATO, NEA, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OIC,
OPCW, OSCE, PCA, SECI, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNMIS,
UNOCI, UNOMIG, UNRWA, UPU, WCO, WEU (associate), WFTU, WHO, WIPO,
WMO, WToO, WTO, ZC