Timor-Leste
The Portuguese began to trade with the island of Timor
in the early 16th century and colonized it in mid-century.
Skirmishing with the Dutch in the region eventually resulted in an
1859 treaty in which Portugal ceded the western portion of the
island. Imperial Japan occupied Portuguese Timor from 1942 to 1945,
but Portugal resumed colonial authority after the Japanese defeat in
World War II. East Timor declared itself independent from Portugal
on 28 November 1975 and was invaded and occupied by Indonesian
forces nine days later. It was incorporated into Indonesia in July
1976 as the province of Timor Timur (East Timor). An unsuccessful
campaign of pacification followed over the next two decades, during
which an estimated 100,000 to 250,000 individuals lost their lives.
On 30 August 1999, in a UN-supervised popular referendum, an
overwhelming majority of the people of Timor-Leste voted for
independence from Indonesia. Between the referendum and the arrival
of a multinational peacekeeping force in late September 1999,
anti-independence Timorese militias - organized and supported by the
Indonesian military - commenced a large-scale, scorched-earth
campaign of retribution. The militias killed approximately 1,400
Timorese and forcibly pushed 300,000 people into western Timor as
refugees. The majority of the country's infrastructure, including
homes, irrigation systems, water supply systems, and schools, and
nearly 100% of the country's electrical grid were destroyed. On 20
September 1999, the Australian-led peacekeeping troops of the
International Force for East Timor (INTERFET) deployed to the
country and brought the violence to an end. On 20 May 2002,
Timor-Leste was internationally recognized as an independent state.
In late April 2006, internal tensions threatened the new nation's
security when a military strike led to violence and a near breakdown
of law and order. At Dili's request, an Australian-led International
Stabilization Force (ISF) deployed to Timor-Leste in late May. In
August, the UN Security Council established the UN Integrated
Mission in Timor-Leste (UNMIT), which included an authorized police
presence of over 1,600 personnel. The ISF and UNMIT restored
stability, allowing for presidential and parliamentary elections in
April and June 2007 in a largely peaceful atmosphere. In February
2008, a rebel group staged an unsuccessful attack against the
president and prime minister. The ringleader was killed in the
attack and the majority of the rebels surrendered in April 2008.
Since the unsuccessful attacks the government has enjoyed one of its
longest periods of post-independence stability.
Togo
French Togoland became Togo in 1960. Gen. Gnassingbe EYADEMA,
installed as military ruler in 1967, ruled Togo with a heavy hand
for almost four decades. Despite the facade of multiparty elections
instituted in the early 1990s, the government was largely dominated
by President EYADEMA, whose Rally of the Togolese People (RPT) party
has maintained power almost continually since 1967 and maintains a
majority of seats in today's legislature. Upon EYADEMA's death in
February 2005, the military installed the president's son, Faure
GNASSINGBE, and then engineered his formal election two months
later. Democratic gains since then allowed Togo to hold its first
relatively free and fair legislative elections in October 2007.
After years of political unrest and condemnation from international
organizations for human rights abuses, Togo is finally being
re-welcomed into the international community.
Tokelau
Originally settled by Polynesian emigrants from surrounding
island groups, the Tokelau Islands were made a British protectorate
in 1889. They were transferred to New Zealand administration in
1925. Referenda held in 2006 and 2007 to change the status of the
islands from that of a New Zealand territory to one of free
association with New Zealand did not meet the needed threshold for
approval.
Tonga
Tonga - unique among Pacific nations - never completely lost
its indigenous governance. The archipelagos of "The Friendly
Islands" were united into a Polynesian kingdom in 1845. Tonga became
a constitutional monarchy in 1875 and a British protectorate in
1900; it withdrew from the protectorate and joined the Commonwealth
of Nations in 1970. Tonga remains the only monarchy in the Pacific.
Trinidad and Tobago
First colonized by the Spanish, the islands came
under British control in the early 19th century. The islands' sugar
industry was hurt by the emancipation of the slaves in 1834.
Manpower was replaced with the importation of contract laborers from
India between 1845 and 1917, which boosted sugar production as well
as the cocoa industry. The discovery of oil on Trinidad in 1910
added another important export. Independence was attained in 1962.
The country is one of the most prosperous in the Caribbean thanks
largely to petroleum and natural gas production and processing.
Tourism, mostly in Tobago, is targeted for expansion and is growing.
The government is coping with a rise in violent crime.
Tunisia
Rivalry between French and Italian interests in Tunisia
culminated in a French invasion in 1881 and the creation of a
protectorate. Agitation for independence in the decades following
World War I was finally successful in getting the French to
recognize Tunisia as an independent state in 1956. The country's
first president, Habib BOURGUIBA, established a strict one-party
state. He dominated the country for 31 years, repressing Islamic
fundamentalism and establishing rights for women unmatched by any
other Arab nation. In November 1987, BOURGUIBA was removed from
office and replaced by Zine el Abidine BEN ALI in a bloodless coup.
BEN ALI is currently serving his fifth consecutive five-year term as
president. Tunisia has long taken a moderate, non-aligned stance in
its foreign relations. Domestically, it has sought to defuse rising
pressure for a more open political society.
Turkey
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; it began accession
membership talks with the European Union in 2005.
Turkmenistan
Eastern Turkmenistan for centuries formed part of the
Persian province of Khurasan; in medieval times Merv (today known as
Mary) was one of the great cities of the Islamic world and an
important stop on the Silk Road. Annexed by Russia between 1865 and
1885, Turkmenistan became a Soviet republic in 1924. It achieved
independence upon the dissolution of the USSR in 1991. Extensive
hydrocarbon/natural gas reserves could prove a boon to this
underdeveloped country once extraction and delivery projects are
expanded. The Turkmen Government is actively working to diversify
its gas export routes beyond the still dominant Russian pipeline
network. In 2010, new gas export pipelines that carry Turkmen gas to
China and to northern Iran began operating, effectively ending the
Russian monopoly on Turkmen gas exports. President for Life
Saparmurat NYYAZOW died in December 2006, and Turkmenistan held its
first multi-candidate presidential election in February 2007.
Gurbanguly BERDIMUHAMEDOW, a deputy cabinet chairman under NYYAZOW,
emerged as the country's new president.
Turks and Caicos Islands
The islands were part of the UK's Jamaican
colony until 1962, when they assumed the status of a separate crown
colony upon Jamaica's independence. The governor of The Bahamas
oversaw affairs from 1965 to 1973. With Bahamian independence, the
islands received a separate governor in 1973. Although independence
was agreed upon for 1982, the policy was reversed and the islands
remain a British overseas territory.
Tuvalu
In 1974, ethnic differences within the British colony of the
Gilbert and Ellice Islands caused the Polynesians of the Ellice
Islands to vote for separation from the Micronesians of the Gilbert
Islands. The following year, the Ellice Islands became the separate
British colony of Tuvalu. Independence was granted in 1978. In 2000,
Tuvalu negotiated a contract leasing its Internet domain name ".tv"
for $50 million in royalties over a 12-year period.