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Further reading: Francois Burgat and William Dowell,
The Islamic Movement in North Africa, 2d ed. (Austin:
Center for Middle Eastern Studies, University of Texas
at Austin, 1997); Mohamed Elhachmi Hamdi, The
Politicization of Islam: A Case Study of Tunisia (Boulder,
Colo.: Westview Press, 2000); Kenneth Perkins, A His-
tory of Modern Tunisia (Cambridge: Cambridge Univer-
sity Press, 2004).
Turkey
(Official name: Republic of Turkey)
Europeans have used forms of the name “Tur-
key” to refer to the dominant presence of Turkish
peoples and states in Anatolia since the time of
the c
rUsades
; however, the Turkish form Türkiye
has been used officially only since the foundation
of the present Republic of Turkey in 1923. The
country today comprises the peninsula known
as Anatolia (Asia Minor) and the southeastern
tip of the Balkan Peninsula (Europe), which are
separated by the Bosphorus strait, on both sides
of which sits the city of i
stanbUl
. It shares borders
in the northwest with Greece and Bulgaria; in the
east with Georgia, Armenia, and Iran; and in the
south-southeast with Syria and Iraq. Because of
its unique geographical position and the histori-
cal movement of peoples and ideas between Asia
and Europe, Turkey has often been called a bridge
between East and West.
Turkey occupies an area of 301,303 square
miles, which makes it comparable in size to Texas.
It is bordered by the Black Sea to the north; Bul-
garia and Greece to the northwest; the Aegean Sea
to the west; the Mediterranean Sea, Syria, and Iraq
to the south; Iran, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the
east; and Georgia to the northeast. Turkey’s popula-
tion was estimated at 71.9 million in 2008, and is
made up predominantly of those of Turkish ethnic-
ity, though there is a large Kurdish minority (est. 20
percent), as well as smaller numbers of Arabs, Laz,
Greeks, Armenians, Jews, and other ethnic groups.
The population is predominantly Muslim (mostly
Sunni, but with a substantial number of Alevis and
some Shiis), along with a small number of Chris-
tians and Jews. The official language is Turkish.
The influx of Turkish-speaking peoples into
Anatolia gained impetus after the Seljuk victory
over Byzantine forces at Manzikert in 1071. Their
dominance over the land was then ensured by
powerful states set up by the Seljuks and later by
the Ottomans. While the Ottomans subsequently
gained control over much of the Middle East and
the Balkans, Anatolia remained the heartland of
the Turkish population, though with large popu-
lations of Greek and Armenian Christians and
non-Turkish Muslims, such as the Kurds, also
inhabiting the area.
When the Ottoman Empire was dissolved after
World War I, a Turkish national movement led by
m
UstaFa
k
emal
a
tatUrk
(d. 1938) succeeded in
founding the Republic of Turkey, the borders of
which were delineated by the Treaty of Lausanne
(1923). Through an exchange of populations with
Greece, there resulted an overwhelming Muslim
majority in Turkey, including the large Alevi
minority. In addition, the new republic’s nation-
K 674
Turkey
alist policies sought to build a strong Turkish
identity, which involved attempts at assimilating
non-Turkish Muslim peoples such as the Kurds.
As Turkey’s first president, Ataturk pushed
through a series of reforms designed to modernize
and Westernize the country, a process that affected
state institutions, legal codes, education, women’s
rights, language, and even dress. Adopting a policy
of
secUlarism
, Ataturk’s government reduced the
role of i
slam
in political and social life by abolishing
the
caliphate
and closing the
dervish
lodges, among
other measures. Turkey has been a representative
democracy
since the first multiparty elections were
held in 1950, though its powerful military staged
coups in 1960 and 1980, when it was felt politi-
cians were departing from the principles laid down
by Ataturk. Since 1980 Turkish politics has been
dominated by center-right parties. In 1996 Necmet-
tin Erbakan (b. 1926) became Turkey’s first Islamist
prime minister. Though his r
eFah
p
arty
was soon
forced to close by the staunchly secular military,
members of this party later formed the Justice and
Development Party (AKP), which controlled a
majority of parliament seats in 2006.
Turkey’s economy is dominated by agriculture,
industry, and commerce sectors, and it is in a pro-
cess of rapid modernization. With its long Medi-
terranean coastline and abundance of historic
sites, Turkey is also a major tourist destination.
In recent decades Turkey has faced problems such
as economic instability, marked by rampant infla-
tion, and mass migrations of people from rural
areas to urban centers such as Istanbul, Ankara,
and Izmir. Issues that are presently debated in
Turkey include the possibility of Turkey being
admitted into the European Union, and the role
of Islam in social and political life.
See also a
laWi
; a
rmenians
; c
hristianity
and
i
slam
; e
Urope
; J
anissary
; m
evlevi
s
UFi
o
rder
; o
tto
-
man
dynasty
; s
elJUk
dynasty
; W
esternization
.
Mark Soileau
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