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Republic of Turkey BACKGROUND 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. In 1997, the military helped engineer the ouster - popularly dubbed a "post-modern coup" - of the then Islamic-oriented government. 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. POPULATION Population: 71,158,647 (July 2007 est.) Age structure: 0-14 years: 24.9% (male 9,034,731/female 8,703,624) 15-64 years: 68.1% (male 24,627,270/female 23,857,507) 65 years and over: 6.9% (male 2,253,383/female 2,682,132) Population growth: 1.04% Ethnic groups: Turkish 80%, Kurdish 20% Languages: Turkish (official), Kurdish, Dimli, Azeri, Kabardian GEOGRAPHY Geographical note: 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 Climate: temperate; hot, dry summers with mild, wet winters; harsher in interior Natural resources: 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 Environmental issues: water pollution from dumping of chemicals and detergents; air pollution, particularly in urban areas; deforestation; concern for oil spills from increasing Bosporus ship traffic ECONOMY Currency: Exchange rate: Turkish lira (TRY) £1 = 2.5 Turkish lira (Oct 07) Business Vantage Ltd 14 Park Street, Windsor. SL4 1LU Economy overview: 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%, followed by roughly 5% annual growth from 2005-06. Inflation fell to 7.7% in 2005 - a 30-year low but climbed back to 9.8% in 2006. Despite the strong economic gains from 2002-06, 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. GDP: $640.4 billion (2006 est.) Purchasing power parity 6.1% GDP growth: GDP composition: agriculture: 9.3% industry: 31% services: 59.7% Industries: textiles, food processing, autos, electronics, mining (coal, chromite, copper, boron), steel, petroleum, construction, lumber, paper TRANSPORTATION Paved Airports: 117 Merchant marine: total: 565 ships (1000 GRT or over) 4,663,353 GRT/7,039,492 DWT by type: bulk carrier 96, cargo 262, chemical tanker 58, combination ore/oil 1, container 30, liquefied gas 7, passenger 4, passenger/cargo 48, petroleum tanker 32, refrigerated cargo 1, roll on/roll off 25, specialized tanker 1 foreign-owned: 8 (China 1, Cyprus 2, Germany 1, Italy 3, UAE 1) registered in other countries: 470 (Albania 1, Antigua and Barbuda 7, Bahamas 5, Belize 11, Cambodia 20, Comoros 8, Cyprus 1, Dominica 9, Georgia 23, Isle of Man 2, Italy 1, Kiribati 1, North Korea 1, Liberia 7, Malta 143, Marshall Islands 41, Netherlands Antilles 12, Panama 53, Russia 70, Sierra Leone 7, Slovakia 11, St Kitts and Nevis 13, St Vincent and The Grenadines 20, Tuvalu 1, UK 2, unknown 3) Ports: Aliaga, Ambarli, Eregli, Haydarpasa, Istanbul, Izmir, Kocaeli (Izmit), Torosy Business Vantage Ltd 14 Park Street, Windsor. SL4 1LU TRADE Trade with the UK: Turkey is one of the world's most rapidly industrialising markets. It is also a major trading partner of the UK. There are now some 430 British companies operating in Turkey. In addition, Turkish investment in the UK is also growing with some 65 companies now active in the UK. In 2005 the UK exported £2.6bn in goods and services to Turkey, making it Britain’s 23rd biggest export market. The volume of UK-Turkey bilateral trade reached $12 billion in 2006 and the UK is Turkey’s 2nd largest export market. British firms cover a wide range of sectors, with over 41 British companies investing in Turkey, such as BP, Shell, Vodafone, Unilever (UK), HSBC, Aviva, Tesco, and Cadbury Schweppes. Exports: $91.89 billion f.o.b (2006 est.) Export commodities: equipment apparel, foodstuffs, textiles, metal manufactures, transport Export partners: Germany 11.3%, UK 8%, Italy 7.9%, US 6%, France 5.4%, Spain 4.4% Imports: $132.1 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.) Import commodities: equipment machinery, chemicals, semi-finished goods, fuels, transport Import partners: Germany 13.9%, China 9.7%, Ukraine 7%, Japan 5.9%, South Korea 5.1%, US 4.8%, France 4.4%, Italy 4.3% FURTHER INFORMATION • • Internet domain International dialling code tr. 090 British Consulate General - UK Trade & Investment Department Mesrutiyet Cad No 34 Tepebasi Beyoglu-Istanbul Phone: +90 212 334 6580 THE BRITISH CHAMBER OF COMMERCE OF TURKEY Mesrutiyet Caddesi, 18, Asli Han, Kat 6 Galatasaray 80050 ISTANBUL Phone: + 90 (0) 212 249 0420 - 249 0658 Web site: www.bcct.org.tr Business Vantage Ltd 14 Park Street, Windsor. SL4 1LU