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History and Government
History: Originally inhabited by a variety of different peoples – Hittites, Urartians, Phyrgians and Lydians – Turkey, or Asia Minor as it was called during much of the pre-modern period, was, for over 1000 years, the heartland of the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire, with Constantinople as its capital. Founded by Constantine the Great in AD 330, Constantinople survived the collapse of the Western Empire in the fifth century. It was the capital from which the brilliant and enigmatic Emperor Justinian (527-565) launched his ambitious projects to reunite the old Roman Empire, the western provinces of which had been occupied by Germanic people from northern Europe. The Byzantine Empire, from the death of Justinian until its eventual fall in 1453, was engaged in a long retreat in the face of numerous enemies, mainly the forces of Islam. However, the Byzantines took advantage of the success of the First Crusade (1096-1100), whose armies re-took many Byzantine possessions in Asia Minor, Syria and Palestine, although, as later events were to prove, the interests of the Byzantines and of the Christian Crusader states in Palestine were not always identical.
The Byzantine State never fully recovered and on many occasions during the next three centuries, a final defeat was only prevented by the disunity of its enemies and particularly by the massive fortifications of the city of Constantinople. The conquest of Constantinople in 1204 – the only time the fortifications were breached – was followed by one of the most savage and rapacious sackings in the history of the world. The treasures of Byzantium were beyond count or value and many priceless works of art were removed to Europe (mainly to Venice) during this time.
The Byzantines set up a rival capital at Nicea, until Constantinople was retaken in 1261. However, by this time, the empire had effectively lost control of most of its territories and, by the 14th century, Byzantine control of Asia Minor was little more than an empty theory. From the 11th century onwards, the Asiatic area of Turkey known as Anatolia had also been affected by upheavals and conquests from the east. Successive invasions from Central Asia led to the Islamic Turkification of the region, the real power fast becoming the Ottomans’ – a name derived from their 14th-century leader, Osman Gazi, who scored a decisive victory against the Byzantines at the Battle of Baphaeon in 1301.
The Ottomans steadily expanded their territorial control from Turkey itself, constructing the Ottoman Empire, which at its zenith in the mid-16th century – a period associated with the reign of Suleyman the Magnificent – covered southeast Europe (including the Balkans and Hungary), North Africa (as far as Morocco), the Crimea and Georgia, the Levant, Syria, Iraq and most of the Arabian peninsula. The most famous conquest, from a symbolic and strategic point of view, was that of Constantinople itself in 1453; with its fall, the Roman Empire, in a strictly legalistic sense, finally came to an end. The territorial ambitions of the Ottomans regarding control of the Mediterranean and Central Europe brought the empire into conflict with the major European powers of the day, particularly the Hapsburgs.
The Venetians and later the Russians were almost constant enemies of the Ottomans during the late-17th and 18th centuries, during which time the empire sank into decline. In the late-18th century, attempts were made by some rulers to reform the empire but to little effect. The diplomatic history of Central Europe in the early modern period is highly complex and the Ottoman Empire became increasingly a pawn and victim of the various power struggles. Its disintegration and the forces of nationalism unleashed as a consequence caused schisms and conflicts that linger to this day throughout southern Europe and the Middle East. Turkey was known as ‘the sick man of Europe’ during this period.
Turkish history can thereafter be characterised by a constant struggle between the forces of absolutism and reform. In 1914, the country became embroiled in World War I – on the side of Germany. The following year saw one of the most ignominious episodes in Turkish history, when over a million Armenians were driven into the desert and murdered by Turkish troops. Although it is fiercely denied by the Turkish authorities, there is compelling evidence that this was an officially sponsored and systematic policy of genocide. After the war, most of the Ottoman possessions came under British or French control, with the support of the newly formed League of Nations. In Turkey itself, the Ottoman Dynasty was overthrown in 1923, by a revolutionary movement led by Mustafa Kemal, better known as Atatürk (‘the father of the Turks’), who established a single-party republic with himself at the head.
The period after the War of Independence saw sweeping social reforms and economic modernisation, including the abolition of the Islamic social infrastructure and the development of a manufacturing industry. Atatürk’s successor, Ismet Inönü, kept Turkey out of World War II (except for the last four months) and introduced multiparty politics. The first elections were held in 1950. There have since been two prolonged periods of military rule, the second ending with elections in 1983, won by Turgut Özal and the Motherland Party. Martial law, however, remained in force in many provinces until 1987. Turkey joined NATO in 1952 and, since the lifting of suspensions with the end of military rule, is once more a full and active member of the OECD and the Council of Europe, as well as being an associate member of the EU. Turkey has been pursuing full EU membership since the early 1980s, with varying degrees of enthusiasm. The new government, elected in November 2002 (see below), is especially keen, although it faces serious obstacles in the form of a historically poor human rights record – especially with regard to the treatment of the country’s Kurdish minority – and the failure of repeated efforts to reach a political settlement in Cyprus. (see Cyprus).
Important as relations with Europe are, Turkish foreign policy has major interests elsewhere. The collapse of the Soviet Union has given the country a key political and economic role in Central Asia, where Turkey has historic cultural and linguistic links with several countries. These have assumed much greater importance in Western strategic thinking since the events of 11 September 2001 and the war against the Taleban regime in Afghanistan. At the beginning of 1990, political tension in the region was heightened by the onset of the Armenian/Azeri conflict. Turkey was the first country to recognise the independence of Azerbaijan and has provided consistent diplomatic support for the Azeris against Armenia. Turkey has also sought closer political and economic links with the ‘Stans’ – the five Central Asian ex-republics of the former Soviet Union, mainly populated by people from Turkic ethnic groups. Several of these view Turkey as a suitable model to pursue in the course of their own development.
Moreover, Turkey has a key strategic position on the northern edge of the ever-turbulent Middle East; in particular, it has a shared border with Iraq and provided essential bases for the US-led campaign against Iraq during the 1991 Gulf war. Since then, these same bases have been essential to the UN’s enforcement of economic sanctions and the ‘no fly’ zone (see Iraq). The government accrued benefits in the form of financial assistance and had a free hand in dealing with the insurgency of the Kurdish Workers Party – best known by its own acronym, PKK. The party was engaged in an armed struggle to secure civil and political rights for the Kurdish ethnic minority concentrated in the eastern part of the country. With a serious prospect of another US-led war against Iraq in 2003, Turkey will once again be called upon to play its part. The government has major reservations, however, about the future complexion of a post-Saddam regime in the country and is concerned to limit any Kurdish influence.
Six months after the end of the war, in October 1991, national elections were held in Turkey. The election was notable for the emergence of the Islamic party, Refah (Welfare), as a major electoral force for the first time. This caused enormous concern, both inside and outside the country. Ever since, Turkish domestic politics have dominated by the struggle between Islamic groups and the traditional secular parties. The latter, notably Dogru Yol Partisi (DYP, True Path), Anavatan Partisi (AP, Motherland) and Demokratik Sol Partisi (DSP, Democratic Left), had traditionally dominated the political scene but were also the subject of widespread disillusion among the electorate for their inertia, corruption and petty rivalries. Refah, by contrast, were notable for their relative probity and administrative competence. Furthermore, in the background was the National Security Council, the military-dominated body, which in reality is the final arbiter of Turkish politics.
Following the October 1991 poll, Suleyman Demirel, leading the DYP, formed a government in alliance with several small parties. Demirel took over the presidency, after the death of Turgut Özal, in June 1993. He was replaced by the former economy minister, Tansu Ciller, who became Turkey’s first female premier. Ciller led a minority government for the next two years. Following its collapse in December 1995, new elections returned Refah to the position of largest party. True Path and Motherland could have excluded by forming a coalition but this was thwarted by the intense personal animosity between the parties’ leaderships. Refah duly took office, although, far short of an overall majority, was steadily undermined over the following months, mainly through the efforts of the National Security Council.
Over the next four years, Turkey had six different governments, with all the major parties, including Refah, at the helm at one time or another. The year of 1999 opened with the collapse of this system and a debate among the generals as to whether to allow the scheduled April general election to go ahead. Under some international pressure, they did so and saw the Democratic Left Party, led by veteran Bulent Ecevit, returned to power. With the support of several small parties, Ecevit has been able to form a stable government.
The mood in most of Turkey at the time of the poll had been boosted by the capture, trial and sentencing of the leader of the Kurdish PKK, Abdullah Ocalan, following his expulsion from long-term exile in Syria. The government compounded its success when the PKK declared a ceasefire shortly afterwards. But it soon had more important things on its mind, when a series of earthquakes in the populous northwest of the country killed tens of thousands and wrought massive destruction. And the Kurdish issue has since re-emerged, with a bitter debate over the proposed construction of the Ilusu Dam on the Euphrates river in the Kurdish heartland of southeastern Turkey. If built as planned, the dam will destroy countless sites of unique historical value.
In May 2000, Suleyman Demirel’s presidential term of office came to an end. His replacement was a former constitutional court judge, Ahmet Necdet Sezer, who took office in May 2000. Elections for the national assembly were held once again, in November 2002. The overwhelming victor was the recently formed Adalet ve Kalkinma Partisi (AKP, Justice and Development Party), which holds to a moderate Islamic position and is led by Recep Erdogan. The party gained a substantial majority of seats in the National Assembly – just short of the two-thirds needed to effect constitutional changes. True Path, Motherland and the DSP did not win a single seat between them. Turley can now look forward to a period of stable, single-party government, although the AKP will be careful to limit its pursuit of Islamic policies to keep the National Security Council on its side. That said, the generals know that if they intervene overtly, Turkey’s EU aspirations will be set back once again.
Erdogan himself is barred from office because of a previous jail term – AKP deputy leader Abdullah Gul holds the premiership. Nevertheless, almost immediately, Erdogan opened talks with the EU about future Turkish membership. The main powerbrokers of the EU are split on the issue – France and Germany are against, while Britain, Italy and Spain are in favour. (The Americans are also strongly in favour of Turkish membership). The Turks have been told that formal accession negotiations can begin in late 2004 or early 2005, although the country will be subject to human rights ‘audit’, which it will need to pass, along with a settlement of the Cyprus problem and the usual economic criteria.
Government: Under the constitution of 1987, legislative power is vested in a single chamber, the 550-member National Assembly, which is directly elected by proportional representation for a five-year term. The National Assembly elects both a prime minister (normally head of the largest party in the assembly) and a president, who is head of state and serves a seven-year term, between whom executive powers are shared.
Copyright © 2003 Columbus Publishing Ltd.
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