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Turkey (country), officially the Republic of Turkey (Turkish Türkiye Cumhuriyeti), country in southeastern Europe and southwestern Asia, bordered on the northwest by Bulgaria and Greece; on the north by the Black Sea; on the northeast by Georgia and Armenia; on the east by Iran and the Azerbaijani exclave of Naxçıvan; on the south by Iraq, Syria, and the Mediterranean Sea; and on the west by the Aegean Sea. The total area of Turkey is 779,452 sq km (300,948 sq mi). The capital is Ankara; İstanbul is the largest city.

The modern Republic of Turkey was founded in 1923 by Mustafa Kemal (later Atatürk) from a portion of the Ottoman Empire, following the empire�s collapse as a result of World War I (1914-1918). Turkey became a secular state in 1928, and a multiparty political system was established in 1950. Apart from a brief period of government by a military junta in 1960 and 1961, Turkey remained under civilian rule until 1980, when, in a period of political instability, inflation, and acts of terrorism, the military again took control. Civilian rule was restored to Turkey at the end of 1983.

The main area of Turkey, known as Anatolia, is in Asia between the Mediterranean and Black seas. Turkish Thrace in Europe makes up about 3 percent of the country�s area. Turkey has relatively rich agricultural resources and important deposits of lignite, black coal, iron ore, and chromium; some petroleum is found in the southeast. With several active seismic zones within its boundaries, Turkey is subject to frequent earthquakes.

Turkey can be divided into seven geographic regions: Thrace and the borderlands of the Sea of Marmara; the Aegean and Mediterranean region; the Black Sea region; western Anatolia; the central Anatolian Plateau; the eastern highlands; and southeastern Anatolia.

Thrace and the borderlands of the Sea of Marmara contain a central plain of gently rolling hills. It is a fertile, well-watered area of which slightly more than one-quarter is farmed. The eastern portion of this region rises as high as 2,543 m (8,343 ft) atop Mount Ulu (Olympus). The coastlands of the Aegean and Mediterranean region are narrow and hilly, and only about one-fifth of the land is arable. To the east, much of Turkey�s cotton crop is grown in the Çukurova, a plain connected with the interior through the Taurus Mountains by a pass known since antiquity as the Cilician Gates (Gülek Boğazı).

The Anatolian coastlands of the Black Sea region rise directly from the water to the heights of the Kuzey Anadolu Daglari (Northern Anatolian Mountains). Slopes are steep, and only about 16 percent of this area is farmed. Western Anatolia consists of irregular ranges and interior valleys separating the Aegean coast from the central Anatolian Plateau; farming here is restricted to less than one-fifth of the total area. The central Anatolian Plateau, the largest geographic region in Turkey, is surrounded on all sides by mountains. The highest point is the summit of Mount Erciyes (3,916 m/12,848 ft). Twenty-eight percent of the region is cultivated.

The eastern highlands region is the most mountainous and rugged portion of Turkey; Mount Ararat (Ağrı Dağı), mentioned in the Bible as the place where Noah�s ark came to rest, is the highest peak at 5,137 m (16,854 ft). Less than 10 percent of this area is cultivated. The eastern highlands are the source for both the Tigris (Dicle) and Euphrates (Furāt) rivers. Southeastern Anatolia is a rolling plateau enclosed on the north, east, and west by mountains. With about 19 percent of its area farmed, southeastern Anatolia is part of the so-called Fertile Crescent and has been important since antiquity.

Almost all the rivers of Turkey contain rapids and are thus unsuitable for navigation. A number of rivers do not flow during the dry summer. Some rivers are, however, important sources of hydroelectric power and water for irrigation. The Kızılırmak (1,150 km/715 mi long), which empties into the Black Sea, is the longest river flowing entirely within national boundaries. The Büyükmenderes (ancient Meander) drains western Anatolia into the Aegean Sea; its many loops and bends have given rise to the term meander in English. The Tigris and Euphrates rivers flow from eastern Turkey to empty ultimately into the Persian Gulf.

Van Gölü (Lake Van) is Turkey�s largest lake; its waters are saline, as are those of another large body of water, Lake Tuz. Freshwater lakes include Beyşehir, Eğridir, and Burdur�all in the southwest.

The Mediterranean and Aegean shores of Turkey experience long, hot summers and mild, rainy winters. İstanbul, located on the Bosporus, has an average temperature range in January of 3� to 9�C (37� to 48�F). In July the average range is 19� to 28�C (65� to 83�F). Precipitation averages 700 mm (27 in) annually and is heaviest between October and March. Olives, citrus fruit, figs, grapes, cotton, and early spring vegetables are raised. Scattered forests alternate with low herbaceous growth. The central Anatolian Plateau has a continental climate with hot summers and colder winters than those along the shore. Ankara, located here, has an average temperature range of -3� to 4�C (26� to 39�F) in January and 15� to 30�C (60� to 86�F) in July. The average annual precipitation is 410 mm (16 in). Along the Mediterranean and Aegean coasts, more than one-third of the yearly precipitation, which is about 650 mm (about 26 in) at İzmir, falls in December and January. The plateau receives only about half as much precipitation, but it is more evenly distributed over the course of the year. Grasslands and grain fields are abundant on the plateau, with sparse forests restricted to higher slopes. The eastern highlands experience even longer and colder winters. Pastoralism and grazing prevail. Some sparse forests are found, and alpine vegetation is common at higher elevations.

Humid deciduous forests as well as a thick brush cover are found along the Black Sea, and the climate is mild and rainy. Southeastern Anatolia records the hottest summer temperatures in Turkey (averaging more than 30�C/86�F in July and August); grain farming is dominant here, with grazing in its drier portions. Higher elevations have forests similar to those in the eastern highlands.

Only wild boar, which are seldom hunted or killed by Muslims (the great majority of the population), remain abundant in the forests. Wolf, fox, wildcat, hyena, jackal, deer, bear, marten, and mountain goat inhabit more remote areas. The camel, water buffalo, and Angora goat have been domesticated. In addition to numerous local species of birds, including the wild goose, partridge, and quail, migrations of birds of prey�lesser spotted eagles, buzzards, hawks, kestrels, and falcons�pass down the Bosporus. Trout are abundant in the mountain streams, and bonito, mackerel, and bluefish are plentiful in the Turkish Straits. Anchovies are caught in the Black Sea.

In addition to good supplies of coal and iron ore, Turkey has a number of small but important mineral deposits, such as chromium near Guleman and Fethiye, high-grade magnetite at Divriği, and lead and zinc in scattered areas. Boron, copper, and silver are also found, and petroleum occurs in the southeast.

The territory of Turkey has been home to ethnically and culturally distinct groups from the ancient Hittites, Phrygians, and Assyrians to Greeks, Persians, Romans, and Arabs (see Asia Minor). The nomadic forebears of the modern Turks came out of Central Asia in the 11th century ad, conquered Arab and Byzantine empires, and set themselves up as rulers. Their arrival placed the distinctive stamp of Turkish language and culture on the population they found there, and it was the instrument by which Islam replaced Christianity in this territory. More than 20 percent of the population in the early 1990s, however, belonged to various ethnic groups that continue to maintain their individual identity, particularly the Kurds, Greeks, Arabs, Armenians, and Jews.

Turkey�s population is 67,308,928 (2002 estimate). The average population density is 85 persons per sq km (221 per sq mi). Some 75 percent of the people lived in urban areas in 2000, compared with about 21 percent in 1950. The highest population concentrations were in İstanbul and in coastal regions.

İstanbul is the largest city in Turkey, and Ankara is the capital. Other important cities are İzmir, Adana, and Bursa.

The official language of Turkey is Turkish (see Turkish Language). In addition, about 10 percent of the population speaks a different primary language, usually Kurdish or Arabic.

Islam ceased to be the official state religion of Turkey in 1928. Nevertheless, 99 percent of the population is Muslim�about four-fifths of whom are Sunnites, and the remainder mostly Shiites found in the southeast. Christians account for less than 0.2 percent of the population. The Jewish community numbers about 20,000.

A modern school system based on European models is bringing literacy to Turkey. The arts combine traditional Turkish themes with Western styles. Radio and television broadcasting has removed much of the isolation of rural areas.

At the birth of the republic more than 90 percent of the people were illiterate. Atatürk, the leader of the new republic, stressed the need for modern education, and the first constitution stated that primary education would be obligatory for all Turks and free in government schools. By 2001, 97 percent of the adult population could read and write. Primary education through the first five grades is compulsory. In the 1994-1995 school year 6.5 million pupils attended primary schools. However, only 63 percent of secondary school-aged children were enrolled in school.

In the mid-1990s 1.2 million students attended institutions of higher education. Entrance to Turkey�s universities is extremely competitive. Major institutions are the University of İstanbul (1453); the Aegean University (1955), at İzmir; and the University of Ankara (1946) and the Middle East Technical University (1956), at Ankara.

A transition from Islamic artistic traditions under the Ottoman Empire (see Islamic Art and Architecture) to a more secular, Western orientation has taken place in Turkey. Turkish painters today are striving to find their own art forms free from Western influence. Sculpture is less developed, and public-monuments are usually heroic representations of Atatürk and events from the war of independence. Folk music is a source of inspiration for longer symphonic works (see Arab Music).

Literature is considered the most advanced of contemporary Turkish arts. Many critics regard Kemal Tahir as the greatest modern Turkish novelist. Among authors translated into English is Yaşar Kemal, author of Memed, My Hawk (1955; translated 1961), a prizewinning novel of a modern Robin Hood, which won the author his international reputation. His other books include Anatolian Tales (1968) and Seagull (1981), a story that blends myth with realistic depiction of provincial life in modern Turkey.

Turkey maintains state operas in İstanbul and Ankara, the Academy of Fine Arts in İstanbul, three music conservatories, a national folk dance troupe, and other cultural institutions. Christian churches converted to mosques, and mosques built by the famous 16th-century Turkish architect Sinan, are in İstanbul, Edirne, Bursa, and other cities. The Sultan�s Palace (Topkapı Sarayı) is now a museum housing the imperial treasures and relics of the Prophet Muhammad. Ankara�s Museum of Anatolian Civilizations has outstanding Hittite, Phrygian, and other exhibits. Among the largest of Turkey�s many libraries are the National Library, in Ankara, and the Beyazit State Library, in İstanbul.

Turkey�s manufacturing sector has grown considerably since 1950, but in the early 1990s farming still engaged nearly half the labor force. The government has a great deal of influence over the Turkish economy and owns several important industries. In the mid-1990s the economy was beset by a growing budget deficit and an annual rate of inflation as high as 150 percent. In response, the government initiated austerity measures that included accelerating the pace of a privatization program and increasing the price of goods produced or sold by government enterprises.

Turkey�s gross domestic product (GDP) in 1999 was $185.7 billion. Some 24 percent of the GDP was contributed by industry, 16 percent by agriculture, and 60 percent by government and private services.

The domestic Turkish labor force included 30.6 million economically active persons in 1999. Of those, 43 percent were employed in agriculture, forestry, and fishing; 34 percent held jobs in service industries; and 22 percent worked in industry. In the early 1990s about 1.3 million Turkish citizens were employed abroad, especially in Germany, Saudi Arabia, and France; annual remittances from emigrant workers totaled about $3.1 million. The main labor organizations were the Confederation of Turkish Trade Unions, with about 1.7 million members, and the Confederation of Progressive Trade Unions of Turkey.

Since 1950, agricultural output in Turkey has increased through the use of more machinery and fertilizer and better plant varieties, and the country is one of few in the world that is self-sufficient in basic foods. The diversity of climates in Turkey allows many specialty crops to be grown, such as tea. In 2001 the production of Turkey�s principal crops included 25.6 million metric tons of cereals such as wheat, barley, rice, and maize; 22.1 million tons of vegetables and melons such as tomatoes, onions, eggplants, and cabbage; 5.5 million tons of root crops such as sugar beets and potatoes; 10.6 million tons of fruits such as grapes, apples, olives, citrus, and nuts; and 740,736 tons of oilseeds. Cotton and tobacco are leading export crops. Livestock on farms included 10.8 million cattle, 603,000 asses, 29.4 million sheep, 8.1 million goats, 170,000 buffalo, and 244 million poultry.

Although 13 percent of Turkey�s area is classified as forested, lumbering is relatively unimportant, with no more than one-third of the forests having commercial value. In 2000, 17.8 million cubic meters (627 million cubic feet) of timber was cut. Only about one-eighth was sawed into lumber; most of the rest was used as fuel.

The fish catch in 1997 was 500,260 metric tons; most of the fish came from the Mediterranean and Black seas. Anchovies were generally caught in the largest numbers; mackerel, sardines, mullet, and whiting were also caught.

Turkey maintains an important place in world mineral production. The country is among the world�s leaders in the production of chromium ore, extracting 1.7 million metric tons in 1996. Other mineral exports include boron concentrates (1.2 million metric tons) and copper (58,000). Fossil fuel extraction is used primarily to meet domestic demands; in 1999 Turkey produced 23 million barrels of petroleum, 850 million cubic meters (30 billion cubic feet) of natural gas, and 67.2 million metric tons of coal. Most of the coal was low-grade lignite, although some amounts of higher- grade coal were extracted. Other mineral products included bauxite, iron ore, manganese, antimony, lead, zinc, and sulfur. A special mineral produced is meerschaum, which is used to make tobacco pipes.

Turkey�s leading manufactured products in the early 1990s included textiles, processed food, refined petroleum and petroleum products, iron and steel, and chemicals. İstanbul, İzmir, and Bursa were important manufacturing centers.

In 1999 Turkey produced 111.5 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity. Thermal plants burning fossil fuels produced 69 percent of the electricity, and 31 percent came from hydroelectric facilities, including a large plant on the Euphrates River near Elâzığ. Turkey is in the process of building a massive hydroelectric project called the Southeast Anatolia Project, or GAP (the acronym for its Turkish name). The project, involving construction of 22 dams and 19 power plants along the Euphrates, is scheduled to be completed by 2005. The centerpiece of GAP, the Atatürk Dam, was completed in 1990.

The monetary unit of Turkey is the Turkish lira (TL), which is divided into 100 kurus (418,783 TL equal U.S.$1; 1999 average). The Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey, founded in 1930, is the bank of issue. The country also has many state banks concerned with economic development, such as the Agriculture Bank of the Republic of Turkey, founded in 1863, and several commercial banks. Turkey�s principal stock exchange is in İstanbul.

The cost of Turkey�s annual imports is usually much higher than earnings from exports; in 2000 imports totaled $53.5 billion and exports $26.6 billion. The principal exports were textiles, iron and steel, dried fruits, leather garments, tobacco, and petroleum products. Chief imports were machinery, crude petroleum, transportation vehicles, iron and steel, and chemical products. Considerable income is derived from tourism in Turkey; in 2000 some 9,587 million foreigners spent an estimated $7.6 billion in the country. Turkey�s chief trading partners for exports are Germany (accounting for one-quarter of all purchases), the United States, Russia, the United Kingdom, and Italy. Principal sources of imports are Germany, Italy, the United States, France, and the United Kingdom. Turkey is an associate member of the European Union (EU).

Turkey has 8,607 km (5,348 mi) of railroad track, all of which is operated by the Turkish Republic State Railways. The country also is served by 385,960 km (239,824 mi) of roads. In 1999 there were 63 passenger cars in use for every 1,000 residents. The leading ports of Turkey are İstanbul and İzmir; other important ports include Trabzon, Giresun, Samsun, and Zonguldak, on the Black Sea, and İskenderun and Mersin (İçel) in the south. The national airline, Turkish Airlines, provides domestic and foreign service; major international airports serve İstanbul, Ankara, Adana, Antalya, and İzmir.

Turkey had about 30 major daily newspapers in the early 1990s, in addition to many dailies with small circulations. Larger dailies include Bugün, Cumhuriyet, Hürriyet, Milliyet, Sabah, Yeni Günaydin, and Zaman�all published in İstanbul. The country is also served by many weekly and monthly publications. The government runs four national radio networks and five television channels; there are also many privately owned radio and television stations. In 1997 there were 178 licensed radio receivers and 330 licensed television sets in use for every 1,000 residents. Telephone lines numbered 265 per 1,000 people in 1999.

An attempt by the Allied powers and Greece to partition the country following World War I (1914-1918) precipitated the Turkish War of Independence, led by Atatürk. The Turkish Republic was proclaimed on October 29, 1923. Modernization efforts followed, such as abolishing the religious courts in 1924. Women gained the right to vote in 1934.

The multiparty era began in 1946, when the newly founded Democratic Party won 62 seats in parliament, joining the Republican People�s Party. In 1950, the Democratic Party won the national elections. Increasing interparty tensions created a crisis in which a military junta seized power and governed from 1960 to 1961. A new constitution was adopted in 1961, and general elections followed. No clear majority emerged, however, and a series of coalition governments were formed by various parties. Following a period of economic uncertainty and political violence in the 1970s, a second junta in 1980 established martial law and dissolved all political parties. A new constitution was ratified by popular referendum in November 1982, and civilian government was restored at the end of 1983.

Under the 1982 constitution, legislative power rests in the National Assembly, a 550-member unicameral body directly elected to five-year terms. The head of government is the prime minister, who represents the majority party or coalition in parliament. The president, as chief of state, is chosen by parliament for a seven-year term. All citizens over age 18 are entitled to vote.

Turkey is divided into 80 provinces which are administered by governors representing the central government. Municipalities elect their own mayors and councils.

Under the 1982 constitution, a constitutional court reviews the constitutionality of laws passed by parliament, and a court of cassation is the final court of appeal. There are many lower civilian and military courts.

All political parties were dissolved after the 1980 coup, and leaders of the Republican People�s Party (Turkish acronym, CHP) and the Justice Party (AP) were subsequently barred from taking part in national politics for at least ten years. In elections since the restoration of civilian rule, the Motherland Party (ANAP) won parliamentary majorities in both 1983 and 1987. The True Path Party (DYP) won the largest number of seats in the 1991 parliamentary elections. Other parties holding seats after the 1991 elections included the Social Democratic Populist Party (SHP), the Welfare Party (Refah), and the Democratic Left Party (DSP).

In September 1995 the DYP-led government collapsed, and early elections were called. For the next several years, Turkey was led by a series of unstable coalitions, marked by personal rivalries and fragmentation on both the left and right. In the December 1995 elections, the Welfare Party, an Islamic party, won a plurality with only 21 percent of the vote. The DYP and ANAP each received about 19 percent of the vote. Other parties that won seats in the 1995 elections were the CHP (reactivated in 1992), the Democratic Left Party (DSP), and the Grand Unity Party (BBP). The DYP and ANAP, longtime rivals, formed a coalition in March 1996 to block the Welfare Party from power, but this coalition collapsed in June. The DYP was then forced to form a coalition with the Welfare Party, which collapsed one year later. In June 1997 ANAP leader Mesut Yilmaz was appointed prime minister. He formed a new coalition government with the DSP and the Democratic Turkey Party (DTP), a new center-right party.

In January 1998 the constitutional court outlawed the Welfare Party on the grounds that it threatened the secular nature of the Turkish state. Former members of the party joined a newly formed Islamic party called Virtue, making it the largest party in parliament. In November the Yilmaz government fell, and former prime minister and DSP leader Bülent Ecevit formed an interim government. In April 1999 elections the DSP secured the most parliamentary seats, followed by the rightist Nationalist Action Party (MHP) and Virtue. No party won an outright majority. Ecevit, again excluding the Islamists, formed a coalition government consisting of the DSP, the MHP, and ANAP (which had placed fourth in the elections).

Health care in Turkey is financed by the government for many who cannot afford to pay. In 1998 Turkey had one physician for every 833 residents and one hospital bed for every 400 residents. Medical facilities and personnel were in short supply in rural areas.

In 2001 Turkey�s armed forces included 515,100 people. In the mid-1990s between 25,000 and 30,000 troops were deployed in the Turkish-controlled section of Cyprus. All male citizens between the ages of 20 and 32 are required to serve from 1 to 16 months in the armed forces.

Turkey is a member of the United Nations (UN) and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

For the history of what is now Turkey prior to Ottoman rule, see Asia Minor.

The first major civilization in Anatolia was that of the Hittites, about 1900 to 1200 bc, which originated in the central plateau. It was destroyed by invaders known as the Sea Peoples, who swept over Asia Minor and Syria at the beginning of the 12th century bc. The destruction of the western Anatolian city of Troy, an event celebrated in ancient Greek legends, probably occurred during these invasions.

One group of the Sea Peoples, the Phrygians, established a kingdom that became the dominant Anatolian power in the 9th and 8th centuries bc (see Phrygia). During this period the Greeks founded Miletus, Ephesus, and Priene and a number of other cities in Ionia, an area along the Aegean coast. About 700 bc the Phrygian kingdom was overrun and destroyed by the Cimmerians, a nomadic people who thereafter lived in western Asia Minor. In the 7th century bc the Lydians also appeared near the Aegean coast, where they founded a kingdom, the capital of which was Sardis. It was overthrown by the Persians under Cyrus the Great in 546 bc.

From the mid-6th century to 333 bc most of Asia Minor, including Anatolia, belonged to the Persian Empire, although the Greek cities frequently enjoyed a considerable degree of autonomy. In the 4th century bc Persian power declined, and after 333 bc it was supplanted by the Macedonian Empire of Alexander the Great. In the 2nd and 1st centuries bc, Asia Minor was gradually conquered by the Romans.

After the division of the Roman Empire in the 4th century ad, Asia Minor became part of the Eastern Roman, or Byzantine Empire, the capital of which was Constantinople (present-day İstanbul), or Byzantium, located on the European side of the Bosporus, just across from the west coast of Anatolia. During the 11th century Asia Minor was invaded by nomadic Seljuk Turks. In 1071 they routed the Byzantine army at the Battle of Manzikert; during the 12th century they ravaged much of eastern and central Anatolia. Although at this time the primary objective of the Seljuks was not to attack the Byzantines but to eliminate the threat of heterodox Shia Islam posed by the Fatimids of Egypt, some members of the Seljuk dynasty saw an opportunity to win a realm of their own. They established the sultanate of Rūm (with its capital at Konya), which ruled central Anatolia in the 12th and 13th centuries.

Most of the nomads who had made the initial Seljuk victories possible were soon pushed to the west of Anatolia, where frontier colonies were maintained against the last Byzantine defenses. Although the sultanate of Rūm imitated the Seljuk Empire of Baghdād, the presence within its boundaries of large numbers of Christians and its superimposition of Islam on top of a living Christian tradition produced a milieu considerably different from that of other Islamic states. It provided the basis for the unique Ottoman systems of government and society that began to emerge in the 14th century.

The Seljuks of Baghdād and Konya were soon overwhelmed by the invasion of the Mongols under Genghis Khan, culminating in the capture and sack of Baghdād in 1258. In Anatolia, the Turkish nomads used the resulting anarchy to form a series of principalities, nominally under the suzerainty of Rūm, which in turn was dominated by the Mongols. These principalities maintained themselves through their raids against one another and against the last Byzantine nobles, who held out in western Anatolia.

The Ottomans emerged in history as leaders of those Turks who fought the Byzantines in northwestern Anatolia. The location enabled Osman, founder of the Ottoman dynasty, to take the fullest advantage of Byzantine weakness and secure booty by raids into Christian territory. This situation lured into his service thousands of Turkish nomads and also many Arabs and Iranians fleeing from the Mongols. Osman�s conquests in Anatolia were crowned with the capture in 1326 of the provincial capital Bursa by his son Orhan, which gave the Ottomans control over the Byzantine administrative, financial, and military systems in the area. Thus began the Ottoman tradition to expand by force only at the expense of the declining Christian states to the west, but not against the Turkmen principalities to the east. The peaceful acquisition of Turkmen lands by purchase, marriage, and the sowing of dissension within the ruling dynasties was, however, acceptable, and the Ottomans thus took over large territories in western Anatolia.

Ottoman expansion into Europe began late in Orhan�s reign. Ottoman soldiers were hired as mercenaries by leading Byzantines, including John VI Cantacuzene, who was thus able to secure himself the Byzantine throne in 1347. In return, Ottoman soldiers were allowed to raid Byzantine territories in Thrace and Macedonia, and the emperor�s daughter was given to Orhan in marriage. The Ottoman raiders soon began to camp in the Gallipoli (Gelibolu) Peninsula and to mount continuous raids on the remaining Byzantine possessions in Europe.

The transformation of the Ottoman principality into a vast empire, covering southeastern Europe, Anatolia, and the Arab world, was accomplished in three major campaigns between the 14th and 16th centuries. The early Ottoman Empire, stretching from the Danube to the Euphrates, was created by Murad I and Bayazid I. Murad concentrated mainly on Europe in a series of campaigns that extended as far as the Danube, culminating in the Battle of Kosovo (1389), in which an allied Serbian, Bosnian, and Bulgarian army was routed. Murad himself was killed, but his son Bayazid completed the victory. During the next decade Bayazid broke with tradition and conquered most of the Anatolian Turkmen principalities, thus bringing the early empire to its peak.

This conquest, however, greatly weakened the basic supports of the Ottoman state. The Muslim elements and the Turkish notables, who had helped the Ottomans achieve their victories in Europe, opposed this subjugation of Turks and Muslims. They refused to participate in the campaign into Anatolia, which as a consequence was carried out largely by Christians in Bayazid�s service. At the same time, the emergence of the Ottomans as a major power in Anatolia threatened the rear flanks of Tamerlane, the Turkic conqueror who had recently taken over much of Iran and Central Asia. Tamerlane briefly invaded Anatolia in 1402, defeating and capturing Bayazid, who died a prisoner the following year.

Muhammad I, Bayazid�s youngest son, restored the Ottoman Empire by defeating and killing his brothers, one after another, and, from 1402 to 1413, by fighting off Christian and Turkmen vassals in Europe and Anatolia. His son, Murad II, reasserted Ottoman dominion in Europe as far as the Danube by defeating the various Christian princes of Serbia and Bulgaria and replacing them with direct Ottoman administration. This policy was continued during the reign of Muhammad II, who defeated the last remaining Christian princes south of the Danube. His conquests culminated in the capture of Constantinople (present-day İstanbul) in 1453 and the subjugation of Anatolia as far as the Euphrates. Bayazid II ended the policy of conquests in order to consolidate the lands that had been occupied during previous reigns. Unlike him, Selim I used the territorial and administrative base of power left to him to defeat and destroy the Mamluk Empire in 1517 and to conquer Syria, Palestine, Egypt, and Arabia, which he achieved in a single campaign, thus incorporating into the Ottoman Empire the heartland of the old Islamic caliphates. Suleiman I the Magnificent completed the Ottoman expansion by moving across the Danube to conquer Hungary and besiege Vienna in 1529. In the east he conquered the remainder of Anatolia and the old Abbasid and Seljuk center in Iraq.

The Ottoman Empire reached its peak during the reign of Suleiman the Magnificent, and the social, administrative, and governmental institutions that had been evolving since the 14th century were formalized in a series of codes that remained the basis of Ottoman law until the end of the empire. As revealed in these codes, the society was divided into a ruling class of Ottomans and a subject class of rayas, or the sultan�s �protected flock.�

The basic attribute of the ruler�s authority was the right to exploit the wealth of the empire. The sultan divided this wealth into administrative and financial units and assigned them to his agents, along with the authority to collect the accruing revenues. These agents were considered �slaves� of the sultan, but because slaves in Middle Eastern society acquired the social status of their master, they actually constituted the ruling class of Ottoman society. Their authority, however, was limited to functions involved with exploiting the empire�s wealth and with expanding and defending the state organized to accomplish this. To carry out these functions, the ruling class organized itself into four basic �institutions�: the Imperial Institution, including the Inner, or Palace, Service, which cared for the sultans, and the Outer Service, which made sure that the system worked; the Military Institution, which kept order through various military corps, of which the most important were the Janissaries and the cavalry; the Scribal Institution, which supported the sultan and his ruling class by assessing and collecting taxes that exploited the wealth of the empire; and the Religious, or Cultural, Institution, which gave religious leadership to the sultan�s Muslim subjects and was in charge of education and justice. The ruling class was made up of two rival elements: (1) Muslim Turks, Arabs, and Iranians, who together constituted the Turkish aristocracy that dominated the Ottoman system during the 14th and 15th centuries, and (2) Christian prisoners and slaves, recruited, converted, and educated through the famous devshirme system. Beginning in the mid-16th century, the latter group took over and dominated the ruling class.

All other social functions were left to the subject class to carry out as they wished, primarily through religiously oriented communities called millets, and through economic and social guilds. The Jewish, Greek Orthodox, Armenian Gregorian, and Muslim millets, later joined by Roman Catholic, Protestant, and Bulgarian Orthodox millets, were allowed religious and cultural autonomy.

The decline of the Ottoman Empire began late in the reign of Suleiman I and continued until the end of World War I in 1918. Official reaction to this decline came in phases�that of Traditional Reform (1566-1807), when efforts were made to restore the old institutions, and that of Modern Reform (1807-1918), when the old ways were abandoned and new ones, imported from the West, were adopted.

Until the mid-16th century the sultans had controlled and used both the old Turkish aristocracy and the devshirme Christian converts and their descendants by carefully balancing and playing them off against each other. During Suleiman�s reign, however, the devshirme achieved control, drove the Turkish aristocracy out of the ruling class, and then began to exploit the state for their own advantage. At the same time, the empire began to suffer from overpopulation, resulting from the peace and security that had been established. A high birth rate eventually resulted in both urban and rural unemployment, due to the limited availability of land and to highly restrictive economic policies enforced by the urban guilds. Without jobs, the oppressed masses formed robber bands that infested town and country alike. With incompetent, dishonest, and inefficient government by the ruling class, lands fell out of cultivation, the empire suffered from endemic famine and disease, and entire districts�sometimes entire provinces�fell under the control of provincial notables. The subject class suffered a good deal but was protected from the worst effects of the anarchy by the millets and guilds, which formed a substratum of society, taking over the functions of government when needed. At the same time, Europe was developing nation-states that were far more powerful than those that had faced the Ottoman Empire in earlier centuries.

Ottoman reaction to the decline was tempered for several reasons: First, Europe was so involved in its own affairs that for at least a century it was unaware of the Ottoman situation and made no effort to take advantage of it. Second, most members of the ruling class benefited from the chaos, for it enabled them to retain huge profits for themselves. Finally, the Ottomans in their isolation were unaware of the changes that had made Europe far more powerful than before. They assumed that the Islamic world was still more advanced than Christian Europe. Under these conditions, the ruling class saw no need for change or reform.

After a time, however, Europe began to realize the extent of internal Ottoman decay and to take advantage of it. In 1571 the Holy League fleet, led by John of Austria, moved into the eastern Mediterranean and destroyed the Ottoman fleet in the Battle of Lepanto. The victory was counteracted by the building of an entirely new fleet, and the Ottomans resumed their naval control in the Mediterranean for another half century. Nonetheless, the impression began to spread in Europe that the Ottomans were not invincible. War with Austria followed (1593-1606), leading the sultan to recognize the Holy Roman emperor as an equal and to give up his insistence on annual Austrian payments of tribute�a fact that further opened Europe�s eyes to Ottoman decline.

Only when powerful foreign attacks threatened the empire, on which its privileges and wealth depended, did the ruling class accept some sort of reform. In 1623, Shah Abbas I of Iran conquered Baghdād and eastern Iraq and stirred up a series of Turkmen revolts in eastern Anatolia. In response, Sultan Murad IV restored honesty and efficiency to the ruling class and the army. By ruthlessly executing thousands found guilty of violating Islamic law and tradition, he began the so-called Traditional Reforms. The reforms were successful enough for the Ottoman army to drive the Iranians out of Iraq and to conquer the Caucasus in 1638. Murad�s successor, however, allowed the previous decay to resume. A war with Venice, which culminated in a Venetian naval attack on the Dardanelles, then led to the rise of the Köprülü dynasty of grand viziers, which once again restored the old institutions with the same methods used by Murad VI. Eradication of the decay and restoration of Ottoman power stimulated the last Köprülü grand vizier, Kara Mustafa Pasha, to make a new attempt to conquer Vienna in 1683. After a short siege, however, the Ottoman army completely fell apart, making it possible for a new European Holy League to conquer integral parts of the empire. The losses of Hungary and Transylvania to Austria; Dalmatia, the Pelopónnisos (Peloponnesus), and important Aegean islands to Venice; Podolia and the southern Ukraine to Poland; and Azov and the lands north of the Black Sea to Russia were confirmed in the Treaty of Karlowitz (1699).

Even at this time, however, the Ottoman Empire had enough internal strength to pull itself together, correct the worse abuses, and, by adopting modern European weapons and tactics, even regain some of its losses. In 1711 the Ottomans defeated a campaign mounted by Tsar Peter the Great, forcing him to return the territories lost at Karlowitz, but a war with Venice and Austria (1714-1717) led to the loss of Belgrade and northern Serbia. This stimulated a new reform era called the Tulip Period (1715-1730), in which the Ottoman army was reorganized and modernized in order to spare the empire further losses. This effort was continued during the reign (1730-1754) of Mahmud I, when the French artillery officer Claude de Bonneval, called Humbaracı Ahmed Pasha, created a new European-style artillery corps. As a result, in the war that broke out with Russia and Austria (1736-1739), the Ottomans were able to regain most of their previous losses in northern Serbia and the northern shores of the Black Sea. A period of peace with Europe followed, largely because of European involvement in other wars; this lull, however, once again convinced the ruling class that the danger was past, and the old abuses and decay soon returned. Consequently, in two disastrous wars between 1768 and 1792 (see Russo-Turkish Wars), the Ottoman army crumbled, major new territorial losses were suffered, and the empire itself seemed near total collapse.

During the 19th century, the continuous danger of foreign conquest was aggravated by the rise of nationalism. One after another, the non-Turkish peoples of the empire sought and obtained independence. Greece was the first country to do so, gaining autonomy in 1829 and independence in 1830. This was followed by revolts of the Serbs, Bulgars, and Albanians, as well as of the Armenians of eastern Anatolia. Ottoman survival was due less to the empire�s own strength than to European disagreement over how to divide the spoils�a part of history often referred to as the Eastern Question.

The Ottoman ruling class responded to these crises with a concentrated effort at reform; it replaced the old ways with new ones imported from the West in a reform movement (1839-1876) known as the Tanzimat (Turkish for �reorganization�). Planned and begun under Mahmud II, and culminating in the highly autocratic reign (1876-1909) of Abd al-Hamid II, the Tanzimat modernized the Ottoman Empire by extending the scope of government into all aspects of life, overshadowing the autonomous millets and guilds that previously had monopolized most governmental functions. A modern administration and army were created along Western lines, with highly centralized bureaucracies. Secular systems of education and justice were created to provide personnel for the new administration. Large-scale programs of public works modernized the physical structure of the empire, with new cities, roads, railroads, and telegraph lines. New agricultural methods also contributed to Ottoman revitalization. Another response was the suppression of minorities. This policy resulted in the deaths of hundreds of thousands of ethnic Armenians between 1894 and 1923. (The Turkish government disputes that the Ottoman policy toward the Armenians was genocidal, arguing that most of the Armenian deaths resulted from armed conflict, disease, and famine during the chaos of World War I.)

Severe economic, financial, political, and diplomatic problems emerged, however, to undermine the Tanzimat reforms. The newly industrialized European states preferred to keep the Ottoman Empire as a source of cheap raw materials and a market for their manufactured goods. Using the Capitulations�treaties by which, since the 16th century, the sultans had allowed Europeans to live and work in the empire according to their own laws and under their own consuls�the Europeans were able to prevent the Ottomans from restricting foreign imports and thus kept them from protecting their own nascent industries. Because the Ottomans depended largely on foreign industrialists for capital and know-how, the Europeans could also undermine and destroy what industrial efforts were made. The empire borrowed so heavily from European banks that by the last years of the Tanzimat, more than half of its total revenues were consumed by interest charges. Moreover, the new and modern bureaucracy soon began to use its authority to misrule the subjects.

A group of intellectuals and liberals known as the Young Ottomans for a Constitution then began to demand a limit to the power of the ruling class and the bureaucracy and a parliament to enforce the rights of the people. Severely suppressed by the Tanzimat leaders, the Young Ottomans fled abroad, publishing their demands in books and pamphlets that were sent into the empire through the foreign post offices, which, protected by the Capitulations, were free of Ottoman government control. At the same time, the newly independent Balkan states began large-scale agitation to gain control of Macedonia, where the population was almost evenly divided between Muslims and Christians. In Greece, Serbia, and Bulgaria, societies were organized that sought to enforce their claims by terrorist campaigns, severely straining the ability of the Ottoman state to keep order. Finally, the deaths of the principal Tanzimat leaders about 1870 left the autocratic structure of government they had created in the hands of dishonest politicians, who resumed the corruption and misrule that had prompted the Tanzimat in the first place.

At this point a new international crisis, threats of a war with Russia and Austria, and the constitutionalist aspirations of a group of reformers led to the overthrow of Sultan Abd al-Aziz. After a very short reign, Murad V was succeeded by Sultan Abd al-Hamid II. He promulgated a constitution and accepted a representative parliament, which convened in 1877, but was soon suspended because of war with Russia. In cooperation with Britain, Abd al-Hamid managed to solve the international crisis at the Congress of Berlin (1878). He then moved to restore the Tanzimat reforms, which by the end of the century had created a relatively modern and prosperous state. In the face of continued European dangers, however, Abd al-Hamid suspended the parliament and installed a highly autocratic government in 1878. Governmental power was taken from the bureaucracy and centered in the palace, and all opposition was suppressed. Abd al-Hamid restored financial stability and advanced the economy, but the political repression ultimately led to the rise of a new liberal opposition movement, the Young Turks, who forced him to restore the constitution and parliament in what is known as the Young Turk Revolution (1908). The success of the new constitutional regime was immediately undermined, however, by a series of disasters: Austria annexed Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria annexed East Rumelia, and terrorism in Macedonia and eastern Anatolia resumed with renewed fury.

Abd al-Hamid and those around him in the palace blamed these disasters on the new constitutional regime and attempted a counterrevolution in April 1909. Parliament was dissolved and many members arrested, but the army in Macedonia, dominated by Young Turks, marched back to İstanbul, defeated the counterrevolution, and dethroned the sultan. Subsequent Ottoman sultans reigned but did not rule.

The early years of the Young Turk era (1908-1918) were the most democratic period of Ottoman history. The constitution and parliament were restored, and parties were formed to contest for leadership. The strongest among them was the Union and Progress party, founded and supported by the Young Turks, but many others also flourished.

The Young Turk reforms, which reached all areas of life, culminated in the secularization of the Muslim schools and courts and the introduction of women�s rights during World War I (1914-1918). The modern state apparatus of the Tanzimat was democratized, industry and agriculture were developed, and modern budgetary techniques were introduced. However, the First Balkan War (see Balkan Wars) in 1912 led to a revolt within the Committee of Union and Progress and an attempt to take over the government by a triumvirate led by Enver Pasha. The triumvirate�s domination was assured when it took advantage of dissension among the victorious Balkan states to regain Edirne (Adrianople) in the Second Balkan War in 1913.

At first, the triumvirate tried to avoid involvement in World War I, but German offers to help regain lost provinces, British confiscation of Turkish warships being constructed in England, and manipulation by Enver Pasha led to an alliance with the Central Powers and Turkish entry into the war in 1914. The Turkish armed forces performed well during the Gallipoli campaign and drove back and captured an entire British expeditionary force at Al Kūt in Iraq. A campaign across the Sinai Peninsula with the aim of capturing the Suez Canal and Egypt was unsuccessful, however, and led to the British organization of an Arab revolt in the Arabian Peninsula. With Arab help, a British force from Egypt then invaded Syria and had reached southern Anatolia by the time the war ended. A campaign led by Enver Pasha into the Caucasus at the start of the war was defeated less by the Russians than by poor organization and revolts in the eastern provinces. Thereafter the Russians invaded eastern and central Anatolia at will in 1915 and 1916, until their campaign was brought to an end in 1917 by the Russian Revolution. The destructive effects of these foreign invasions were compounded by internal revolts, famine, starvation, and disease. Some 6 million people of all religions, one-quarter of the entire population, died or were killed, and the economy was devastated.

In the wake of surrender, the Turkish government was placed under the authority of the Allied occupation powers led by the British. The Paris Peace Conference prepared to impose a settlement by which not only the Balkan and Arab provinces would be ceded, but areas occupied by predominantly Turkish populations in eastern and southern Anatolia would be placed under foreign or minority control. A large Greek army captured İzmir in 1922 and invaded southwestern Anatolia, but massacres of the Turkish population led the Allies to withdraw their support from the Greeks. In reaction to the proposed peace settlement and to the Greek invasion, the Turkish nationalist movement rose in Anatolia under the leadership of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. During the Turkish War of Independence (1918-1923), Atatürk successfully resisted the Allied terms; drove out the Greeks and the British, French, and Italian occupation forces; and imposed a settlement, embodied in the Treaty of Lausanne (1923), by which the Turkish areas of eastern Thrace and Anatolia were left to form their own state. Following this victory, a Turkish republic was proclaimed, with its capital in Ankara, and the İstanbul government of the sultan simply ceased to exist in 1923.

Led by Atatürk during its first 15 years, the Turkish republic was founded on six basic principles incorporated into the constitution: republicanism (based on the premise that sovereignty belongs to the people); Turkish nationalism (emphasizing the glories of the Turkish past and the need for the Turks to build their own state according to modern principles and without foreign intervention); populism (the idea that the people ruled through the Grand National Assembly, with all economic and social interests represented); secularism (dictating complete separation between the Muslim religious establishment and the state); statism (meaning state intervention in major sectors of the economy and its control of the rest, so as to assure rapid economic development); and revolutionism (dictating that all these changes be instituted at once and in full so that Turkish society could develop as rapidly as possible). The Atatürk years were ones of substantial economic progress and general development. Turkey avoided tendencies toward revenge, joining in close diplomatic relations with its former Balkan territories and at the same time emphasizing its secularist policy by avoiding alliances with its Muslim neighbors to the east.

Atatürk was succeeded as president by his close associate İsmet İnönü, who continued his internal policies. Remembering the terrible experience of World War I, İnönü kept Turkey neutral during almost all of World War II; not until February 1945 did Turkey declare war on Germany and Japan. Following the war, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) attempted to include Turkey within its sphere of influence, demanding control of Turkey�s eastern provinces and the straits. In response, Turkey accepted large-scale aid offered by U.S. President Harry S. Truman and entered a close military and economic alliance with the United States; in 1952 it became a full member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). Along with this new association with the democratic West, İnönü democratized the regime and allowed the introduction of opposition parties. This led to the triumph in 1950 of the Democratic Party (Turkish acronym, DP), advocating more private and individual enterprise than had been permitted by the statist policies of Atatürk�s Republican People�s Party (CHP), which now went into opposition.

Led by President Celâl Bayar, along with Prime Minister Adnan Menderes and Foreign Minister Fuat Köprülü, the DP controlled the Turkish government from 1950 to 1960. The Turkish economy expanded rapidly during this time as a result of the new economic liberalism and the large-scale foreign assistance, principally from the United States, that followed Turkey�s entry into the Western alliance. Ultimately, however, too rapid economic growth and poor management led to severe economic and social strains and increasing political discontent voiced by the CHP, which the Democrats began to repress. In 1960 an army coup finally overthrew the government, hanged Menderes and a few associates on charges of corruption the next year, and installed a new constitution based on modern economic and social principles, with provisions to prevent the kind of repression the Democrats had inflicted.

After the second constitution was adopted in 1961, Turkey was governed by a series of ever weaker governments. The rapid economic development of the 1950s, combined with liberal legislation freeing workers and others to unite, engendered a series of organizations that assumed power and authority formerly held by the government, the legislature, and the political parties. At the same time, an increasingly active leftist movement spawned violent extremist groups, which engaged in terrorist acts to achieve their ends. These in turn led to the formation of right-wing terrorist bands, leaving the country polarized and both sides fomenting violence. The labor organizations that sprang up after 1950 coalesced into two major labor confederations, Turkish Labor (Turk IŞ), representing the rightist and more moderate groups, and the Confederation of Progressive Trade Unions, incorporating the Communist and other leftist groups. By the mid-1960s the influence of these organizations spread to all areas of Turkish life.

Political affairs also were polarized in two major parties, the CHP, which under the leadership of Bülent Ecevit tended to incorporate social-democratic ideas, and the Justice Party (AP), led by Süleyman Demirel, which more or less represented the old Atatürk traditions. Several minor Communist and Socialist parties represented the various extremes of the left, whereas the National Action Party (MHP) spoke for Turkish nationalists and the National Salvation Party (MSP) advocated a return to an Islam-oriented state. Both of these parties favored active social and economic programs, making it difficult to classify them as right wing in the ordinary sense of the term. The proportional representation provisions of the 1961 constitution made it difficult for any party to gain the majority needed to enact effective legislation. Action, therefore, was taken to the streets.

Through all the governmental chaos of this era, Turkey remained faithful to its alliance with the West, providing military bases for NATO and U.S. forces facing the USSR. This alliance was subjected to considerable strain in 1974, when Turkey occupied the northern part of Cyprus in response to a Greek-engineered coup on the island. The United States subsequently suspended military and economic aid, and Turkey responded by temporarily closing all U.S. bases in the country. Turkish troops remained in northern Cyprus, and Turkey continued to support a separate Turkish Cypriot government, defying the United States and the United Nations (UN).

The Congress of the United States ultimately resumed its assistance, leading the Turks to reopen the bases, but the incident left them suspicious of the U.S. presence, a situation encouraged and amplified by the vocal leftist groups and abetted by Communist propaganda. Islamic groups also began to oppose the U.S. presence, preferring that Turkey abandon its secularist traditions in foreign affairs and draw closer to the Muslim Arab countries that were benefiting from their newfound oil wealth and the resulting political power.

The government (1979-1980) of Süleyman Demirel chose to retain Turkey�s close alliance with the West in the hope of developing the private sector of the economy with foreign assistance. The CHP reacted by advocating socialist control of the basic means of production and the establishment of new alliances with developing nations and the Communist bloc. Extremists on both the left and the right turned to political assassinations and other forms of violent acts. On September 12, 1980, the army took over the government and suspended the constitution. The new rulers imposed martial law, banned political activity, restricted the press, and jailed thousands of suspected terrorists.

The military governed through the National Security Council; the council�s head, General Kenan Evren, was chief of state, and Admiral Bülent Ulusu became prime minister. A major step toward civilian rule was taken in 1982, when a new constitution was enacted, under which Evren became president of the republic. Parliamentary elections in November 1983 resulted in an upset victory for the conservative Motherland Party (the military had favored a more right-wing group), and party leader Turgut Özal became prime minister. In 1989 Özal was chosen as Turkey�s first civilian head of state since 1960, and Yildirim Akbulut replaced him as prime minister. Mesut Yilmaz replaced Akbulat in June 1991. In elections in October, Yilmaz�s Motherland Party fell to second place behind Süleyman Demirel�s True Path Party, and Demirel became prime minister.

In 1993 Özal died and Demirel replaced him as the country�s president. Economics Minister Tansu Çiller replaced Demirel as leader of the True Path Party (Turkish acronym, DYP) and became the country�s first female prime minister. Turkey�s economy suffered because of government deficits, a weak currency, and continued economic losses incurred by the UN trade embargo of Iraq. In April 1994 Çiller announced an economic austerity package, including price and tax increases and privatization of state assets, in an attempt to boost Turkey�s faltering economy.

In December 1995 parliamentary elections, the Welfare Party (Refah), an Islamic party led by Necmettin Erbakan, received the most votes in the elections but not enough to rule alone. Çiller�s DYP and Turkey�s other main secular parties refused to form a coalition government with the Welfare Party. In March 1996 Çiller and Mesut Yilmaz of the Motherland Party (ANAP) formed a coalition government in which Yilmaz would serve as prime minister until 1997, when Çiller would take over. The DYP withdrew from the coalition in June, after ANAP sanctioned an investigation of Çiller�s handling of government contracts. At the same time, parliament voted to hold a no-confidence vote to oust the coalition government, prompting Yilmaz to announce his voluntary resignation. The DYP was forced to form a coalition government with the Welfare Party, with Erbakan and Çiller alternating one-year terms as prime minister. Erbakan was declared prime minister at the end of June, making him the first Islamist leader of Turkey since the country was founded in 1923.

During the coalition�s first year, Çiller suffered from a series of financial scandals, while Erbakan�s attempts to adopt Islamic policies in Turkey were heavily criticized, especially by the Turkish military, traditional defenders of Atatürk�s secular state. Erbakan resigned in June 1997 under intense pressure from top military leaders, and President Demirel designated Yilmaz prime minister.

Yilmaz formed a coalition government consisting of ANAP, a social democratic party called the Democratic Left Party (DSP), and a center-right party called the Democratic Turkey Party (DTP). In January 1998 the Turkish constitutional court outlawed the Welfare Party on the grounds that it threatened the secular nature of the Turkish state. Erbakan and several others were barred from politics for five years. Most other former members of the Welfare Party regrouped to form Virtue, another Islamic-oriented party, which retained Welfare�s position as the largest party in parliament.

In December 1997 the European Union (EU) denied Turkey�s application for full membership due to factors such as Turkey�s continued military presence in northern Cyprus, the conflict between the government and the Kurdish population, and the country�s questionable record on human rights. (Turkey had applied for full membership to the European Community, the EU�s predecessor, in 1987.) Meanwhile Turkey�s crackdown on Islam continued, as more than 200 mayors and other officials with ties to Virtue underwent investigation by the constitutional court.

In November 1998 a parliamentary vote of no confidence toppled the government of Yilmaz, who was implicated in a corruption scandal. Former prime minister and DSP leader Bülent Ecevit formed an interim government, which remained in power until national elections were held in April 1999. The DSP won the election, but strong showings by the rightist Nationalist Action Party (MHP) and Virtue made another coalition government inevitable. The following month Ecevit announced the formation of a coalition comprising the DSP, its former rival the MHP, and ANAP.

In August 1999 a powerful earthquake centered near the northwestern city of İzmit struck Turkey, killing at least 15,000 people, injuring more than 30,000, and leaving tens of thousands more missing and presumed dead. Government-led relief efforts were slow to get underway, prompting criticism of the government. Many Turks also criticized building contractors, whom they blamed for using shoddy construction materials and practices that contributed to the collapse of many buildings.

In May 2000 parliament elected Ahmet Necdet Sezer, the chief justice of the constitutional court, to the post of president. Observers described Sezer as a staunch advocate of democratic rights.

The Kurds, a seminomadic people who have inhabited a region including parts of present-day Iran, Iraq, and Turkey since the 2400s bc, were promised an independent state as part of the 1920 Treaty of Sèvres between Turkey and the World War I Allies. That part of the treaty was never ratified, however. For several decades, the Turkish government discouraged Kurdish nationalism and culture, leading to a wave of uprisings. In 1984 separatist forces among the Turkish Kurds began intensive raids in southeastern Turkey against the Turkish government. These forces were led by the Kurdistān Workers' Party (PKK), a Marxist group considered a terrorist organization by the Turkish government.

After Iraq invaded Kuwait in 1990, Turkey supported the international effort to oust Iraq from Kuwait, although no Turkish troops fought in the ensuing Persian Gulf War (1991). After the war, in the wake of an unsuccessful uprising by Iraqi Kurds, hundreds of thousands of Kurdish refugees crossed the border into Turkey. Many were kept near the border under the watch of troops from countries that defeated Iraq in the war. In 1992 fighting escalated between Turkey and the PKK. In the mid-1990s, as Kurdish forces continued their attacks on locations such as coastal resorts and points in central İstanbul, the government responded with added troops and air attacks on suspected Kurdish strongholds. Meanwhile, thousands of Turkish Kurds sought refuge in the border region of northern Iraq, which had come under the control of the two main Iraqi Kurdish groups and was being monitored by the allied forces that fought in the Persian Gulf War.

In 1995, 35,000 Turkish troops moved across the border into northern Iraq in an effort to prevent PKK rebels from mounting cross-border raids into Turkey. The troops took control of the 290-km (180-mi) border and moved about 40 km (about 20 mi) inside Iraq to surround several Turkish Kurdish guerrilla strongholds in the region. Turkish officials claimed they would only withdraw from the region upon the creation of a security border zone. However, Turkey withdrew its troops six weeks later. Turkey made periodic cross-border raids in the years that followed.

In February 1999 Turkish military units, assisted by U.S. intelligence agencies, captured PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan in Nairobi, Kenya. Öcalan was imprisoned on a Turkish island and was tried on charges of treason. In June 1999 he was convicted and sentenced to death by hanging. In the months following the arrest, terrorist bombings believed to have been conducted by the PKK in retaliation for Öcalan�s capture occurred in several Turkish cities. By mid-1999 the conflict between the PKK and the Turkish government had left at least 30,000 people dead or homeless.