Final Country Report Turkey, International Business Relations

Turkey

I. INTRODUCTION

Turkey has become a very fast developing country over the past decades. What used to be country guided by the strict Islamic law, is now developing into a modern country, which is connecting the Western Economies with the Eastern economies. It is predicted that that country will be the second fastest growing economy by 2018, and will outshine other developed nations. Turkey’s young and well-educated population is trying to change the outlook the country has and is moving the country into a strong economic nation with the ultimate goal of becoming part of the European Union.

II. OVERVIEW OF THE COUNTRY

Modern Turkey was founded in 1923. In 1950, Turkey transferred into a democratic state; however, the democracy has been interrupted by military coups in 1960, 1971, and 1980. In 1984, the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) rebelled and caught the military’s attention, which claimed over 30,000 lives. In 1999 most insurgents withdrew out of Turkey and moved mainly to northern Iraq. Today, Turkey is a republican parliamentary democracy. The country joined the United Nations in 1945, has been a member of the NATO since 1952, and became an associate member of the European Community. Since 2005 Turkey has been trying to join the European Union as well (CIA, n.d.).

Turkey is located in southeastern Europe and southwestern Asia, also known as the Middle East. The country borders the Black Sea, Aegean Sea and the Mediterranean Sea. The nation’s capital is Ankara, however the biggest city is Istanbul with a little over 10 million residents. The official language is Turkish, but Kurdish and English are known and accepted in almost all regions. In July 2013 it was estimated that Turkey had a population of 80,694,485. Where 99.8% of the population is Muslim; most of them consider themselves as Sunnis. “Certain obligations for Muslims are to pray five times a day - at dawn, noon, afternoon, sunset, and evening. The exact time is listed in the local...