Cappadocia, Pergamum, and Pontus), all of which had succumbed to Rome by the mid-1st century BCE.[17] In 324 CE, the Roman emperor Constantine I chose Byzantium to be the new capital of the Roman Empire, renaming it New Rome (later Constantinople and Istanbul). After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, it became the capital of the Byzantine Empire (Eastern Roman Empire).[18] Turks and the Ottoman Empire Main articles: Turkic migration, History of the Turkish people, Seljuk Empire, and Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire at the height of its power (ca. 1680) The Selimiye Mosque is one of the most famous architectural legacies of the Ottoman Empire The House of Seljuk was a branch of the Kinik Oguz Turks who in the 10th century resided on the periphery of the Muslim world, north of the Caspian and Aral Seas in the Yabghu Khaganate of the Oguz confederacy.[19] In the 11th century, the Seljuks started migrating from their ancestral homelands towards the eastern regions of Anatolia, which eventually became the new homeland of Oguz Turkic tribes following the Battle of Manzikert (Malazgirt) in 1071. The victory of the Seljuks gave rise to the Anatolian Seljuk Sultanate; which developed as a separate branch of the larger Seljuk Empire that covered parts of Central Asia, Iran, Anatolia and Southwest Asia.[20] In 1243, the Seljuk armies were defeated by the Mongols and the power of the empire slowly disintegrated. In its wake, one of the Turkish principalities governed by Osman I was to evolve over the next 200 years into the Ottoman Empire, expanding throughout Anatolia, the Balkans and the Levant.[21] In 1453, the city of Constantinople was conquered by the Ottoman armies of Mehmed II, marking the abolition of the Byzantine Empire. In the 16th and 17th centuries and particularly during the reign of Suleiman the Magnificent, the Ottoman Empire was among the world's most powerful political entities, controlling territories on three continents. It often at odds with the Holy Roman Empire in its steady advance towards Central Europe through the Balkans and the southern part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.[6] At sea the empire contended with the combined forces (Holy Leagues) of Habsburg Spain, the Republic of Venice and the Knights of St. John for the control of the Mediterranean basin. In the Indian Ocean it frequently confronted Portuguese fleets defending the empire's monopoly over the ancient maritime trade routes between East Asia and Western Europe, which had become increasingly compromised since the discovery of the Cape of Good Hope in 1488. After nearly a century of decline, the Ottoman Empire entered World War I on the side of the Central Powers and was ultimately defeated. Following the Armistice of Mudros on October 30, 1918, the victorious Allied Powers sought the dismemberment of the Ottoman state through the Treaty of Sèvres in 1920.[21] Republic era Main articles: History of the Republic of Turkey and Atatürk's reforms Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, founder and first President of the Republic of Turkey The occupation of Istanbul and Izmir by the Allies in the aftermath of World War I prompted the establishment of the Turkish national movement.[6] Under the leadership of Mustafa Kemal Pasha, a military commander who had distinguished himself during the Battle of Gallipoli, the Turkish War of Independence was waged with the aim of revoking the terms of the Treaty of Sèvres.[5] By September 18, 1922, the occupying armies were repelled, and the new Turkish state was established. On November 1, the newly founded parliament formally abolished the Sultanate, thus ending 623 years of Ottoman rule. The Treaty of Lausanne of July 24, 1923, led to the international recognition of the sovereignty of the newly formed "Republic of Turkey" as the successor state of the Ottoman Empire, and the republic was officially proclaimed on October 29, 1923, in the new capital of Ankara.[6] Mustafa Kemal became the republic's first President of Turkey and subsequently introduced many radical reforms with the aim of founding a new secular republic from the remnants of its Ottoman past.[6] According to the Law on Family Names, the Turkish parliament presented Mustafa Kemal with the honorific surname "Atatürk" (Father Turk) in 1934.[5] Turkey remained neutral during most of World War II but entered on the side of the Allies on February 23, 1945, as a ceremonial gesture and in 1945 became a charter member of the United Nations.[22] Difficulties faced by Greece after the war in quelling a communist rebellion, along with demands by the Soviet Union for military bases in the Turkish Straits, prompted the United States to declare the Truman Doctrine in 1947. The doctrine enunciated American intentions to guarantee the security of Turkey and Greece, and resulted in large-scale U.S. military and economic support.[23] After participating with the United Nations forces in the Korean conflict, Turkey joined NATO in 1952, becoming a bulwark against Soviet expansion into the Mediterranean. Following a decade of intercommunal violence on the island of Cyprus and the Greek military coup of July 1974, overthrowing President Makarios and installing Nikos Sampson as dictator, Turkey invaded the Republic of Cyprus in 1974. Nine years later the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) was established. Turkey is the only country to recognise the TRNC [24] Following the end of the single-party period in 1945, the multi-party period created tensions over the next decades, and the period between the 1960s and the 1980s was particularly marked by periods of political instability that resulted in a number of military coups d'états in 1960, 1971, 1980 and a military memorandum in 1997.[25] In the 1980s the Kurdistan Workers' Party began an insurgency which has claimed over 40,000 lives. [26] The liberalization of the Turkish economy that started in the 1980s changed the landscape of the country, with successive periods of high growth and crises punctuating the following decades.[27] Government and politics Main articles: Politics of Turkey, Constitution of Turkey, and Elections in Turkey The Grand Chamber of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey in Ankara Turkey is a parliamentary representative democracy. Since its foundation as a republic in 1923, Turkey has developed a strong tradition of secularism.[28] Turkey's constitution governs the legal framework of the country. It sets out the main principles of government and establishes Turkey as a unitary centralized state. The head of state is the President of the Republic and has a largely ceremonial role. The president is elected for a five-year term by direct elections. Abdullah Gül was elected as president on August 28, 2007, by a popular parliament round of votes, succeeding Ahmet Necdet Sezer.[29] Executive power is exercised by the Prime Minister and the Council of Ministers which make up the government, while the legislative power is vested in the unicameral parliament, the Grand National Assembly of Turkey. The judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature, and the Constitutional Court is charged with ruling on the conformity of laws and decrees with the constitution. The Council of State is the tribunal of last resort for administrative cases, and the High Court of Appeals for all others.[30] Recep Tayyip Erdogan has twice been elected Prime Minister since 2002, and his party won 47% of the votes in the 2007 general elections The prime minister is elected by the parliament through a vote of confidence in the government and is most often the head of the party having the most seats in parliament. The current prime minister is the former mayor of Istanbul, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, whose conservative AKP party won an absolute majority of parliamentary seats in the 2002 general elections, organized in the aftermath of the economic crisis of 2001, with 34% of the suffrage.[31] In the 2007 general elections, the AKP received 46.6% of the votes and could defend its majority in parliament.[32] Neither the prime minister nor the ministers have to be members of the parliament, but in most cases they are (one notable exception was Kemal Dervis, the minister of state in charge of the economy following the financial crisis of 2001;[33] he is currently the president of the United Nations Development Programme).[34] In 2007, a series of events regarding state secularism and the role of the judiciary in the legislature has occurred. These included the controversial presidential election of Abdullah Gül, who in the past had been involved with Islamist parties;[35] and the government's proposal to lift the headscarf ban in universities, which was annulled by the Constitutional Court, leading to a fine and a near ban of the ruling party.[36] Universal suffrage for both sexes has been applied throughout Turkey since 1933, and every Turkish citizen who has turned 18 years of age has the right to vote. As of 2004, there were 50 registered political parties in the country.[37] The Constitutional Court can strip the public financing of political parties that it deems anti-secular or separatist, or ban their existence altogether.[38][39] There are 550 members of parliament who are elected for a four-year term by a party-list proportional representation system from 85 electoral districts which represent the 81 administrative provinces of Turkey (Istanbul is divided into three electoral districts, whereas Ankara and Izmir are divided into two each because of their large populations). To avoid a hung parliament and its excessive political fragmentation, only parties winning at least 10% of the votes cast in a national parliamentary election gain the right to representation in the parliament.[37] As a result of this threshold, in the 2007 elections three parties formally entered the parliament (compared to two in 2002).[40][41] However, because of a system of alliances and independent candidatures, seven parties are currently represented in the parliament. Independent candidates may run; to be elected, however, they also must win at least 10% of the vote in their circonscription.[37] Foreign relations Main articles: Foreign relations of Turkey and Accession of Turkey to the European Union Turkey began full membership negotiations with the European Union in 2005 Turkey is a founding member of the OECD and the G-20 major economies Turkey is a founding member of the United Nations (1945), the OECD (1961), the OIC (1969), the OSCE (1973), the ECO (1985), the BSEC (1992) and the G-20 major economies (1999). On October 17, 2008, Turkey received the votes of 151 countries and was elected as a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, on behalf of the Western European and Others Group, together with Austria which received 132 votes.[42] Turkey's membership of the council effectively began on January 1, 2009.[42] Turkey had previously been a member of the U.N. Security Council in 1951–1952, 1954–1955 and 1961.[42] In line with its traditional Western orientation, relations with Europe have always been a central part of Turkish foreign policy. Turkey became a founding member of the Council of Europe in 1949, applied for associate membership of the EEC (predecessor of the European Union) in 1959 and became an associate member in 1963. After decades of political negotiations, Turkey applied for full membership of the EEC in 1987, became an associate member of the Western European Union in 1992, reached a Customs Union agreement with the EU in 1995 and has officially begun formal accession negotiations with the EU since October 3, 2005.[43] It is believed that the accession process will take at least 15 years because of Turkey's size and the depth of disagreements over certain issues.[44] These include disputes with EU member Republic of Cyprus over Turkey's 1974 military invasion. Since 1974, Turkey does not recognize the essentially Greek Cypriot Republic of Cyprus as the sole authority on the island, but instead supports the Turkish Cypriot community in the form of the de facto Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus which is recognized only by Turkey.[45] The other defining aspect of Turkey's foreign relations has been its ties with the United States. Based on the common threat posed by the Soviet Union, Turkey joined NATO in 1952, ensuring close bilateral relations with Washington throughout the Cold War. In the post-Cold War environment, Turkey's geostrategic importance shifted towards its proximity to the Middle East, the Caucasus and the Balkans. As well as hosting an important NATO air base near Syria and Iraq for U.S. operations in the region, Turkey's status as a secular democracy and its positive relations with Israel made Ankara a crucial ally for Washington. In return, Turkey has benefited from the United States' political, economic and diplomatic support, including in key issues such as the country's bid to join the European Union. In the 1980s, Turkey began to increasingly cooperate with the leading economies of East Asia, particularly with Japan and South Korea, on a large number of industrial sectors; ranging from the co-production of automotive and other transportation equipment, such as high-speed train sets, to electronical goods, home appliances, construction materials and military hardware. The independence of the Turkic states of the Soviet Union in 1991, with whom Turkey shares a common cultural and linguistic heritage, allowed Turkey to extend its economic and political relations deep into Central Asia.[46] The most salient of these relations saw the completion of a multi billion dollar oil and natural gas pipeline from Baku in Azerbaijan to the port of Ceyhan in Turkey. The Baku–Tbilisi–Ceyhan pipeline, as it is called, has formed part of Turkey's foreign policy strategy to become an energy conduit to the West. However, Turkey's border with Armenia, a state in the Caucasus, remains closed following its occupation of Azeri territory during the Nagorno-Karabakh War.[47] Military A KC-135R-CRAG Stratotanker of the Turkish Air Force refueling TAI-built F-16 fighter jets The Turkish Armed Forces consists of the Army, the Navy and the Air Force. The Gendarmerie and the Coast Guard operate as parts of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in peacetime, although they are subordinated to the Army and Navy Commands respectively in wartime, during which they have both internal law enforcement and military functions.[48] The Turkish Armed Forces is the second largest standing armed force in NATO, after the U.S. Armed Forces, with a combined strength of 1,043,550 uniformed personnel serving in its five branches.[49] Every fit male Turkish citizen otherwise not barred is required to serve in the military for a time period ranging from three weeks to fifteen months, dependent on education and job location.[50] Turkey does not recognise conscientious objection and does not offer a civilian alternative to military service.[51] Turkey is one of five NATO member states which are part of the nuclear sharing policy of the alliance, together with Belgium, Germany, Italy, and the Netherlands.[52] A total of 90 B61 nuclear bombs are hosted at the Incirlik Air Base, 40 of which are allocated for use by the Turkish Air Force.[53] MEKO 200 TN type frigates of the Turkish Navy in formation In 1998, Turkey announced a program of modernization worth US$160 billion over a twenty year period in various projects including tanks, fighter jets, helicopters, submarines, warships and assault rifles.[54] Turkey is a Level 3 contributor to the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) program.[55] Turkey has maintained forces in international missions under the United Nations and NATO since 1950, including peacekeeping missions in Somalia and former Yugoslavia, and support to coalition forces in the First Gulf War. Turkey maintains 36,000 troops in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus and has had troops deployed in Afghanistan as part of the U.S. stabilization force and the UN-authorized, NATO-commanded International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) since 2001.[49][56] In 2006, the Turkish parliament deployed a peacekeeping force of Navy patrol vessels and around 700 ground troops as part of an expanded United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) in the wake of the Israeli-Lebanon conflict.[57] The Chief of the General Staff is appointed by the president and is responsible to the prime minister. The Council of Ministers is responsible to the parliament for matters of national security and the adequate preparation of the armed forces to defend the country. However, the authority to declare war and to deploy the Turkish Armed Forces to foreign countries or to allow foreign armed forces to be stationed in Turkey rests solely with the parliament.[48] The actual commander of the armed forces is the Chief of the General Staff General Ilker Basbug since August 30, 2008.[58] Administrative divisions Main articles: List of regions of Turkey, Provinces of Turkey, Districts of Turkey, and List of cities in Turkey Ankara Kirklareli Edirne Tekirdag Çanakkale Balikesir Bursa Yalova Istanbul Kocaeli Sakarya Düzce Zonguldak Bolu Bilecik Eskisehir Kütahya Manisa Izmir Aydin Mugla Denizli Burdur Usak Afyon Isparta Antalya Konya Mersin Karaman Aksaray Kirsehir Kirikkale Çankiri Karabük Bartin Kastamonu Sinop Çorum Yozgat Nevsehir Nigde Adana Hatay Osmaniye K. Maras Kayseri Sivas Tokat Amasya Samsun Ordu Giresun Erzincan Malatya Gaziantep Kilis Sanliurfa Adiyaman Gümüshane Trabzon Rize Bayburt Erzurum Artvin Ardahan Kars Agri Igdir Tunceli Elâzig Diyarbakir Mardin Batman Siirt Sirnak Bitlis Bingöl Mus Van Hakkâri The capital city of Turkey is Ankara. The territory of Turkey is subdivided into 81 provinces for administrative purposes. The provinces are organized into 7 regions for census purposes; however, they do not represent an administrative structure. Each province is divided into districts, for a total of 923 districts. Provinces usually bear the same name as their provincial capitals, also called the central district; exceptions to this custom are the provinces of Hatay (capital: Antakya), Kocaeli (capital: Izmit) and Sakarya (capital: Adapazari). Provinces with the largest populations are Istanbul (+12.9 million), Ankara (+4.6 million), Izmir (+3.8 million), Bursa (+2.5 million) and Adana (+2.0 million). The biggest city and the pre-Republican capital Istanbul is the financial, economic and cultural heart of the country.[59] An estimated 75.5% of Turkey's population live in urban centers.[60] In all, 19 provinces have populations that exceed 1 million inhabitants, and 20 provinces have populations between 1 million and 500,000 inhabitants. Only two provinces have populations less than 100,000. Geography and climate Main articles: Geography of Turkey and Environmental issues in Turkey Bosphorus Bridge in Istanbul, connecting Europe (left) and Asia (right) Turkey is a transcontinental[61] Eurasian country. Asian Turkey (made up largely of Anatolia), which includes 97% of the country, is separated from European Turkey by the Bosphorus, the Sea of Marmara, and the Dardanelles (which together form a water link between the Black Sea and the Mediterranean Sea). European Turkey (eastern Thrace or Rumelia in the Balkan peninsula) comprises 3% of the country.[62] The territory of Turkey is more than 1,600 kilometres (1,000 mi) long and 800 km (500 mi) wide, with a roughly rectangular shape.[59] Turkey's area, including lakes, occupies 783,562[63] square kilometres (300,948 sq mi), of which 755,688 square kilometres (291,773 sq mi) are in Southwest Asia and 23,764 square kilometres (9,174 sq mi) in Europe.[59] Turkey is the wor