Long-form name: Republic of Turkey

Type: republican parliamentary democracy

Capital: Ankara

Administrative divisions: 73 provinces (iller, singular--il); Adana, Adiyaman, Afyon, Agri, Aksaray, Amasya, Ankara, Antalya, Artvin, Aydin, Balikesir, Batman, Bayburt, Bilecik, Bingol, Bitlis, Bolu, Burdur, Bursa, Canakkale, Cankiri, Corum, Denizli, Diyarbakir, Edirne, Elazig, Erzincan, Erzurum, Eskisehir, Gaziantep, Giresun, Gumushane, Hakkari, Hatay, Icel, Isparta, Istanbul, Izmir, Kahraman Maras, Karaman, Kars, Kastamonu, Kayseri, Kirikkale, Kirklareli, Kirsehir, Kocaeli, Konya, Kutahya, Malatya, Manisa, Mardin, Mugla, Mus, Nevsehir, Nigde, Ordu, Rize, Sakarya, Samsun, Siirt, Sinop, Sirnak, Sivas, Tekirdag, Tokat, Trabzon, Tunceli, Urfa, Usak, Van, Yozgat, Zonguldak

Independence: 29 October 1923 (successor state to the Ottoman Empire)

Constitution: 7 November 1982

Legal system: derived from various continental legal systems; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations

National holiday: Anniversary of the Declaration of the Republic, 29 October (1923)

Executive branch: president, Presidential Council, prime minister, deputy prime minister, Cabinet

Legislative branch: unicameral Grand National Assembly (Buyuk Millet Meclisi)

Judicial branch: Court of Cassation

Leaders: Chief of State--President Turgut OZAL (since 9 November 1989); Head of Government--Prime Minister Mesut YILMAZ (since 30 June 1991); Deputy Prime Minister Ekrem PAKDAMIRLI (since 30 June 1991)

Political parties and leaders: Motherland Party (ANAP), Mesut YILMAZ; Social Democratic People's Party (SHP), Erdal INONU; Correct Way Party (DYP), Suleyman DEMIREL; People's Labor Party (HEP), Fehmi ISIKLAR; Socialist Unity Party (SBP), leader NA; Democratic Center Party (DMP), Bedrettin DALAN; Great Anatolia Party (BAP), leader NA; Democratic Left Party (DSP), Bulent ECEVIT; Refah Party (RP), Necmettin ERBAKAN; Democratic Center Party (DSP), Bedrettin DALAN; Grand National Party (GNP), leader NA

Suffrage: universal at age 21

Elections: Grand National Assembly--last held 29 November 1987 (next to be held November 1992); results--ANAP 36%, SHP 25%, DYP 19%, other 20%; seats--(450 total) ANAP 275, SHP 82, DYP 60, HEP 9, SBP 4, DMP 2, BAP 1, independent 6, vacant 11

Communists: strength and support negligible

Member of: AsDB, BIS, CCC, CE, CERN (observer), COCOM, CSCE, EBRD, ECE, FAO, GATT, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, IDA, IDB, IEA, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO, ITU, LORCS, NATO, NEA, OECD, OIC, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNIIMOG, UNRWA, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO

Diplomatic representation: Ambassador Nuzhet KANDEMIR; Chancery at 1606 23rd Street NW, Washington DC 20008; telephone (202) 387-3200; there are Turkish Consulates General in Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, and New York; US--Ambassador Morton ABRAMOWITZ; Embassy at 110 Ataturk Boulevard, Ankara (mailing address is APO New York 09257-0006); telephone [90] (4) 126 54 70; there are US Consulates General in Istanbul and Izmir, and a Consulate in Adana

Flag: red with a vertical white crescent (the closed portion is toward the hoist side) and white five-pointed star centered just outside the crescent opening

NOTE: The information regarding Turkey on this page is re-published from the 1991 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Turkey Government 1991 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Turkey Government 1991 should be addressed to the CIA.