Turkey

Home of Team Turkey (Maddy; Samantha; Emerald)

PROFILE OF __Turkey__ For the nation your group is assigned, you need to research and develop a profile. Your profile should have, **//at a minimum//**, the following information:

GEOGRAPHY


 * //Area://** Europe, part of the great alpine


 * //Cities://** Istanbul, Ankara


 * //Terrain://** plateaus, mountain ranges, hills


 * //Climate://** The climate in Turkey varies because of all of the different regions, for instance, the Anatolian Plateau has weather extremes whereas the coastal regions have normal seasonal changes.

PEOPLE


 * //Population (date of census being used)://** 71,892,808 (July 2008 est.)

**//Ethnic Groups: Turks, Kurds, Arabs, Peoples from the Caucasus, Dönme, Greeks, Armenians, Jews//**


 * //Language(s)://** Arabic, Persian, and Turkish


 * //Religion(s): Islam, Secularists, Non-Muslim minorities//**


 * //Education: The five basic stages of education are//** preschool, primary school, middle school, high school, and university and the overall adult literacy rate is about 86.5 percent


 * //Health: Medical facilities are focused around cities and larger towns, leaving rural areas without easy access. All health care and social welfare activities are the//** **//responsibility of the Ministry of Health.//**


 * //Work Force (occupations)://** agriculture: 29.5%, industry: 24.7%, services: 45.8%; unemployed: 14.5%

FEATURES OF GOVERNMENT


 * // T ype://** Republican parliamentary democracy


 * //Constitution: Yes, The Constitution of Turkey was drafted in 1982 during the period of military rule.//** **Ratifies Turkey as a Republic, by popular referendum**


 * //Executive Power:// Loose separation from the Legislative power, in the form of a president**


 * //Legislative Power:// Loose separation from the Executive power, Parliament represents the people**


 * //Judicial Power:// Very strict separation from the Legislative and Executive Branches**

STRENTHS AND WEAKNESSES OF THE GOVERNMENT The government has been criticized for limiting cultural liberties, and has limitations on a citizens freedom to criticize the government
 * //Citizen Participation://**

SIGNIFICANT POLITICAL HISTORY NOTES · Russia declared war on the Ottoman Empire on November 5 1914, and Britain and France the next day. o Russia left the war after the Bolshevik revolution in 1917 o The British accumulated a new offensive in 1917, taking Baghdad and driving Ottoman forces out of Mesopotamia. o Death Count: § 325,000 men § 2 million civilians · In 1971, AP members decided to make Turkey a right-wing democratic nation. · In 1977, the Demirel government ruled out a "grand coalition." · After Turkey's 1991 parliamentary elections, political power passed peacefully from the Motherland Party to its major rival, the True Path Party -the ottoman empire lasted from 1299 to 1923.

** WHITE PAPER (Final Report) ** 1. First part should be a review of the basic function of a constitution in a democracy, including the essential characteristics of limited vs. unlimited governments a. The basic function of a constitution is to draw a line and outline where the power lies. b. A limited government is a government where it can only do what its people allow and an unlimited government is a government that does whatever it wants without consent of the people it governs. 2. Final recommendation for Xlandia's government with at least the following addressed: a. What type of system would your constitution establish? What is your reasoning (include what makes this better than the other options)? i. Our constitution would establish a democratic republic because we want more power to rest in the people’s hands because all Xlandia has known is unlimited government. That hasn’t been working, so with the voice of it’s citizens, this country can outline what the government should and should not take care of. b. How would you protect the rights of minorities and individuals? i. The legislature must be able to change the constitution with good and unprejudiced reason. This allows civilian rights the opportunity to be changed regardless of the individual biases of the members of the legislative branch. c. What would be the relationship between the military and the civilian leadership? i. The military is supposed to protect civilian leadership and d. The Executive Branch i. Appoints supreme court ii. Proposes laws and carries them out iii. The executive branch is the main branch of the democratic republic so it has the rights of the people in mind the purpose of this branch is to create a law system and appoint judges that make sure the laws are being followed e. The Legislative Branch i. Makes major political decisions ii. One legislative section iii. Elected by popular vote iv. Rewrites laws v. Can purge laws deemed unconstitutional vi. Makes sure the executive branch doesn’t violate the constitution vii. Makes sure minority and individual rights aren’t jeopardized viii. f. The Judicial Branch i. Votes laws as unconstitutional ii. Votes presidential decisions as unconstitutional iii. Makes sure laws are followed iv. The judicial branch basically makes sure the other two branches follow the constitution. It makes sure that the laws are being followed by the people and it doesn't scrutinize their righ g. Citizen Participation - who gets the right to vote? What would your voting requirements be? i. All citizens can get the right the vote. All you need to do is register, much like the US constitution. we chose this because we saw that with governments that required its citizens to vote, the votes were random and weren't very thought out. We feel that with voluntary voting, we would have a government that would please more of the population. 3. What is needed to keep a democracy strong? Which ones are present in Xlandia? Which ones are not? a. To keep a democracy strong we need to have a strong middle class, a relatively classless educa tion system, an understanding of democratic principles, a growing economy, support from other nations, a free press and professional military. Xlandia currently does not have these traits, but with our suggestions, they can have them all.