Turkish Politics essays

Turkish Politics essays Turkey is an important state in the world, placed 16th according to her population among 185 countries, 32nd according to expanse of territory and 16th as regards economic strength. Turkey also occupies an important geo-political and geo-strategic position in the Middle East and the Caspian Basin, which has the greatest oil reserves in the world; the Mediterranean Basin; the Black Sea Basin and the Turkish Straits, which have always maintained their importance in history; and in the Balkans, which have undergone considerable changes following the disintegration of the Soviet Union (USSR) and Yugoslavia. Turkey is situated very near the Caucasus and Central Asia, and located at the crossroads to three continents. Turkish history can be characterized a struggle between the forces of absolutism and reform. In 1914, the country became embroiled in World War I on the side of Germany. After Turkey ended the war on the losing side, most of the remaining Ottoman possessions came under British and French control with the support of the newly-formed League of Nations (forerunner of the United Nations). Defeated and discredited, the Ottoman dynasty was overthrown in 1923 by a revolutionary movement led by Mustafa Kemal - better known as Ataturk - who established a single-party republic and laid the foundations of modern Turkey. The Treaty of Svres (1920), which liquidated the Ottoman Empire, provided for the creation of an autonomous Kurdish state. Because of Turkey's military revival under Kemal Atatrk, however, the Treaty of Lausanne (1923), which superseded Svres, failed to mention the creation of a Kurdish nation. Revolts by the Kurds of Turkey in 1925 and 1930 were forcibly quelled. Later (193738) aerial bombardment, poison gas, and artillery shelling of Kurdish strongholds by the government resulted in the slaughter of many thousands of Turkey's Kurds. The Kurds in Iran also rebelled during the 1920s, and a...