Turkey, an economic country in becoming between heritage and future

7 
INTRODUCTION 
Europe, the United States, the Arab countries, the BRICS, Japan, Russia. To which 
socio-political-economic framework will be the emerging Turkey belong? In fact, 
Turkey is a paradox: she is a more than a promising partner, but she is also a fierce 
commercial competitor, a country with still deep economic unbalances, a strong – 
but floating – political policy, a nest of strong contradictions and internal conflicts, 
an unsteady bridge between Islamism and western world.  
Geographically speaking, Turkey is situated between the European countries and the 
Arab countries. 
The new Republic of Turkey, putting an end to 623 years of Ottoman Empire, was 
established in 1923, following the Treaty of Lausanne, signed after the end of First 
World War. Thanks to its founder Mustafa Kemal, then later renamed Ataturk, 
Turkey went immediately through a transformation, which revolutionized the 
country from multiple points of view. 
The will of the new Government was mainly directed towards the westernization not 
only of customs and traditions, but especially of the political-economic aspects. 
Despite the resistance of those who were strongly attached to religious principles, as 
Turkey was an Islamic, Muslim country, it was possible to make changes that made 
the country closer to more advanced and industrialized countries. 
Tracing an historical overview, we see that from the early reforms implemented in 
the immediate years after the establishment of the republic until nowadays, Turkey 
has carried out a political development, which, at least officially and on the paper, 
can be called democratic. It was issued a new code of law, which revised the 
traditional Shari’a in a new European version and put info effects a single judicial 
system. 
In addition, the country was declared a laic country, the requirement for women to 
wear the veil was deleted, the Gregorian calendar, which replaced the Muslim 
calendar, was introduced, the abolition of polygamy had been sanctioned and both 
the civil marriage and civil divorce were introduced.
8 
At the economic level, particularly in the decades after the Second World War, 
Turkey realized reforms that made possible to place the country in the seventeenth 
position in the ranking of the most industrialized countries in the world, according to 
the estimate made by the International Monetary Fund. Referring to the available 
data, one of the leading sectors, on which many resources are focused and employed, 
is the tourism sector that in recent years has brought eighteen billion dollars into the 
fund of the state, and it has allowed the development of the industrial local crafts. 
Other sectors that led the economic development of the country were the industrial 
one and the transport sector. The first, thanks to the funding state and state 
investment, the establishment of development banks, the increase in exports and 
trade with foreign countries, made Turkey able to compete on foreign markets and to 
achieve some points of excellence. The second sector, the transport ones, helped the 
development of the Turkish economy because it made better and faster the 
movement of goods and people, mainly due to the extension and improvement of the 
railway network. It linked Turkey to neighbouring countries, with great benefits both 
from a touristic and from an economic point of view. 
One of the fundamental objectives carried on by the Turkish policy is joining the 
European Union. Many conditions were placed in accordance with the Copenhagen 
criteria required in 2002, and Turkey has implemented many reforms in order to 
achieve this goal, such  as the abolition of the death penalty and, even if only 
formally, the strengthening of press and expression freedom. Despite the progress 
and improvements added, there have been a lot of resistance from the European 
countries and from the international organizations to the accession of Turkey. 
Turkey, from many points of view, is not yet considered a fully democratic country, 
because of the constraints to the freedom of press and expression, but also, at the 
political level, of the limitations to the freedom of opposition, the possibility to form 
political parties and to have democratic elections. Human rights are not fully 
respected as advertised, as witnessed by the reports of Amnesty International and 
UNHCR that show that within the country occur arbitrary arrests against dissidents 
and against all those who express a different or contrary opinion to the government, 
as well as punitive actions that occur in the prisons. Another reason to deny the 
entrance of Turkey into the European Union is the fact that, being a populous nation,
9 
she would have too much weight in decision-making as the rule concerning the 
voting process, in force in the European Union is the proportional principle that 
brings the most populous nations to have a greater role in all decisions and respect to 
other members. In addition, as one of the pillars of the community is the freedom of 
movement of capital and people, it is feared a strong migration of Turks to European 
countries. Finally, it was feared a waste of resources for levelling Turkey with other 
European countries and therefore a strong financial investment and a review and 
redistribution of the fund intended for all EU members.  
In the last few years of the early twenty-first century, Turkey has slowed the effort 
and the will to join the European Union. The reasons are to detect and to discover. 
First, Turkey has identified opportunities for the economy no longer facing Europe, 
but her neighbouring countries. She has enhanced relations with the countries 
belonging to the Caucasus region by the conclusion of economic agreements that 
have allowed the expansion and consolidation of trade, exports and imports, creating 
a new international market. Turkey is therefore taking example from those countries, 
who are trying, in many cases successfully, to enter the international market as 
independent players: such as countries contained in the acronym BRICS, as Brazil, 
Russia, India, China and South Africa, but also emerging from the Asian Tigers and 
the oil countries.  
Politically, the crisis of the Arab Mediterranean countries, and the eruption of the 
religious conflicts, have certainly influenced the choice of Turkey to regard more to 
the Islamic world than to the western one. It remains still to identify where Turkey 
wants to arrive and what projects she wants to realize. Today Turkey is considered a 
fast developing country, a country that can compete with other world powers, a 
country that over the years and with the implementation of important reforms, both 
politically and economically, is consolidating her role in the international arena. The 
crucial point is to understand what further transformations, what further changes will 
be undertaken to improve her position, but it is interesting also to analyze what will 
be the political evolution of the geographical sector of Turkey, and which will be her 
final choice, either with the western world or with pursuing the objective of local 
supremacy. In the chosen alternative lies the future of Turkey, but also the political 
balance of the whole Middle East and of the Islamic world.
12 
GEOGRAPHY 
Turkey has a territorial extension of about 780 square kilometres that is almost 2.6 
times the size of Italy
1
. It extends both on the European continent and on the Asia 
one. The European side is the eastern sector that takes the name of Thrace or 
European Turkey and represents 3% of the total area, while in contrast to the Asian 
side, which is called Eastern Anatolia or Asia Minor, covers the remaining territory. 
The two areas are separated by the Dardanelles, the Sea of Marmara and the 
Bosporus that connects the Black Sea with the Sea of Marmara; also the Turkish 
coasts bordering the Aegean Sea to the West and the Mediterranean Sea to the South. 
Turkey is bordering Georgia and Armenia in the Northeast, Iran in the East, Syria 
and Iraq in the South and Greece and Bulgaria in the North-West.  
We can divide Turkey into three main climatic zones. The first one includes the coast 
of the Mediterranean and the Aegean Sea and the North-western coast. The climate is 
naturally Mediterranean with hot and dry summers and cold and damp winters. The 
second zone includes the coast of the Black Sea and it has an oceanic climate with 
hot and humid summers and cold and humid winters. Finally, the third zone concerns 
the interior and the mountain ranges, within Anatolia, with a continental climate with 
hot and dry summers, cold and snowy winters and low rainfall.  
On a more detailed analysis, the continent can be divided into seven climatic regions. 
The Marmara region includes eastern Thrace and the city of Istanbul. It is the second 
most humid region of the country, it has relatively moderate temperatures and it is a 
fertile rolling countryside. It “covers the area encircling the Sea of Marmara and 
includes the entire European part of Turkey and it has the highest population density 
of all the regions”
2
. The region of the Aegean has slightly warmer temperatures and 
a bit less rainfall. It is “well suited to agriculture”
3
. It has olive, fig and fruit orchards 
on hillsides, broad tobacco, and sunflowers field in the valleys. In this region is 
located “the country’s third largest city and a major manufacturing centre”
4
 as 
                                                             
1
 CIS ITALIA, Turchia, guida pratica alla porta per l’oriente – economia, fisco, legislazione, obbligo valutari, 
Franco Angeli 1997, Pag. 17. 
2
 Turkey country study guide, International Business Publications, USA Washington DC, USA-Turkey, 1999, 
Pag. 33. 
3
 Ibidem, Pag. 78. 
4
 Ibidem, Pag. 78.
13 
Izmir. The Mediterranean coast is a mountainous region, and it is very humid with 
high precipitation except in the summer. It has a long stretch of beaches between 
Fathiye and Antalya and it opens up into a fertile plain between Antalya and Analya. 
This region is intensively cultivated for growing citrus fruits, grapes, bananas, 
vegetables, rice and cotton. The major cotton-based textile industry is supported by 
the production of the Mediterranean area.  A tourist industry is developed thanks to 
the weather and to the beautiful places. The central Anatolia is the Turkish heartland 
with vast high plateau of ruling steppes broken by mountain ranges. “It is exactly in 
the middle of Turkey and gives the appearance of being less mountainous compared 
with the other regions”
5
. This region is hot, dry during the summer, chilly and damp 
often during the winter. The Black Sea coast is warmer like central Europe and it has 
two or three times the natural rainfall average and moderate temperatures. “This is a 
major tobacco-growing region”
6
, there are also citrus groves, the production of 
hazelnuts and tea plantations. All cultivable areas are used as pasture and commercial 
farming is profitable thank to the climate. The western part is a centre of coal mining 
and heavy industry. At the Easter end, the mountains come right down into the sea 
and the slopes are covered with tea plantations. The sixth region is the South-Easter 
Anatolia. It “is notable for the uniformity of its landscape”
7
. It is dry and hot in the 
summer and its average humidity at 52% is the lowest in Turkey
8
. It has ruling 
steppes with outcrops of rock. The last region is the Eastern Anatolia. It is cold 
except from June to September, it is a beautiful region with temperature variations 
between a hot 30 ° C and a daunting -43.2 ° C
9
.  
The most important and famous regions are Anatolia and Cappadocia. Anatolia land 
boundaries span several countries as Syria, Iraq, Iran, Georgia, Azerbaijan and 
Armenia. Nearly 80% of its territory is composed of Central Plateau, surrounded by 
mountains
10
. It is bounded on its Western part by the Aegean Sea. The coast is made 
up of lowlands much more fertile than the Central Plateau with ample rain and in 
which more than half of Turkey's crops are grown. Anatolia is bounded in the South 
                                                             
5
 Ibidem, Pag. 34. 
6
 Ibidem, Pag. 78. 
7
 Ibidem, Pag. 34. 
8
 Ibidem, Pag. 28. 
9
 Ibidem. Pag. 28. 
10
 MARTHA KNEIB, Primary source of world cultures Turkey – a primary source cultural guide, Pag. 12.
14 
partly by the Mediterranean Sea that is rich for growing crops and it produces a 
variety of citrus fruits as well as grapes. Finally, Anatolia is bounded in the North by 
the Black Sea in which many Turks make their living to commercial fishermen. 
Cappadocia is one of the most geographically interesting place of Turkey
11
. It is 
located in Anatolia and it was created naturally by the volcanic eruptions which left 
soft layers of volcanic rocks that have since eroded and created small mounds of rock 
knows as fairy chimneys. In Cappadocia, there are many underground cities that 
unfold into a series of tunnels, rooms and narrow channels created for the purpose of 
defence or for Christians who were hiding from persecution.  
In the end, we must mention two great rivers: the Tigris and the Euphrates. They are 
important because they were places of important battles and disputes during the 
ancient history but also because modern Turkey has engineered the rivers' power 
with sophisticated dams that provide electricity to several Turkish cities. 
After the birth of the Republic, Turkey was turning from agrarian society with little 
industry and high illiteracy rates to an urban and industrialized society with mass 
public education and respect of fundamental human rights. It was a consequence of 
socioeconomic changes applied by republican government and of the westernization 
of the country. New classes and interest groups, identified in political parties, grew 
up demanding political and social change in order to compete internationally. 
Anyway, Turkey is always divided in two different culture as a “secular, elitist 
culture that defines what is progressive and modern and a mass culture that 
continues to be influenced by Islam, whether in its traditional, mystical, modern or 
radical interpretations”
12
.  
Since the 1950s, there was a large-scale migration from the villages to the cities that 
resulted into a massive urbanization. The main reason of Turkish migration within 
the county was the research of job and the new opportunities to live a better life. In 
big towns like Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir, there are different kind of industries that 
are living with artisans and various categories of workers. There is the production of 
common goods and services, but also of the typical and traditional Turkish products 
                                                             
11
 Ibidem, Pag. 13. 
12
 Ibidem, Pag. 158.
15 
as carpet, jewellery, ceramic-pottery, mosaic, leather manufacturing. A tourist 
industry is very important and developed and it is the same along the coastal villages 
that attract tourist with its beautiful places. In the South and East part of Turkey, the 
situation is different because these areas are predominately agricultural and its are 
used for pasturage.   
“Historically the agricultural sector was the largest employer of Turkey”
13
 , but later 
declined in importance due to the rapid growth of industry and service sectors. The 
agriculture is developed along the coasts and it is backward in the internal areas. 
“Thanks to the geographical conditions and the favourable climate, Turkey is 
considered one of the world leaders with regard to food and agriculture”
14
. The 
modernization of the system “has favoured the agricultural more advanced sectors 
and stimulated the development of basic and mechanics industries”
15
. Since the 90's 
she has launched major restructuring efforts such as reforms of privatization and 
reduction of trade barriers to allow the full integration into the world economy. In 
addition, the intervention of the government permitted the improvement of irrigation, 
the possibility of price supports, input subsidies and import protection.  
“Turkey offers significant investment opportunities, especially in agriculture-related 
subsectors such as the processing of fruits and vegetables, animal feed, livestock, 
poultry, dairy products, aquaculture and development elements”
16
. On the south, she 
has developed the cultivation of cotton; on the temperate and Aegean side, instead, 
there are the Mediterranean crops such as orange, lemons and figs. On the forestland, 
the agriculture is focused on tobacco and tea, poppy and opium crops are typical 
products of interior highland. In Western Anatolia and Thrace are common  beet 
sugar and textile fibres, the fine wool, angora, is produced especially in the city of 
Bursa and the wool of sheep is used for the manufacture of carpets. Throughout the 
territory of Turkey carries out the production of grains such as rice, corn, oats and 
barley that has taken on great importance in the economy. 
                                                             
13
 IGEME, Esportazione Promozione Centro di Pubblicazione della Turchia. 
14
 www.invest.gov.tr. 
15
 www.voyagesphotosmanu.com. 
16
 Ibidem.
16 
“Turkey is the main producer of oriental tobacco in the world; tobacco is the article 
of agriculture that is a traditional export of the country”
17
. In addition, the 
production of nuts and dried fruits is considerable and dominates world markets. 
Breeding of cattle is practiced in western Anatolia and Thrace that allows 
considerable production of milk. “Agriculture and breeding are always high on the 
country's economic structure”
18
. The industry has developed in the western part of 
Istanbul, Izmir, Bursa and Izmir. Important industrial centres are the Aegean, in 
central Anatolia and Southeast. The most advanced industries are hydropower and 
thermic, mechanical engineering, glass, oil industry, but also textile industry with 
wool and cotton mills spread throughout the country. 
Since the Ottoman Empire there were “groups coming from different religions, sects 
and ancestry and speaking different languages. The military prowess of the state 
enabled it to impose strict control on these people having different ancestries, 
languages, religions and cultures – making it possible for them to live together. 
However, there was no policy of Turkification or Islamization”
19
.  
The population of Turkey amounts approximately to 74 million inhabitants
20
, whose 
concentration density is different depending on the region takes in consideration. The 
density is higher in urban centres with 70.5%
21
 especially in Istanbul and in coastal 
regions and lower in rural and eastern areas. The first census carried out in 1927 
noted 13.6 million inhabitants. Turkey is “the sixteenth country densely most 
populated in the world”
22
 of which most of the population consists of young people 
among which 40% are below to 15 years of age and 72% are below to the age of 
35
23
. In Turkey 90% of the population is made up of Turks, but there are several 
ethnic groups and minorities. The largest one is formed by Kurdish Muslims who are 
constantly increase due to the high birth rate. However, in the country there are also 
Armenians, Greeks and Jews. 
                                                             
17
 Ibidem. 
18
 www.turchia.net. 
19
 SUNA KILI, The Ataturk revolution, a paradigm of modernization, Turkiye is Bankasi Kultur Yayinlari, 2003, 
Pag. 52. 
20
 www.turchi.cc. 
21
 Ibidem. 
22
 Ibidem. 
23
 Ibidem.