The country `Turkey`

The successor state to the Ottoman Empire , founded by Mustafa Kemal Atat 'rk on 29 October 1923 is now known as Turkey . Turkey is predominantly mountainous . The lowlands are mostly confined to coastal areas around the Black Sea , the Aegean and the Mediterranean . Turkey makes the b between Europe and Asia - though its European part is quite small . Most of Turkey lies in Asia : the Anatolian peninsula is bed to the north-east by Georgia and Armenia , to the east by Iran and to the south by Iraq and Syria (Turkey Pro , 389 ) The

Asian part , Anatolia , has at its heart the central Anatolian plateau , which is encircled by mountains . Western Anatolia consists of long mountainous ridges and deep valley floors , though the highest mountains are in the east . The smaller European part of the country , known as Thrace , is bed to the west by Greece and Bulgaria . Anatolia and Thrace are separated by the Sea of Marmara , which links the Black Sea and the Aegean Sea . Turkey 's coastline is extensive : the Black Sea to the north the Mediterranean Sea to the south , and the Aegean Sea to the west

The Kemalist revolution that so radically transformed Turkey in the 1920s from an Islamic empire into a secular republic led Turkey toward the modern West culturally , economically , and politically . Atat 'rk reform introduced the Latin script , bowler hats , ballroom dancing , and secular government (Mason , 46 ) But as , Alon Liel points out while Turkey was becoming a secular state , its population never shrugged off its religious beliefs and heritage (1 ) After the death of revolutionary leader Mustafa Kemal Atat 'rk in 1938 , the Turks showed a marked determination to preserve their Islamic identity and develop good relations with neighboring Muslim nations while retaining the heritage of their revered leader

The majority of the population are Turkish and almost all are Sunni Muslim . Over recent decades Turkey has been industrializing rapidly and more than two-thirds of the population live in cities . But by the standards of other industrial countries , levels of human development are low . In 2001 , adult literacy , for example , was only 86 , and significantly lower for women (Mango , 68 ) And outside the cities health services are poor . Until recently , many Turks were emigrating to the EU , particularly to Germany . The exodus has more or less ceased , but there are still some two million Turks in the EU . However , there is also an inflow : around 2 .5 million foreigners are living in Turkey , of whom one million are unauthorized

Within Turkey , there is also a significant minority of Kurds - one-fifth of the population . The Kurds are one of the world 's largest ethnic groups without a state of their own , though eastern Anatolia , where most Turkish Kurds live , together with neighboring regions of Iran and Iraq is referred to as Kurdistan . The government of Turkey has long tried to repress Kurdish nationalism and from 1984 to 1999 fought the guerrillas of the Kurdish Workers ' Party in a war that cost more...