ABSTRACT

Turkey has been a constitutional republic since 1923; it became a multi-party political system in 1946. It is ruled by a parliamentary democracy, where the government is accountable to the parliament, which elects the president. Turkey is one of the world’s 20 largest economies. Its GDP reached US$400 billion and GDP per capita US$5500 in 2006. Following a recovery from a serious economic crisis in 2001, Turkey has succeeded in reducing monetary poverty, from about 28 per cent of the population in 2003 to about 18 per cent in 2006. Less than 0.01 per cent of the population live on US$1/day. However, some social indicators continue to lag behind those of countries with similar incomes.