ABSTRACT
Turks want their country to be strong, successful, and respected in the world. They expect that its rapidly growing population and economic success will give it greater influence in world affairs in the twenty-first century. Political rhetoric and journalistic exaggeration aside, there are few Turks who would not admit that they are better off as individuals and as a nation in 1991 than they were in 1980. The great majority of Turks are Muslims in the same way that most Europeans and Americans are Christians. Their religion is an integral part of their culture and significant in an individual's life primarily as a framework for rites of passage. The Turkish Republic came into being as the result of military-led rebellion against a remnant Ottoman government and military resistance to foreign intervention in both the east and the west of the country.
