Turkey (Turkish Republic)

Turkey (Turkish Republic)

 

A state located simultaneously in Asia and in Europe. The Asian and European parts of the country are separated by the Sea of ​​Marmara and the Bosphorus and Dardanelles straits. Territory - 779.4 thousand sq. km, of which in Europe - 23.7 thousand square meters. km. Population - 44 million (1979), mainly Turks, as well as Kurds, Lazes, Arabs, etc. The capital is Ankara (2 million inhabitants). The state language is Turkish. The dominant religion is Islam (Sunni persuasion). The national liberation movement of the Turkish people (1918-23) led to the formation of the first bourgeois republic in the Near and Middle East (proclaimed on 29 October 1923). The first president of the republic was an outstanding statesman and military leader Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, who advocated the country's national independence and the development of friendly, good-neighborly relations with the USSR . Under his leadership, a number of progressive bourgeois-democratic reforms were carried out in Turkey. After the death of Ataturk (1938), Turkey began to deviate from his foreign policy course. In 1952, it joined NATO, in 1955, in CENTO, in 1959 entered into an agreement with the United States on military cooperation, which gave the Americans the right to have military bases on Turkish territory. In 1975, Turkey, in response to the US arms embargo imposed by the US after the Turkish invasion of Cyprus, closed US military bases. By exerting political and economic pressure on Turkey, lifting the arms embargo and providing it with a free subsidy of $ 50 million, the United States achieved the resumption of its bases on Turkish territory in September 1978. After the US lost its positions in Iran as a result of the overthrow of the Shah's regime, Washington, using Turkey's economic difficulties, increased its pressure on it. The domestic situation in recent years has been complex and volatile. This is due to the growing socio-economic difficulties caused primarily by Turkey's long-term orientation towards the West and participation in NATO. These include stagnation in industry and agriculture, continuous growth in unemployment, a sharp deterioration in the monetary and financial situation (by 1980, Turkey's external debt exceeded $ 18 billion), runaway inflation and rising prices for food and basic necessities. In these conditions, class contradictions in the country sharply intensified. The speeches of the working people and the progressive public for the democratic path of development and the country's withdrawal from NATO received wide scope. At the same time, neo-fascist and Maoist groups unleashed acts of violence and terror. The inability of the leading bourgeois parties to resolve the socio-economic problems facing the country determines the frequent change in its leadership. The main struggle for power is waged between the two largest parties - the Justice Party (big business and landowners) and the Republican People's Party (commercial and industrial capital and the middle strata of the population). Since the end of 1979, a government headed by the leader of the Justice Party has been in power. On 12 September 1980, the authorities took over the leadership of the armed forces. The government and parliament were dissolved in the country, and the activities of political parties and public organizations were banned. According to the military administration, its power is temporary and is designed to stabilize the internal political situation in the country. Soviet-Turkish relations have been developing since the early 70s. In 1972, the Declaration on the Principles of Good Neighborly Relations between the USSR and Turkey was signed , the main objectives of which are fully consistent with the Final Act of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe. In March 1977, a Soviet-Turkish agreement on scientific, technical and economic cooperation was concluded. Of great importance for the further strengthening and development of mutually beneficial Soviet-Turkish relations is the signing in June 1978 of the Political Document on the principles of good-neighborly and friendly cooperation between the USSR and the Republic of Turkey. Turkey is a bourgeois republic. Under the 1961 constitution, legislative power is vested in the Grand National Assembly, which consists of the National Chamber and the Republican Senate. Executive power belongs to the president, who is the head of state. As a result of the military coup on 12-IX 1980, power in the country is exercised by the National Security Council, headed by gene. K. Evren. The Justice Party (PS) - created in 1961, represents the interests of large trade and industry. the bourgeoisie, bank capital, the kulaks and landowners. General Chairman - S. Demirel. The Republican People's Party (CHP) was founded in 1923. It expresses the interests of the commercial and industrial national bourgeoisie, officials, and the intelligentsia. Since November 1978 he has been a member of the Socialist International. The General Chairman is B. Ecevit. The National Welfare Party (PNB) - founded in 1972, relies on the commercial and industrial bourgeoisie and small producers, is of a clerical nature. The Nationalist Movement Party (PNM) - founded in 1969, is an extreme right-wing petty bourgeois party. The left-wing forces are represented by several parties. The Workers 'Party of Turkey (RPT) was founded in 1961, was banned in 1971, and was re-established in May 1975 on the initiative of the general chairman of the RPT B. Boran and the leadership of the Confederation of Revolutionary Workers' Trade Unions. The Socialist Workers' Party of Turkey (SRPT) - was established in 1974. The programs of both parties are similar: the struggle for democratization of the country's internal political life, nationalization of natural resources and the most important sectors of the economy, The Communist Party of Turkey (KPT) was founded in 1920, from 1923 on an illegal basis. The CPT is leading the struggle of the working people against imperialism, the comprador bourgeoisie and large landowners, for the unification of all progressive, patriotic forces in the national. democratic front. General Secretary of the Central Committee of the CPT - I. Bilen. The largest trade union associations: The Confederation of Workers 'Trade Unions of Turkey (Turk-Ish) - part of the ICFTU, the Confederation of Revolutionary Workers' Trade Unions (DISK). GNP in 1978 increased by 3%. The share of industry in VTTP was 23.7%, agriculture - 23.3%. There are two sectors in the economy - public and private. The public sector owns the largest industrial sectors. enterprises, mines, mines, power plants. In 1978, mined (million tons): coal - 4.3, brown - 12.6, oil - 2.6, iron ore - 3.4; smelted (in million g): pig iron - 1.9, steel - 2.1; produced 22.1 billion kWh of electricity, 1295 million m h.-b. fabrics. The annual production of car assembly plants is 7.1 thousand trucks and 7.6 thousand cars. Agriculture employs about 60% of the self-employed population. Agrarian relations are characterized by large landlord and kulak landownership and small peasant land use. More than 60% of all cultivated land is concentrated in the hands of landlords and kulaks. The harvest of agricultural products in 1979: wheat - 17 million tons, barley - 4.5 million tons, raw cotton - 580 thousand tons, hazelnuts - 300 thousand tons, tobacco - 242 thousand tons. farms - animal husbandry. Livestock (million heads); cattle - 15.5, sheep - 42.7, goats - 18.2. With the economic and technical assistance of the USSR , a number of industrial buildings have been built and are being built in Turkey. and energy facilities. In 1972 the sulfuric acid plant in Bandirma was put into operation. In 1973, an oil refinery was built in the vicinity of Izmir. In 1974, the first workshops of the aluminum smelter were put into operation in Seidishehir, in 1975 - the fibreboard plant in Artvin. In December 1975, the first blast furnace complex of the metallurgical plant in Iskenderun was commissioned. In 1976, the joint construction of a dam and a reservoir began on the border river. Akhuryan (Arpachai). Railway length lines - 8.2 thousand km, state roads - 34 thousand km In October 1973, a suspension bridge across the Bosphorus was opened. Marine tonnage - 1.8 million tons. The monetary unit is the Turkish lira. Round 100. lire = 0.91 rubles. Exports consist mainly of agricultural products. The main imports are oil, industrial. raw materials, machinery and equipment. There are about 3 million unemployed in Turkey. More than 800 thousand people work abroad (in Germany, France, Austria, Switzerland and other countries). The general price index for the first 9 months of 1979 increased by 53%.