Economy overview: Turkey has a dynamic economy that mixes modern industry and commerce with traditional agriculture, which still accounts for 40% of the workforce. The country has a strong and rapidly growing private sector, but the state still plays a leading role in key industries, banking, transport and communications. The most important industry and main export item is the textile and clothing industry, which is almost entirely privately owned. The economic situation in recent years has been characterized by unstable growth and serious imbalances. Annual real GNP growth has been 6% in recent years, but this is a fast forward movement in 1994 and 1999. interrupted by sharp declines. At the same time, public sector financial deficits regularly exceeded 10% of GDP, largely due to the high level of debt service payments, which now account for more than 40% of government spending. Inflation remains high, in the double digits. Apparently, because of this, foreign direct investment in the country’s economy remains small – less than $1 billion a year. The outlook looks promising, however, as the EJEVITA government has been implementing a massive IMF-supported economic reform program since June 1999; measures taken include tightening the budget, reforming social security, reorganizing the banking sector, and accelerating privatization. As a result, the financial situation has improved dramatically, and inflation has fallen below 40% – the lowest rate since 1987. The country went through a financial crisis in late 2000. See topb2bwebsites.com to know more about Turkey in 2004. GDP: at purchasing power parity – $444 billion (2000 est.). Real GDP growth rate: 6% (2000 est.). GDP per capita: at purchasing power parity – $6,800 (2000 est.). The composition of GDP by sectors of the economy: agriculture: 15%; industry: 29%; services: 56% (1999). Proportion of the population below the poverty line: no data available. Percentage distribution of family income or consumption: per 10% of the poorest families: 2.3%; by the top 10% of families: 32.3% (1994). Inflation rate at consumer prices: 39% (2000 est.). Work force: 23 million people (2000 est.); note: about 1.2 million Turks work abroad (1999). Employment structure: agriculture 38%, services 38%, industry 24% (2000 est.). Unemployment rate: 5.6% (and 5.6% part-time workers) (2000 est.). Budget: revenues: $54.5 billion; expenses: $75.2 billion, including capital investments – $3.3 billion (2000). Spheres of economy: production of textile products, food industry, automotive industry, mining industry (coal, chromite, copper, boron), steel smelting, oil extraction, construction, production of lumber, paper. Growth in industrial production: 6.2% (2000 est.). I Power generation: 125.3 billion kWh (2000 est.). Sources of electricity generation: fossil fuels: 71%; hydropower: 29%; nuclear fuel: 0%; others: 0% (2000 est.). Electricity consumption: 119.5 billion kWh (2000 est.). Electricity export: 350 million kWh (2000 est.). Electricity imports: 3.35 billion kWh (2000 est.). Agricultural products: tobacco, cotton, grain, olives, sugar beets, legumes, citrus fruits; livestock. Exports: $26.9 billion (free on board, 2000 est.) Export items: garments 25.6%, food products 15.4%, textiles 12.3%, hardware 8.6%, transport equipment 8.1% (1998). Export partners: Germany 18.7%, USA 11.4%, UK 7.4%, Italy 6.3%, France 6.0% (2000 est.). Imports: $55.7 billion (s.i.f., 2000 est.) Imports: machinery 28.3%, chemicals 15.2%, semi-finished products 14.5%, fuels 11%, transport equipment 9.5% (1999). Import partners: Germany 13.1%, Italy 7.9%, USA 7.2%, Russia 7.0%, France 6.6%, UK 5.0% (2000 est.). External debt: $109 billion (2000 est.) Economic aid recipient: official development support – $195 million (1993). Economic aid donor: Currency: Turkish lira. Currency code: TRL. Exchange rate: TRL/USD – 677,621 (December 2000), 625,219 (2000), 418,783 (1999), 260,724 (1998), 151,865 (1997), 81,405 (1996). Fiscal year: calendar year.
Telecommunications
Telecommunications Telephone lines: 19.5 million (1999). Mobile cell phones: 12.1 million (1999) Phone system: modernized and expanded, especially cellular networks; domestic: the introduction of additional digital stations has led to an increase in the number of subscribers; construction of a network of technologically advanced long-distance trunk lines, using fiber optic cable and digital microwave radio relay connections, facilitates communication between city centers; remote areas of the country are covered by the national satellite communication system; the number of mobile cellular subscribers is growing rapidly; international: international communication is provided by three submarine fiber-optic cables in the Mediterranean and Black Seas, Turkey’s connection with Italy, Greece, Israel, Bulgaria, Romania and Russia through 12 Intelsat ground stations and 328 mobile satellite terminals of the Inmarsat and Eutelsat systems. Broadcast stations: AM – 16, FM – 72, shortwave – 6 (1998). Radio receivers: 11.3 million (1997) Television broadcast stations: 635 (and 2,934 repeaters) (1995). Televisions: 20.9 million (1997) Internet country code: tr Internet service providers: 22 (2000). Number of users: 2 million (2000).
Transport
Transport Railways: total: 8,607 km; standard gauge: 8,607 km (1.435 m gauge) (1,524 km electrified) (1999). Roads: total: 382,059 km; paved: 106,976 km (including 1,726 km of expressways); unpaved: 275,083 km (1999 est.) Waterways: approximately 1,200 km. Pipelines: for crude oil -1,738 km; for oil products – 2,321 km; for natural gas – 708 km. Ports and harbors: Gemlik, Izmir, Iskenderun, Mersin, Izmit, Samsun, Istanbul, Trabzon, Hopa. Merchant navy: total: 548 vessels (displacement 1,000 tons or more) with a total displacement of 5,617,302 gross register tons / 9,088,451 long tons of gross tonnage; ships of various types: dry cargo ships – 140, cargo ships – 242, chemical tankers – 41, combined dry cargo ships – 5, combined ships carrying ore and oil – 6, container ships – 21, liquefied gas tankers – 6, cargo-passenger ships yes – 1, oil tankers – 43, refrigerated ships – 3, ferries – 25, coastal passenger ships – 10, specialized tankers – 5 (2000 est.). Airports: 121 (2000 est.). Airports with paved runways: total: 86; over 3047 m:16; from 2438 to 3047 m: 29; from 1,524 to 2,437 m: 19; from 914 to 1,523 m: 16; less than 914 m: 6 (2000 est.). Airports with unpaved runways: total: 35; from 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1; from 914 to 1523 m:8; less than 914 m: 26 (2000 est.). Helipads: 2 (2000 est.).
Armed forces
Branches of the armed forces: ground forces, navy (including naval aviation and marines), air force, coast guard, gendarmerie. Enlistment age: 20 years old. Total Military Manpower: Male 15 to 49: 18,882,272 (2001 est.). Eligible for military service: men aged 15 to 49: 11,432,438 (2001 est.). Number of persons reaching military age each year: men: 674,805 (2000 est.). Military spending in dollar terms: $10.6 billion (1999) Military spending as part of GDP: 5.6% (1999).
International Issues
International issues International disputes: a tangled dispute with Greece over maritime boundaries, the use of airspace and the ownership of certain islands in the Aegean; conflict with Greece over the island of Cyprus; a dispute with neighbors downstream of the Tigris and Euphrates (Syria and Iraq) over the use of the waters of these rivers; the traditional demands for the return of the former Armenian territories subsided. Illicit drugs: a key transit route for Southwest Asian heroin shipped to Western Europe and (to a lesser extent) the United States by air, land and sea; the most significant Turkish, Iranian and other international drug trafficking groups operate in Istanbul; in remote regions of the country, as well as near Istanbul, laboratories are equipped for the manufacture of heroin from imported morphine; the government exercises strict control over areas of legal cultivation of opium poppy and over the manufacture of poppy straw concentrate.
