FAX: (312) 467-0019

FAX: (202) 612-6744

consulate(s) general: Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, and New York

Diplomatic representation from the US: chief of mission: Ambassador
Robert PEARSON

embassy: Ataturk Bulvarii 110, Ankara

mailing address: PSC 93, Box 5000, APO AE 09823

telephone: (312) 468-6110

consulate(s) general: Istanbul (closed as of December 2000 for security review)

consulate(s): Adana (closed as of December 2000 for security review)

Flag description: red with a vertical white crescent (the closed portion is toward the hoist side) and white five-pointed star centered just outside the crescent opening

Turkey Economy

Economy - overview: Turkey's dynamic economy is a complex mix of modern industry and commerce along with traditional agriculture that still accounts for nearly 40% of employment. It has a strong and rapidly growing private sector, yet the state still plays a major role in basic industry, banking, transport, and communication. The most important industry - and largest exporter - is textiles and clothing, which is almost entirely in private hands. In recent years the economic situation has been marked by erratic economic growth and serious imbalances. Real GNP growth has exceeded 6% in most years, but this strong expansion was interrupted by sharp declines in output in 1994 and 1999. Meanwhile the public sector fiscal deficit has regularly exceeded 10% of GDP - due in large part to the huge burden of interest payments, which now account for more than 40% of central government spending - while inflation has remained in the high double digit range. Perhaps because of these problems, foreign direct investment in Turkey remains low - less than $1 billion annually. Prospects for the future are improving, however, because the ECEVIT government since June 1999 has been implementing an IMF-backed reform program, including a tighter budget, social security reform, banking reorganization, and accelerated privatization. As a result, the fiscal situation is greatly improved and inflation has dropped below 40% - the lowest rate since 1987. The country experienced a financial crisis in late 2000, including sharp drops in the stock market and foreign exchange reserves, but is recovering rapidly, thanks to additional IMF support and the government's commitment to a specific timetable of economic reforms.

GDP: purchasing power parity - $444 billion (2000 est.)

GDP - real growth rate: 6% (2000 est.)

GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $6,800 (2000 est.)

GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 15%

industry: 29%

services: 56% (1999)

Population below poverty line: NA%

Household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%: 2.3%

highest 10%: 32.3% (1994)

Inflation rate (consumer prices): 39% (2000 est.)

Labor force: 23 million (2000 est.)

note: about 1.2 million Turks work abroad (1999)

Labor force - by occupation: agriculture 38%, services 38%, industry 24% (2000)

Unemployment rate: 5.6% (plus underemployment of 5.6%) (2000 est.)

Budget: revenues: $54.5 billion

expenditures: $75.2 billion, including capital expenditures of $3.3 billion (2000)

Industries: textiles, food processing, autos, mining (coal, chromite, copper, boron), steel, petroleum, construction, lumber, paper

Industrial production growth rate: 6.2% (2000 est.)

Electricity - production: 125.3 billion kWh (2000 est.)

Electricity - production by source: fossil fuel: 71%

hydro: 29%

nuclear: 0%

other: 0% (2000 est.)

Electricity - consumption: 119.5 billion kWh (2000 est.)

Electricity - exports: 350 million kWh (2000 est.)

Electricity - imports: 3.35 billion kWh (2000 est.)

Agriculture - products: tobacco, cotton, grain, olives, sugar beets, pulse, citrus; livestock

Exports: $26.9 billion (f.o.b., 2000 est.)

Exports - commodities: apparel 25.6%, foodstuffs 15.4%, textiles 12.3%, metal manufactures 8.6%, transport equipment 8.1% (1998)

Exports - partners: Germany 18.7%, US 11.4%, UK 7.4%, Italy 6.3%,
France 6.0% (2000 est.)

Imports: $55.7 billion (c.i.f., 2000 est.)

Imports - commodities: machinery 28.3%, chemicals 15.2%, semi-finished goods 14.5%, fuels 11%, transport equipment 9.5% (1999)

Imports - partners: Germany 13.1%, Italy 7.9%, US 7.2%, Russia 7.0%,
France 6.6%, UK 5.0% (2000 est.)

Debt - external: $109 billion (2000 est.)

Economic aid - recipient: ODA, $195 million (1993)

Currency: Turkish lira (TRL)

Currency code: TRL

Exchange rates: Turkish liras per US dollar - 677,621 (December 2000), 625,219 (2000), 418,783 (1999), 260,724 (1998), 151,865 (1997), 81,405 (1996)

Fiscal year: calendar year

Turkey Communications

Telephones - main lines in use: 19.5 million (1999)

Telephones - mobile cellular: 12.1 million (1999)

Telephone system: general assessment: undergoing rapid modernization and expansion, especially cellular telephones

domestic: additional digital exchanges are permitting a rapid increase in subscribers; the construction of a network of technologically advanced intercity trunk lines, using both fiber-optic cable and digital microwave radio relay is facilitating communication between urban centers; remote areas are reached by a domestic satellite system; the number of subscribers to mobile cellular telephone service is growing rapidly

international: international service is provided by three submarine fiber-optic cables in the Mediterranean and Black Seas, linking Turkey with Italy, Greece, Israel, Bulgaria, Romania, and Russia, by 12 Intelsat earth stations, and by 328 mobile satellite terminals in the Inmarsat and Eutelsat systems

Radio broadcast stations: AM 16, FM 72, shortwave 6 (1998)

Radios: 11.3 million (1997)

Television broadcast stations: 635 (plus 2,934 repeaters) (1995)

Televisions: 20.9 million (1997)

Internet country code: .tr

Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 22 (2000)

Internet users: 2 million (2000)

Turkey Transportation

Railways: total: 8,607 km

standard gauge: 8,607 km 1.435-m gauge (1,524 km electrified) (1999)

Highways: total: 382,059 km

paved: 106,976 km (including 1,726 km of expressways)

unpaved: 275,083 km (1999 est.)

Waterways: 1,200 km (approximately)

Pipelines: crude oil 1,738 km; petroleum products 2,321 km; natural gas 708 km

Ports and harbors: Gemlik, Hopa, Iskenderun, Istanbul, Izmir,
Kocaeli (Izmit), Icel (Mersin), Samsun, Trabzon

Merchant marine: total: 548 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 5,617,302 GRT/9,088,451 DWT

ships by type: bulk 140, cargo 242, chemical tanker 41, combination bulk 5, combination ore/oil 6, container 21, liquefied gas 6, passenger/cargo 1, petroleum tanker 43, refrigerated cargo 3, roll on/roll off 25, short-sea passenger 10, specialized tanker 5 (2000 est.)

Airports: 121 (2000 est.)

Airports - with paved runways: total: 86

over 3,047 m: 16

2,438 to 3,047 m: 29

1,524 to 2,437 m: 19

914 to 1,523 m: 16

under 914 m: 6 (2000 est.)

Airports - with unpaved runways: total: 35

1,524 to 2,437 m: 1

914 to 1,523 m: 8

under 914 m: 26 (2000 est.)

Heliports: 2 (2000 est.)

Turkey Military

Military branches: Land Force, Navy (includes Naval Air and Naval
Infantry), Air Force, Coast Guard, Gendarmerie

Military manpower - military age: 20 years of age

Military manpower - availability: males age 15-49: 18,882,272 (2001 est.)

Military manpower - fit for military service: males age 15-49: 11,432,438 (2001 est.)

Military manpower - reaching military age annually: males: 674,805 (2001 est.)

Military expenditures - dollar figure: $10.6 billion (FY99)

Military expenditures - percent of GDP: 5.6% (FY99)

Turkey Transnational Issues

Disputes - international: complex maritime, air, and territorial disputes with Greece in Aegean Sea; Cyprus question with Greece; dispute with downstream riparian states (Syria and Iraq) over water development plans for the Tigris and Euphrates rivers; traditional demands regarding former Armenian lands in Turkey have subsided

Illicit drugs: key transit route for Southwest Asian heroin to Western Europe and - to a far lesser extent the US - via air, land, and sea routes; major Turkish, Iranian, and other international trafficking organizations operate out of Istanbul; laboratories to convert imported morphine base into heroin are in remote regions of Turkey as well as near Istanbul; government maintains strict controls over areas of legal opium poppy cultivation and output of poppy straw concentrate

@Turkmenistan

Turkmenistan Introduction

Background: Annexed by Russia between 1865 and 1885, Turkmenistan became a Soviet republic in 1925. It achieved its independence upon the dissolution of the USSR in 1991. President NIYAZOV retains absolute control over the country and opposition is not tolerated. Extensive hydrocarbon/natural gas reserves could prove a boon to this underdeveloped country if extraction and delivery projects can be worked out.

Turkmenistan Geography

Location: Central Asia, bordering the Caspian Sea, between Iran and
Kazakhstan

Geographic coordinates: 40 00 N, 60 00 E

Map references: Commonwealth of Independent States

Area: total: 488,100 sq km

land: 488,100 sq km

water: 0 sq km

Area - comparative: slightly larger than California

Land boundaries: total: 3,736 km

border countries: Afghanistan 744 km, Iran 992 km, Kazakhstan 379 km, Uzbekistan 1,621 km

Coastline: 0 km; note - Turkmenistan borders the Caspian Sea (1,768 km)

Maritime claims: none (landlocked)

Climate: subtropical desert

Terrain: flat-to-rolling sandy desert with dunes rising to mountains in the south; low mountains along border with Iran; borders Caspian Sea in west

Elevation extremes: lowest point: Vpadina Akchanaya -81.00 m; note
- Sarygamysh Koli is a lake in northern Turkmenistan with a water
level that fluctuates above and below the elevation of Vpadina
Akchanaya (the lake has dropped as low as -110 m)

highest point: Gora Ayribaba 3,139 m

Natural resources: petroleum, natural gas, coal, sulfur, salt

Land use: arable land: 3%

permanent crops: 0%

permanent pastures: 63%

forests and woodland: 8%

other: 26% (1993 est.)

Irrigated land: 13,000 sq km (1993 est.)

Natural hazards: NA

Environment - current issues: contamination of soil and groundwater with agricultural chemicals, pesticides; salination, water-logging of soil due to poor irrigation methods; Caspian Sea pollution; diversion of a large share of the flow of the Amu Darya into irrigation contributes to that river's inability to replenish the Aral Sea; desertification

Environment - international agreements: party to: Biodiversity,
Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification,
Hazardous Wastes, Ozone Layer Protection

signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

Geography - note: landlocked

Turkmenistan People

Population: 4,603,244 (July 2001 est.)

Age structure: 0-14 years: 37.88% (male 891,758; female 852,104)

15-64 years: 58.09% (male 1,313,303; female 1,360,690)

65 years and over: 4.03% (male 70,800; female 114,589) (2001 est.)

Population growth rate: 1.85% (2001 est.)

Birth rate: 28.55 births/1,000 population (2001 est.)

Death rate: 8.98 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.)

Net migration rate: -1.04 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.)

Sex ratio: at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female

under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female

15-64 years: 0.97 male(s)/female

65 years and over: 0.62 male(s)/female

total population: 0.98 male(s)/female (2001 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 73.25 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.)

Life expectancy at birth: total population: 61 years

male: 57.43 years

female: 64.76 years (2001 est.)

Total fertility rate: 3.58 children born/woman (2001 est.)

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: 0.01% (1999 est.)

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: less than 100 (1999 est.)

HIV/AIDS - deaths: less than 100 (1999 est.)

Nationality: noun: Turkmen(s)

adjective: Turkmen

Ethnic groups: Turkmen 77%, Uzbek 9.2%, Russian 6.7%, Kazakh 2%, other 5.1% (1995)

Religions: Muslim 89%, Eastern Orthodox 9%, unknown 2%

Languages: Turkmen 72%, Russian 12%, Uzbek 9%, other 7%

Literacy: definition: age 15 and over can read and write

total population: 98%

male: 99%

female: 97% (1989 est.)

Turkmenistan Government

Country name: conventional long form: none

conventional short form: Turkmenistan

local long form: none

local short form: Turkmenistan

former: Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic

Government type: republic

Capital: Ashgabat

Administrative divisions: 5 welayatlar (singular - welayat): Ahal Welayaty (Ashgabat), Balkan Welayaty (Nebitdag), Dashhowuz Welayaty (formerly Tashauz), Lebap Welayaty (Charjew), Mary Welayaty

note: administrative divisions have the same names as their administrative centers (exceptions have the administrative center name following in parentheses)

Independence: 27 October 1991 (from the Soviet Union)

National holiday: Independence Day, 27 October (1991)

Constitution: adopted 18 May 1992

Legal system: based on civil law system

Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal

Executive branch: chief of state: President and Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers Saparmurat NIYAZOV (since 27 October 1990, when the first direct presidential election occurred); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government

head of government: President and Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers Saparmurat NIYAZOV (since 27 October 1990, when the first direct presidential election occurred); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government

cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the president

note: NIYAZOV's term in office was extended indefinitely on 28 December 1999 by the Assembly (Majlis) during a session of the People's Council (Halk Maslahaty)

elections: president elected by popular vote for a five-year term; election last held 21 June 1992 (next scheduled to be held NA); note - President NIYAZOV was unanimously approved as president for life by the Assembly on 28 December 1999); deputy chairmen of the cabinet of ministers are appointed by the president

election results: Saparmurat NIYAZOV elected president without opposition; percent of vote - Saparmurat NIYAZOV 99.5%

Legislative branch: under the 1992 constitution, there are two parliamentary bodies, a unicameral People's Council or Halk Maslahaty (more than 100 seats, some of which are elected by popular vote and some of which are appointed; meets infrequently) and a unicameral Assembly or Majlis (50 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms)

elections: People's Council - NA; Assembly - last held 12 December 1999 (next to be held NA 2004)

election results: Assembly - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - NA; note - all 50 elected officials preapproved by President NIYAZOV; most are from the DPT

Judicial branch: Supreme Court (judges are appointed by the president)

Political parties and leaders: Democratic Party of Turkmenistan or
DPT [Saparmurat NIYAZOV]

note: formal opposition parties are outlawed; unofficial, small opposition movements exist underground or in foreign countries

Political pressure groups and leaders: NA

International organization participation: AsDB, CCC, CIS, EAPC,
EBRD, ECE, ECO, ESCAP, FAO, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IDB, IFC, IFRCS, ILO,
IMF, IMO, Intelsat (nonsignatory user), IOC, IOM (observer), ISO
(correspondent), ITU, NAM, OIC, OPCW, OSCE, PFP, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO,
UNIDO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO (observer)

Diplomatic representation in the US: chief of mission: Ambassador
Mered ORAZOV

chancery: 2207 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008

telephone: (202) 588-1500