Turkey

Last updated: August 21st, 2024

The Turkish Republic stretches from the south-eastern edge of Europe eastwards to the Middle East. It borders Greece and Bulgaria to the west, the Black Sea to the north, the Mediterranean Sea to the southwest, and Syria, Iraq, Iran, Armenia, and Georgia to the southeast and east. The capital city of Ankara is located roughly in the country’s center. Istanbul – Turkey’s largest metropolis – is located on the Bosphorus with territory in both the European and Asian parts of the country. With around 85.4 million inhabitants, Turkey is about as populous as Germany; its area, however, is more than twice as large.

Turkey emerged as the successor state to the Ottoman Empire, which was dissolved after the First World War. The founder of the state is Mustafa Kemal Pasha, known as Atatürk, who proclaimed the republic in 1923 and became its first president. Until his death in 1938, he carried out numerous reforms aimed at modernising and secularising Turkey, which in the long term led to a rapprochement with the rest of Europe. In 1999, the EU Parliament elevated Turkey to the status of EU candidate country. Accession negotiations began in 2005. Economically, the EU and Turkey are already very closely intertwined.

In 1999, the EU Parliament elevated Turkey to the status of an EU candidate country. Accession negotiations began in 2005. Economically, the EU and Turkey are already very closely intertwined. More than a fifth of Turkish exports go to just four EU countries, namely Germany, Italy, Spain and France, while around 14.6 percent of Turkish imports come from Germany, Italy and France – and the trend is downwards in each case. Turkey is one of Germany’s twenty largest foreign trade partners, both in terms of import and export volumes. Turkey’s main exports to Germany are cars and car parts, refined products, delivery vehicles and jewelry.

Since 2002, Turkey has been governed by the AK Party, which has won all elections since then. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who previously led Turkey as prime minister, has been president since 2014. He was re-elected for a third term in May 2023 in the first run-off election in Turkey’s history, continuing his three decades of dominance over Turkish politics despite relative loss in influence.

The Turkish economy has remained largely calm and stable since the attempted coup in July 2016. The state of emergency was ended after two years in summer 2018. While economic growth has generally declined in recent years, Turkey was one of the countries with a positive growth rate of 11.4 percent in 2021 compared to 1.9 percent in 2020. GDP amounts to

 USD 819.04 billion. While the Covid-19 pandemic severely impacted tourism and the service sector, which accounts for 60.7 percent of Turkey’s GDP, industrial production continued and the low interest rate policy also boosted economic growth. The economy already grew by 11% in 2021, despite challenges with the inflation rate (2022: 60.5%). Growth of around three percent is still forecast for each of the following years. This is also due to the strong industrial base and good connections to European markets, which guarantee fast delivery times for the automotive industry, its suppliers and the high-quality textile industry.