SUMMARY
Turkey became a presidential republic with a parliamentary democratic political system in 1923. The Turkish government operated under the one-party rule of CHP (Cumhuriyet Halk Partisi: Republican People’s Party) until a multiparty system was introduced and facilitated the first free elections in the country in 1950.
Civilian rule of the Government of Turkey has been interrupted by military takeovers on several occasions: 1960 to 1961, 1971 to 1973, and 1980 to 1983. Following the last two periods of military leadership, the Government of Turkey began engaging actively in two, territorial, state-based conflicts: Government of Cyprus – Government of Turkey over the territory of northern Cyprus in 1974 and Government of Turkey - PKK over the Kurdish areas in southeastern Turkey in 1984. In addition, several groups have disputed the Government of Turkey and engaged in armed conflict against it in Turkey: Government conflict. More recently, the government also became embroiled in the conflicts in Syria, which led to conflict against IS breaking out over the Islamic State in Turkey in 2015.
In 2014, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who had served as prime minister for eleven years, became the first popularly-elected President of Turkey. Subsequently, a slim majority result in a referendum held in 2017 has led to Turkey switching to a presidential political system in 2018. This change reduced the power of the parliament and bestowed much greater political power in the hands of the president. Despite a military coup attempt in 2016, President Erdogan remained in office as of 2019.
The Turkish military forces comprise the army, land, naval, and air forces. In 2019, the Government of Turkey had 355 000 active armed forces and 157 000 active paramilitary personnel.
The American government has been an important western ally for the Government of Turkey for many years. Over time, it has supported the Turkish government in its conflicts against DHKP-C and PKK with: weapons, material or logistical support, expertise, economic support, and intelligence material. After signing a security cooperation protocol with each other in 1992, the Government of Syria also helped the Turkish government fight the DHKP-C by sharing intelligence material. Due to their shared problem with subversive groups, the governments of Iran and Iraq supported the Turkish government against the PKK by permitting Turkey access to their territory. In addition, the Iranian government permitted Turkey access to their military or intelligence infrastructures and in 2005, Iranian security forces conducted joint clashes with Turkish forces against the PKK.
