Republic of Turkey

Origins

The Government of the Grand National Assembly won the War of Independence, abolished the Ottoman sultanate and secured recognition at Lausanne in July 1923. On 29 October 1923 the assembly proclaimed the republic, with Ankara as capital and Mustafa Kemal as president.

Rule and society

Ataturk's reforms abolished the caliphate (1924), replaced Islamic law with European-based codes, introduced the Latin alphabet (1928), gave women the vote (1934) and made secularism a constitutional principle. Ismet Inonu continued one-party rule until multi-party elections brought Adnan Menderes to power in 1950. Turkey joined NATO in 1952. The army intervened in 1960, 1971 and 1980, and Kurdish insurgency began in 1984.

To the present

Turkey became an EU candidate in 1999. Recep Tayyip Erdogan, prime minister from 2003, became president in 2014, survived a coup attempt in 2016 and introduced a presidential system in 2018. In 2022 the country adopted Turkiye as its international name.