Republic of Turkey

The official name of Turkey is Turkiye Cumhuriyeti and the country has been a republic since 1923 with a president and a national assembly, Turkiye Buyuk Millet Meclisi. Freely translated this means the Great Turkish National Assembly. There is freedom to establish and be a member of a political party. However communist parties and parties that do not respect the thoughts and ideas of Ataturk, and political unions are not allowed. In other words it is a democracy not allowing anti-democratic ways of thinking.
The country is divided into 81 provinces with a vali (governor). In each province there are several middle-sized towns overseen by a kaymakam. The towns are divided into small districts and these are led by muhtars(headman). Villages also have their own muhtar. All these officials are elected by the people and elections take place every four years.
The military can mobilise 700,000 men and costs one fifth of the National budget. In Turkey there is compulsory military service of 15 months for all males over 20 years and they are paid about £10 per month. Turkey is a member of NATO which has several military bases in the country.

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