Read this Essay on Turkey

Turkey is markedly unique among the na­tions of Southwest Asia, although it shares the Muslim faith with most of them. Dis­tinctive in language and culture, it is a progressive nation, fairly Westernized and modern in outlook. Since World War II, several revolutionary changes have taken place in the country, which quickly pushed it along the course of social, eco­nomic, and political transformation that is still underway.

A country that lies partly in Europe and partly in Asia, its location in two continents has been a key factor in its history, culture, and politics; Turkey has often been called a bridge be­tween East and West. The Bosporus, Sea of Mar-Mara and Dardanelles (collectively the Turkish “Straits” that conventionally mark the dividing line between Asia and Europe) separate the western three percent of its territory, the “European” part, from the much larger “Asian” section.

The “Straits” act as a connecting link between the Black Sea in the north and the Mediter­ranean in the south. With the smaller appendage west of the Straits, Turkey is the only country in the region to share a common boundary with the European na­tions of Greece and Bulgaria. Historically, its location has been of crucial importance for it has given the country a strategic posi­tion in the eastern Mediterranean.

The control of the Straits connecting the Aegean and Black Seas has enhanced the importance of the nation from a geopoliti­cal standpoint. Turkey’s foreign policy reflects this uncomfortable situation: the nation must align itself with the powers that are able to guarantee it the control of the Straits.

Turkey’s land borders with Russia in the northeastern Transcaucasia and Iran on the east are also of critical significance as a passage for the Russian advance in modern times, and as a historical land route (despite difficult terrain) to the East via Iran.

The physical landscape of the country consists primarily of an inner plateau (the Central Anatolian Plateau) ringed by mountain ranges that for the most part drop steeply on their outer margins, either to the sea or to the lowlands.

In the ex­treme east, however, there is an unbroken mass of mountainous territory of eastern Anatolia merging in the northeast into the Caucasus, and in the southeast into the Zagros Mountains. Less than 9 percent of Turkey’s land is level or gently sloping. Its lowlands primarily fringe the coasts.

Relief is dominated in the north and south by ranges that rise, to more than 10,000 feet (c. 3,025 meters) that fringe the vast Central Anatolian Plateau, separating it from the narrow coastal plains. In the north, the Pontic Mountains follow the contour of the southern shore of the Black Sea, their altitude increasing to the east to 12,900 feet (3,932 meters); a good part of the higher peaks remain snowbound. South of the central plateau are the Taurus Mountains, with several branches along the Mediterranean coast. Their highest point also reaches the elevation of nearly 13,000 feet in the east.

Enclosed within these mountain sys­tems is Central Anatolia, much of which is a large plateau; in the eastern part of this region are high mountains, composed of a confused mass of lofty ranges and several volcanic peaks such as Mt. Ararat (altitude 16,853 feet or 5,137 meters). These moun­tains of eastern Turkey rise much higher than the Central Anatolian Plateau, and are interrupted by several basins, one of which is occupied by Lake Van, a salt lake formed by an extinct volcano.

Central Anatolia is a semi-arid and ir­regular plateau of mostly 3,000 to 6,000 feet (912-1,824 meters) in altitude fringed by mountain ranges on all sides: on the north, east, and south, mountains are 2,000 to 4,000 feet (608-1,216 meters) higher than the plateau; but on the west, towards the Aegean coast, hills are much lower in altitude. Much of the plateau region and the mountains consist of lava flows and lie in a zone of crustal instability frequented by devastating earthquakes.

Towards the western coast is the Aegean region of plains, valleys, and hills. The ridges run transverse to the coast and are separated by several valleys, such as, from north to south, the valley of Bakir Cayi (ancient Caicus), Gediz (ancient Hermis), and Menderes, which contain the ruins of ancient cities. The landforms of northwestern Turkey around the Sea of Marmara consist of a large basin bounded by low hills and plateau-like surfaces.

The European part (Thrace) is a rolling plain of recent deposits. The area around Istanbul is a deeply dissected valley. The Bosporus and Dardanelles are the channels that link the Sea of Marmara with the Black Sea and the Aegean Sea respectively, are the submerged river valleys, formed by the rising sea level after the melting of the last glaciers.

Climatically, there is a great variety of conditions that reflect the geographic dif­ferences within the country. The coastal areas are mostly humid, while the vast in­terior, shut off from the rain-bearing winds by the encircling mountains, re­mains dry. Most of the coastal areas receive more than 30 inches (750 centimeters) of rainfall annually and as much as 96 inches in the eastern Black Sea, whereas in most of Central Anatolia, it varies between 10 and 14 inches.

The Marmara and Aegean coasts, and southeastern Anatolia, get moderate amounts (15 to 25 inches). The low coastal areas have warm to high tem­peratures in summer and warm in winter. Frosts along the Mediterranean are virtu­ally unknown. Winters are freezing in the interiors and the mountains; the snow cover lasts up to 40 days in Central Ana­tolia and 120 days in the northeastern mountainous region.

The south and west­ern coasts have a Mediterranean climate characterized by hot, dry summers, and mild, rainy winters. Winters are mild and summers warm along the coasts, while the interiors have severe winters and hot sum­mers.

Parts of the south, west, and north­west are covered by Mediterranean vegetation, consisting mainly of thick scrubland in the lowlands and deciduous and coniferous forests at higher elevations. The humid north and northeast parts of the country are most densely wooded. The Anatolian interior is a region of sparse steppe land of short grasses.