Geography:
Turkey borders the Black Sea and Georgia and Armenia to the northeast, Iran to the east, Iraq to the southeast, the Syrian Arab Republic and the Mediterranean to the south, the Aegean Sea to the west and Greece and Bulgaria to the northwest. Asia Minor (or Anatolia) accounts for 97 per cent of the country and forms a long, wide peninsula 1650km (1025 miles) from east to west and 650km (400 miles) from north to south. Two east-west mountain ranges, the Black Sea Mountains in the north and the Taurus in the south, enclose the central Anatolian plateau, but converge in a vast mountainous region in the far east of the country. It is here that the ancient Tigris and Euphrates rivers rise.
Government:
Republic since 1923. Head of State: President Ahmet Necdet Sezer since 2000. Head of Government: Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan since 2003.
Language: Turkish. Kurdish is also spoken by a minority in the southeast. French, German and English are widely spoken in cities and tourist areas.
Religion:
Muslim with a small Christian minority. Turkey is a secular state which guarantees complete freedom of worship to non-Muslims.
Time:
GMT + 2 (GMT + 3 from last Sunday in March to Saturday before last Sunday in October).
Electricity:
220 volts AC, 50Hz.
Telephone:
IDD is available. Country code: 90. Outgoing international code: 00. There is an extensive internal telephone network, but often an interpreter will be needed for more remote areas. To phone from PTT telephone booths, which are found in all areas, telephone cards and tokens are used. Local, intercity and international calls can be made from all PTT offices.
Mobile telephone:
GSM 900 and 1800 band networks exist. Main network providers include Avea (website: www.avea.com.tr), TELSIM Mobil Telekomuniksyon (website: www.telsim.com.tr) and Turkcell (website: www.turkcell.com.tr). Coverage is available in most urban areas.
Fax:
All hotels and PTT offices have facilities.
Internet:
Internet cafes exist in main urban areas.
Telegram:
These may be sent from all post offices.
Post:
Airmail to Europe takes three days. Turkish post offices are recognisable by their yellow PTT signs. Post office hours: major outlets Mon-Sat 0800-2000, Sun 0900-1900; smaller post offices have the same opening hours as government offices. It is also possible to use the 'Valuables Despatch Service' for valuable belongings or important documents.
Press: The main newspapers are Hürriyet, Milliyet, Sabah and Zamam. English-language daily newspapers include The Turkish Daily News.
