LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Turkey
built 237 days ago
Turkey's main ports are Istanbul, Izmir, Samsun, Iskenderun, Mersin, and Trabzon. Turkey has one of the Middle East's best road and rail systems, which includes the Baghdad Railway. The annual value of Turkey's imports is usually considerably higher than that of its exports. The chief imports are machinery, chemicals, semifinished goods, fuels, and transportation equipment. The principal exports are textiles and clothing, foodstuffs, iron and steel products, and transportation equipment. The leading trade partners are Germany, Italy, Great Britain, the United States, Russia, and France.
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Prior to Turkey's severe economic difficulties in 2001, the country's energy consumption and net imports had been growing rapidly. Assuming that the Turkish economy and energy demand return to a rapid growth path, Turkey will require billions of dollars worth of investments in coming years. In 2001, Turkey ratified the Energy Charter Treaty, the international legal framework for energy investment. Also, in early 2001, the Turkish parliament passed an energy liberalization law aimed at ending the government's monopoly in the energy sector, and ... geared towards attracting foreign energy investment. In December 2003, parliament passed legislation liberalizing the country's energy sector. In February 2004, the government raised taxes on unleaded gasoline, diesel, and natural gas as part of a move towards boosting budget revenues in line with IMF recommendations.
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Turkey has a large mining industry, mostly in the public sector, employing over 200,000 workers. Important mineral resources include bauxite, borax, chromium, copper, iron ore, manganese, and sulfur. The center of coal mining is at Zonguldak, on the Black Sea coast. Oil was discovered in 1950 in the southeast, but production is limited, accounting for about 10 percent of domestic consumption; the remainder is imported. In 1990 petroleum products accounted for about 15 percent of all imports. Of Turkey's natural mineral resources, only borates and petroleum products are exported, in small quantities.
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Turkey or Turkish Republic has 81 provinces. It is governed as a democracy with many parties. The Turkish currency is New Turkish Lira (Yeni Türk Lirası). Its abbreviation is YTL. (Aprox: $1 US is = 1.21 YTL 30.09.2007)
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Turkey entered NATO in 1952 and serves as the organization's vital eastern anchor, controlling the straits leading from the Black Sea to the Mediterranean and sharing a border with Syria, Iraq, and Iran. A NATO headquarters is located in Izmir. Besides its relationships with NATO and the EU, Turkey is a member of the OECD, the Council of Europe, and OSCE. Turkey ... is a member of the UN and the Islamic Conference Organization (OIC). In December 1999, Turkey became a candidate for EU membership. On December 17, 2004, the EU decided to begin formal accession negotiations with Turkey in October 2005.
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In late January 2002, Iran and Turkey officially inaugurated a much-delayed natural gas pipeline link between Tebriz (northern Iran) and Ankara (the capital of Turkey). In 1996, Iran and Turkey had signed a $30 billion, 25-year agreement that called for Iran to supply Turkey with more than 8 Tcf of natural gas beginning in late 1999. Officials in Turkey and Iran variously blamed U.S. sanctions, financing problems on the Turkish leg of the $1.9 billion pipeline, economic recession in Turkey, and delays by the Iranians in completing an important metering station for delaying the project. Exports of Iranian natural gas to Turkey were expected to reach 350 Bcf per year by 2007. There are questions... whether Turkish demand will grow rapidly enough to absorb this volume of natural gas from Iran, in addition to gas slated to be supplied by Russia, Algeria, and Nigeria. In June 2002, for instance, Turkey halted natural gas imports from Iran, citing problems with "gas quality," even though a lack of demand on the Turkish side appeared much more likely.
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Turkey