UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Turkey is a constitutional republic with a multiparty Parliament, the Grand National Assembly, which elects the President. In it elected Suleyman Demirel President. The military exercises substantial but indirect influence over politics in the belief that they are the constitutional protectors of the state. The Government respects the Constitution's provisions for an independent judiciary.
For over a decade, Turkey has engaged in armed conflict with the terrorist Kurdistan Workers Party PKK , whose goal is a separate state of Kurdistan in southeastern Turkey.
A state of emergency, declared in , continues in six southeastern provinces that face substantial PKK terrorist violence. A regional governor for the state of emergency has authority over the regular governors in the six provinces, and six adjacent ones, for security matters. The state of emergency allows the regional governor to exercise certain quasi-martial law powers, including restrictions on the press and removal from the area of persons whose activities are deemed detrimental to public order.
The state of emergency decree was renewed for 4 months in November. The Turkish National Police TNP have primary responsibility for security in urban areas, while the Jandarma gendarmerie carry out this function in the countryside. The armed forces continued to combat the PKK in the state of emergency region, thereby taking on an internal security function.
Although civilian and military authorities remain publicly committed to the rule of law and respect for human rights and continued education for law enforcement personnel in these subjects, members of the security forces, particularly police "special teams," Jandarma, village guards, and TNP personnel, committed serious human rights abuses. Trade with the European Union constitutes 60 percent of overall foreign trade.
