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=Turkey= toc

Turkey is an exciting country. It has produced beautiful artwork. Some common arts are bracelets, embroidery, and painting. Turkey has a good government with a current president. The history of Turkey includes the Ottoman Turks and new constitution which gave citizens rights.

Arts
Most Turkish arts use geometric patterns and colors. Some traditional Turkish arts are bracelets, embroidery, and painting ceramics. The first bracelets were made of wood, stone, and soft metals. All women enjoy wearing bracelets. Bracelets were believed to have special uses or powers to the Turkish people. For example, copper bracelets were thought to remove joint pains, and blood stones were believed to stop bleeding.

Embroidery and painting is not as popular as bracelets in Turkey, but they are still traditional. Turkish embroidery is an old tradition. Most embroidery is over one hundred years old. Paintings are also very popular in Turkey. Ceramics is one item that is painted. Pictures of flowers and old tribal ceremonies are put on plates and bowls.

[[image:http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/39/Recep_Tayyip_Erdogan.PNG width="175" height="224" align="left" caption="Recep Tayyip Erdoğan "]]
Turkey has a very specific type of government. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is the current President of Turkey. He was elected August 28th 2014. Turkey is a Parliamentary Democracy. It also has a free market economy. Turkey has seventy-nine provinces. The Turkish constitution was written on November 7, 1982. It was based off of the French, Italian, and Swiss constitutions.

There are three branches of government in Turkey. First is the Legislative which consists of a Grand National Assembly with 450 deputies. Next, the Executive, which consists of the President, and a Council of Ministers which are led by the Prime minister. Lastly, the Judiciary branch, which is independent, with a Constitutional Court supervising conformity of laws to the Constitution.

History
Turkey’s history starts in about 1900 B.C. Turkey was first occupied by Indo-European Hittites. Next came the Persian, Roman and Byzantine Empires. The Ottoman Turks eventually took over and ruled for 600 years. They were one of the most successful empires of the Mediterranean area. The Republic of Turkey began just after WWI under the rule of Mustafa Kemal. Kemal was called “Father Turk”. He introduced technology and modern building.

In 1971 the Turkish Armed Forces leaders demanded a better system of government. There were multiple people in charge for a while. Eventually, a constitution was written for Turkey. This constitution gave people the right to vote, and gave the President a seven-year term in office. It also proved pluralist politics and a peaceful transfer of power in Turkey. Now, most Turkish people still follow the rules under the constitution.