th reservations

Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal

Executive branch: chief of state: President Ahmed Necdet SEZER
(since 16 May 2000)

head of government: Prime Minister Bulent ECEVIT (since 11 January
1999)

cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the president on the
nomination of the prime minister

note: there is also a National Security Council that serves as an
advisory body to the president and the cabinet

elections: president elected by the National Assembly for a
seven-year term; election last held 5 May 2000 (next scheduled to be
held NA May 2007); prime minister and deputy prime minister
appointed by the president

election results: Ahmed Necdet SEZER elected president on the third
ballot; percent of National Assembly vote - 60%

note: president must have a two-thirds majority of the National
Assembly on the first two ballots and a simple majority on the third
ballot

Legislative branch: unicameral Grand National Assembly of Turkey or
Turkiye Buyuk Millet Meclisi (550 seats; members are elected by
popular vote to serve five-year terms)

elections: last held 18 April 1999 (next to be held NA 2004)

election results: percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party -
DSP 136, MHP 130, FP 110, DYP 86, ANAP 88; note - as of 7 March 2000
seating was DSP 136, MHP 127, FP 103, DYP 85, ANAP 88 independents
6, vacancies 5

Judicial branch: Constitutional Court (judges are appointed by the
president); Court of Appeals (judges are elected by the Supreme
Council of Judges and Prosecutors)

Political parties and leaders: Democratic Left Party or DSP [Bulent
ECEVIT]; Motherland Party or ANAP [Mesut YILMAZ]; Nationalist Action
Party or MHP [Devlet BAHCELI]; True Path Party or DYP [Tansu
CILLER]; Virtue Party or FP [Recai KUTAN]; note - in June 2001,
Turkey's Constitutional Court banned the party; its representatives
(except for two) can stay on in the Grand National Assembly as
independents

note: Welfare Party or RP [Necmettin ERBAKAN] was officially
outlawed on 22 February 1998

Political pressure groups and leaders: Confederation of
Revolutionary Workers Unions or DISK [Ridvan BUDAK]; Independent
Industrialists and Businessmen's Association or MUSIAD [Erol YARAR];
Moral Rights Workers Union or Hak-Is [Salim USLU]; Turkish
Industrialists' and Businessmen's Association or TUSIAD [Muharrem
KAYHAN]; Turkish Confederation of Employers' Unions or TISK [Refik
BAYDUR]; Turkish Confederation