o-Islamic appointments; despite on-going negotiations on EU
accession since October 2005, progress has been limited in
establishing required civilian supremacy over the military; primary
domestic threats are listed as fundamentalism (with the definition
in some dispute with the civilian government), separatism (the
Kurdish problem), and the extreme left wing; Ankara strongly opposed
establishment of an autonomous Kurdish region; an overhaul of the
Turkish Land Forces Command (TLFC) taking place under the "Force
2014" program is to produce 20-30% smaller, more highly trained
forces characterized by greater mobility and firepower and capable
of joint and combined operations; the TLFC has taken on increasing
international peacekeeping responsibilities, and took charge of a
NATO International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) command in
Afghanistan in April 2007; the Turkish Navy is a regional naval
power that wants to develop the capability to project power beyond
Turkey's coastal waters; the Navy is heavily involved in NATO,
multinational, and UN operations; its roles include control of
territorial waters and security for sea lines of communications; the
Turkish Air Force adopted an "Aerospace and Missile Defense Concept"
in 2002 and has initiated project work on an integrated missile
defense system; Air Force priorities include attaining a modern
deployable, survivable, and sustainable force structure, and
establishing a sustainable command and control system (2008)
Transnational Issues
Turkey
Disputes - international:
complex maritime, air, and territorial disputes with Greece in the
Aegean Sea; status of north Cyprus question remains; Syria and Iraq
protest Turkish hydrological projects to control upper Euphrates
waters; Turkey has expressed concern over the status of Kurds in
Iraq; border with Armenia remains closed over Nagorno-Karabakh
Refugees and internally displaced persons:
IDPs: 1-1.2 million (fighting 1984-99 between Kurdish PKK and
Turkish military; most IDPs in southeastern provinces) (2007)
Illicit drugs:
key transit route for Southwest Asian heroin to Western Europe and,
to a lesser extent, the US - via air, land, and sea routes; major
Turkish and other international trafficking organizations operate
out of Istanbul; laboratories to convert imported morphine base into
heroin exist in remote regions of Turkey and near Istanbul;
government maintains strict controls over areas of leg
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