Constitution: 7 November 1982

Legal system: derived from various European continental legal systems;
accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations

Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal

Executive branch: chief of state: President Ahmet Necdet SEZER (since
16 May 2000) elections: president elected by the National Assembly for
a seven-year term; election last held 5 May 2000 (next to be held NA
May 2007); prime minister and deputy prime ministers appointed by the
president note: a National Security Council serves as an advisory body to
the president and the cabinet cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by
the president on the nomination of the prime minister head of government:
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 11 January 2002 seating was DSP 129, MHP 127, DYP 84, ANAP 79,
AK 53, Saadet 48, independents 20, vacancies 10

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]; Justice and Development Party or AK [Recep Tayip ERDOGAN];
Motherland Party or ANAP [Mesut YILMAZ]; Nationalist Action Party or
MHP [Devlet BAHCELI]; Saadet Party [Recai KUTAN]; note - KUTAN was head
of the Virtue Party or FP which was banned by Turkey's Constitutional
Court in June 2001; Socialist Democratic Party or TDP [Sema PISKINSUT];
True Path Party or DYP [Tansu CILLER]

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 of Lab