Turkey

The creation of the Republic of Turkey in 1923 is the most significant historical event describing how the population’s social structures, religious beliefs, and cultural arts were formed into its current status (“Historical Background”, 2000). Turkey was known as the Ottoman Empire which ruled the country for several centuries, until its fall in 1923. Under the leadership of Mustafa Kemal, who later became known to the Turkish people as the “Father of the Turks” or “Ataturk”, a secular and democratic government was formed allowing religious freedom, where 98 percent of its people are Muslim. This event marks the beginning of Turkish society becoming more westernized by the expansion of cultural arts through the creation of theaters, opera and ballet companies, and fine arts academies (“Historical Background”, 2000). This expansion led to the arts, drama, and classical and contemporary music becoming more popular with the individuals of the Turkish social structure (“Historical Background”, 2000).

The Middle East is an area where conflict is a common occurrence, due to differences in religious beliefs, cultures, and ethnicity of the populations living in this part of the world. This report describes Turkish conflicts that involve the Kurdish Worker’s Party, and the Turkish War of Independence to exhibit how differences in societies can produce either a peaceful culture or a culture of war.

The Turkish War of Independence lasted from the years 1919 to 1923, which led to the creation of the Republic of Turkey (“Historical Background”, 2000)). Turkey was previously known as the Ottoman Empire, which acted as a dominion for several centuries ruling the country with Islamic law. Under the leadership of Mustafa Kemal, who later became known to the Turkish people as the “Father of the Turks” or “Ataturk”, a secular, democratic government was formed allowing religious freedom, where 98 percent of its people are Muslim (“Historical Background”, 2000). This conflict played a vital role in Turkish history because it produced a more westernized society by the changes in social configuration, religious beliefs, cultural arts, economies, and agriculture. Currently this conflict still continues, but other countries like
the United States are trying to help promote a promise to bring peace between the Turkey and the Kurdistan Workers Party (Holliway, 2007).

Each culture contains a different set of ethics, which can be defined as a system of moral principals or the rules of conduct required in order to be respectful to a the human actions or a specific group or culture. As a Turkish businessman, one ethical issue to consider when negotiating a contract within Turkey is government intolerance of the freedom of expression. An example of this intolerance would be the prosecution of Orhan Pamuk for disputing the government version of the Armenian deaths caused by Turkish security forces during and after World War I (“Government Targets Turkish Novelist for Off-Limits Comments”, 2005). Business people operating in Turkey must be aware of how their expression is displayed, because of Turkish control in keeping any atrocities on migrates or refugees ordered by the government quiet to the global community.

Turkish citizens comprised the third largest group of asylum seekers in Europe in the mid 1990’s causing the European Union to become involved in making Turkey control migration rates in the country to prevent security risks that arise from the large population flows (Icduygu & Keyman, 2000, p. 11).

Globalization has drastically impacted Turkey’s migratory flows within the country. Turkey’s recent lack of migration policies have led to large volumes of people within the country to emigrate to Europe, as well as thousands of other migrants from various different regions to pass through the country to enter Europe (Icduygu & Keyman, 2000, p. 2).Turkey is known for its three major roles relating to global migration since its formation in 1923, which include the country being a recipient of large numbers of refugees, becoming a passage country for asylum seekers, and also being known for its lasting reputation of being a producer of migrates and refugees (Icduygu & Keyman, 2000, p. 6). Most of Turkey’s migration flows are from east to west or from south to north because of the many countries it borders, and its central position between Europe and Asia (Icduygu & Keyman, 2000, p. 10).

Women in Turkey are not better or worse off than women in our country. They are just different. In some ways they seem acquiescent to men; but they had a female supreme court justice before the United States did, and they have even has a female head of government, which we all know has not happened in the United States, The status of women in Turkey is dissimilar from what it is in your home country. Not "better," not "worse," but different. In some ways, women may seem subservient to men; but Turkey had a female supreme court justice long before the United States did, and Turkey has had a female head of government, something the USA, for all its success in women's liberation, has not yet had. (Varol, Gülgül, Padir, 2009)

Out of the millions of people who migrate to Turkey, only a few live there permanently. Most of the people migrating are seeking asylum from their country due to conflict regarding religion, ethnicity, or political issues (Icduygu & Keyman, 2000, p. 8). The two main groups migrating to Turkey have come from Iran and Iraq, which has greatly increased the Kurdish population of Turkey (Icduygu & Keyman, 2000, p. 8). Turkish citizens comprised the third largest group of asylum seekers in Europe in the mid- 1990’s causing the European Union to become involved, making Turkey control migration rates in the country to prevent safety measure risks that arise from the large inhabitant flows (Icduygu & Keyman, 2000, p. 11). The end results of globalization are produced by Turkey’s migration rates, which have created cultural integration and transformation to occur within the country making it more of a melting pot of various different ethnic groups.

Turkey’s ability to send, receive and take in refugees from various regions of the world have created the ineffective migration polices it has in place today. The constant levels of migration that Turkey allows will remain a security issue and continue to produce massive overflows of populations into the country.

As a Turkish citizen, I would want stronger policies on migration in order to stop some of the traffic streaming into and out of the country. The massive flows of various populations create a security risk for its citizens by migrants moving around so frequently. Having an effective migration policy would also provide more security for Europe, whose security risks is greater due to Turkey lax policies. Finally, decreasing the number of refugees accepted from other nations can help provide a more educated and developed environment for Turkish society by its not having to deal with so many impoverished people who all come from different ethnic backgrounds.

Each culture contains a different set of ethics, which can be defined as a system of moral principals or the rules of conduct required in order to be respectful to a the human actions or a specific group or culture. As a Turkish businessman, one ethical issue to consider when negotiating a contract within Turkey is government intolerance of the freedom of expression. An example of this intolerance would be the prosecution of Orhan Pamuk for disputing the government version of the Armenian deaths caused by Turkish security forces during and after World War I (“Government Targets Turkish Novelist for Off-Limits Comments”, 2005). Business people operating in Turkey must be aware of how their expression is displayed, because of Turkish control in keeping any atrocities on migrates or refugees ordered by the government quiet to the global community.

Turkish men and women work in the farming business, but this hard work continues to decline due to the rapid development of other modern industries and services (“Historical Background”, 2000). The Turkish government’s conception of economic reform over a span of fifteen years permitted for the increase of the private business segment, but this is the reason for its constant problems concerning price increases over the past few decades (“Historical Background”).

References:
Historical Background. (2000). Turkey Economic Studies. p. 137. Retrieved on
March 5, 2009 from Business Source Complete database.

Turkey’s Curriculum. (2005). Economist. 374 (8418). p. 15-16. Retrieved on February 28, 2009 from Business Source Complete database

Ethics Newsline. (2005). Government targets turkish novelists for off-limits comments.
Institute for Global Ethics. Retrieved on February 28, 2009 from www.globalethics.org/newsline/

Historical Background. (2000). Turkey Economic Studies. p. 137. Retrieved on
March 2, 2009 from Business Source Complete database.

Icduygu, A. & Keyman, E. (2000). Globalization, security, and migration: the case of Turkey. Global Governance. 6, (3). Retrieved on March 3, 2009 from
Business Source Complete database.

Turkey’s Curriculum. (2005). Economist. 374 (8418). p. 15-16. Retrieved on March 2, 2009 from Business Source Complete database.

Varol, Bahar, Gülgül, Sirma, Padir Sila, (2009).Women in Turkish Society. Retrieved from the World Wide Web on March 2, 2009. http://www.turkeytravelplanner.com/details/WomenTravelers/WomenInTkSociety.html

Holliway, R. (2007). Turkey/PKK. Retrieved on March 1, 2009 from Country
Watch database.