Straddling the continents of Europe and Asia, Turkey's strategic location has given it major influence in the region - and control over the entrance to the Black Sea. OVERVIEW

After years of mounting difficulties which brought the country close to economic collapse, a tough recovery programme was agreed with the IMF in 2002. Since then, Turkey has seen impressive progress. Economic growth has averaged over 5% and inflation has fallen dramatically. However, the country's huge foreign debt remains a major burden.

 Turkey's powerful military - which has traditionally seen itself as the guardian of the secular system - has a long history of involvement in the country's politics. It was behind the removal of the first Islamist government in 1997. More recently, as Ankara has set its sights on European Union membership, the influence of the military has been restricted.

It became an official EU candidate country in 1999 but was told that there would have to be progress on human rights and economic reform. The country has since abolished the death penalty and introduced tougher measures against torture and other reforms to the penal code. It has brought in significant civil and other rights reforms, including in the areas of women's rights and Kurdish culture, language education and broadcasting.

In December 2004, after two days of intense bargaining in Brussels, EU leaders agreed to open talks in October 2005 on Turkey's membership of the union. The breakthrough came after Turkey agreed that it would recognise Cyprus as an EU member by the start date of the talks. The accession negotiations will be open-ended, with no guaranteed outcome.

The east and southeast of Turkey saw years of civil war in the 1980s and 1990s between Turkish forces and those of the secessionist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in which over 30,000 people died.

The PKK announced in 1999 that it intended to switch to peaceful campaigning, although the Turkish authorities dismissed the move as a sham. The organization has since changed its name to the Congress for Freedom and Democracy in Kurdistan (Kadek) and subsequently to Kongra-Gel.

 Kurdish secessionists have threatened more than once, most recently in early summer 2004, to end their cease-fire following what they called annihilation operations against their fighters by the Turkish authorities. They also continue to demand greater political and cultural rights for the Kurdish community.

FACTS

• Population: 73.3 million (UN, 2005)
• Capital: Ankara Area: 779,452 sq km (300,948 sq miles)
• Major language: Turkish
• Major religion: Islam
• Life expectancy: 68 years (men), 73 years (women)(UN)
• Monetary unit: New Turkish lira
• Main exports: Fruit and vegetables, textiles and clothing, iron and steel
• GNI per capita: US $2,790 (World Bank, 2003)
• Internet domain: .tr
• International dialling code: +90

LEADERS

President: Ahmet Necdet Sezer

When Ahmet Necdet Sezer was sworn in in May 2000 he became the first president in modern Turkish history who was neither an active politician nor a military commander.

 President Ahmet Necdet Sezer Mr Sezer, previously the chief justice of the constitutional court, is regarded as a secularist, a factor in his favour in the eyes of Turkey's powerful military.

The veteran civil servant caused a stir in 1999 when he made a speech criticising Turkey's constitution - introduced after a military coup in 1980 - as restricting democratic rights and freedoms.

Some observers see his support for greater freedom of expression as a potential positive in Turkey's bid to convince the EU that it is making efforts to improve its record in this area.

Prime minister: Recep Tayyip Erdogan

Mr Erdogan, leader of the Islamist-based Justice and Development Party (AK), became prime minister several months after his party's landslide election victory in November 2002.

Prime Minister Erdogan He had been barred from standing in those elections because of a previous criminal conviction for reading an Islamist poem at a political rally, an action deemed to amount to Islamist sedition and for which he served several months in jail.

In Turkey the prime minister must also be a member of parliament. AK deputy leader Abdullah Gul took on the premiership in the months following the elections, but with Mr Erdogan playing a prominent role, particularly in foreign visits.

Soon after the elections changes to the constitution paved the way for Mr Erdogan to run for parliament in a by-election. He was elected an MP in March 2003. Within days Mr Gul resigned, leaving the way clear for Mr Erdogan to become prime minister.

For many poor Turks, he is something of a working class hero although critics are dismissive of what they see as his populism. From a poor background, he worked as a street seller to help pay for an education. He attended Koranic school before studying economics at university.

As mayor of Istanbul in the mid 1990s he banned alcohol in official muncipal buildings and won popularity for improving services. In 1997 the military became alarmed over what it saw as a threat to Turkey's secularism. Erbakan's Welfare Party was banned and he was forced to resign.

Although his new AK party has Islamist roots Mr Erdogan insists that it is committed to secularism, something which the military will watch closely.

He has identified EU entry as a top priority and has promised reforms designed to bring Turkey more closely into line with entry requirements. Mr Erdogan has predicted that Turkey could join in 2012 if these reforms are carried through.

• Foreign minister: Abdullah Gul
• Interior minister: Abdulkadir Aksu
• Finance minister: Kemal Unakitan

MEDIA

Turkey's airwaves are lively, with some 300 private TV stations and more than 1,000 private radio stations competing with the services of the state broadcaster, TRT.

 For Turkish journalists, the subjects of the military, Kurds and political Islam are highly sensitive and can lead to arrest and criminal prosecution. Media watchdogs and rights groups report that journalists have been imprisoned, or attacked by police. It is also common for radio and TV stations to have their broadcasts suspended for airing sensitive material.

Some of the most repressive sanctions against journalists have been lifted as part of reforms intended to meet EU entry requirements. But the Paris-based watchdog Reporters Without Borders noted in 2004 that the gap between declared good intentions and reality remained wide.

Kurdish-language broadcasts, banned for many years, were introduced by the state broadcaster in June 2004 as a part of reforms intended to meet EU criteria on minorities. Some overseas-based Kurdish TV channels broadcast via satellite.

The press

• Hurriyet - mass-circulation daily
• Milliyet - mass-circulation daily
• Cumhuriyet - left-wing daily
• Turkish Daily News - English-language
• Zaman - English-language web version of daily
• Yeni Asir - daily
• Sabah - daily

Television

• Turkish Radio and Television (TRT) - state broadcaster, operates four national networks
• Star TV - private, the first station to break state TV's monopoly
• Show TV - private, widely-watched network
• Kanal D - private, widely-watched network
• ATV - private
• TGRT - private
• NTV - private
• CNN Turk - Turkish offshoot of well-known news channel

Radio

• Turkish Radio and Television (TRT) - state broadcaster, services include cultural/educational network TRT 1, popular music network TRT 3 and Turkish folk/classical music station TRT 4
• Show Radyo - commercial
• Capital Radio - commercial, pop music
• Radyo Foreks - news station .