Economic Freedom Summary Index, Economic Freedom of the World, 25 Sep 2025
2023 overall score: 5.44, rank: 139
Territory in southwest Asia and southeast Europe, ruled since 1923 by the Türkiye Cumhuriyeti
Turkey (Turkish: Türkiye), officially the Republic of Turkey (Turkish: Türkiye Cumhuriyeti), is a transcontinental country in Eurasia, located mainly in western Asia, with a smaller portion on the Balkan peninsula in southeastern Europe. Turkey is bordered by eight countries: Greece and Bulgaria to the northwest; Georgia to the northeast; Armenia, the Azerbaijani exclave of Nakhchivan and Iran to the east; and Iraq and Syria to the south. The country is encircled by seas on three sides, with the Aegean Sea to the west, the Black Sea to the north and the Mediterranean Sea to the south. The Bosphorus, the Sea of Marmara and the Dardanelles, which together form the Turkish Straits, divide Thrace and Anatolia and separate Europe from Asia. Ankara is the capital while Istanbul is the country's largest city and main cultural and commercial center, classified as a leading global city.
Geographical type: Territory
Latitude: 39° N — Longitude: 35° E
Area: 783,356 km²
ISO 3166-2 code: TR
Measures of Freedom
Human Freedom Index [PDF], The Human Freedom Index 2023: A Global Measurement of Personal, Civil, and Economic Freedom
2021: 5.63, Rank: 128, Personal freedom: 5.14, Economic freedom: 6.32
2021: 5.63, Rank: 128, Personal freedom: 5.14, Economic freedom: 6.32
Turkey: Country Profile, Freedom in the World, 2025
Status: Not Free, Aggregate Score: 33/100, Political Rights: 17/40, Civil Liberties: 16/60
Status: Not Free, Aggregate Score: 33/100, Political Rights: 17/40, Civil Liberties: 16/60
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, whose Justice and Development Party (AKP) has ruled Turkey since 2002, has become increasingly authoritarian over the past decade, consolidating power through constitutional changes and the imprisonment of political opponents, independent journalists, and members of civil society. The AKP has responded to recent economic challenges and municipal election defeats by intensifying its efforts to suppress dissent and limit public discourse.
Articles
But Foreign Aid Is Bribery! And Blackmail, Extortion, and Theft Too!, by Jacob G. Hornberger, 26 Sep 2003
Comments on Ted Kennedy's observation that U.S. foreign aid was being used as bribery, expanding to discuss other perverse and destructive consequences of such aid programs
Comments on Ted Kennedy's observation that U.S. foreign aid was being used as bribery, expanding to discuss other perverse and destructive consequences of such aid programs
The ... truth is that foreign aid is ... an integral and perverse part of the U.S. government's morally bankrupt foreign policy ... its primary purpose is to bribe, blackmail, and extort foreign regimes into doing Washington's bidding ... Kennedy's use of Turkey is, of course, a perfect example. Prior to its invasion of Iraq, the U.S. government offered Turkey $26 billion to permit the United States to use Turkey as a base of operations to invade Iraq from the north. When the Turkish parliament voted against the proposal, Turkey didn't get the money. If that's not a bribe, what is it?
Related Topics: Foreign entanglements, Yemen
The introductory paragraph uses material from the Wikipedia article "Turkey" as of 2 Oct 2018, which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0.