1. a) List the countries which border Turkey.
b) What is the capital of Turkey?
c) What type of government does Turkey have?
Answers can be found at the CIA World FactBook at cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/index.html under the entry for Turkey.

2. Read the "Background" about Turkey at the CIA World FactBook at cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/index.html.
What is the meaning of the name Ataturk?

3. a) For what reason did between 700,000 and 1 million Turks march in Istanbul yesterday?
b) How many people demonstrated for the same reason in Ankara two weeks ago?

4. How did Mr. Gul react to the protests?

5. a) What role has the Turkish military given itself?
b) What did the military declare in a formal statement it made shortly after the first round of voting for president?

6. OPTIONAL: Read an editorial on the Turkish protests at the British newspaper the Telegraph.  Do you agree with the writer? Why or why not?