100th year of Turkish Republic: What has Türkiye achieved?

This year’s anniversary of the proclamation of the Republic of Türkiye, celebrated on October 29 every year, has a symbolic meaning. Marking the 100th year of the Republic, the anniversary is a milestone to take stock of where the Republic has reinforced its independence and developmental goals over time, and where it is headed.

Going back in time, Ataturk had officially declared the name of the nation and proclaimed its status as a republic 0n October 29, 1923. Afterwards, there was a vote in the Grand National Assembly and Ataturk was unanimously elected the first president of the Republic of Türkiye.

Since then, Türkiye has celebrated Republic Day every October 29, across all provinces and abroad.

This year’s celebrations will focus on layers of development that have been built over the foundations of the Republic.

Here’s a brief account of key developments of these 100 years:

Secure elections

Foremost among the achievements is the stabilisation of the democratic system, which has faced many obstacles in the past, from military coups to closure of political parties and issues of representation in Parliament.

The country managed to conduct largely democratic elections following its transition to a multi-party system in 1950. By March 2023, when the latest round of elections were held in Türkiye, the number of political parties had risen to 126.

Diversification in political representation

With women granted full political rights in 1934, their representation in the Parliament hit a high in the May 2023 elections, reaching 121 women MPs.

With the age limit for contesting polls reduced to 18 in 2017, the entry of young candidates into Türkiye’s Parliament has also diversified the age range of representatives.

In addition, voter turnouts have increased dramatically. The last presidential elections recorded a 87.05% turnout in the first round and 84.15% in the second round.

Adopting presidential system and electoral alliance law

In the referendum of 2017, the parliamentary system was changed to a presidential model, following a prior move to formalise the election of presidents by popular vote.

In 2021, the electoral alliance law was passed, allowing smaller parties to form blocks or alliances. This helped these parties to pass the 7% threshold for participation, which itself was reduced from 10%.

Together, these moves led to a diversification of the political landscape, as the Turkish Republic headed towards its centenary.

The first electric car: TOGG

A politically stable Turkish Republic paved the way for technological innovations in automotive, defence and energy sectors.

Strengthening the independence of the Turkish state, innovations led to many successes in the international arena, while contributing to development of domestic industries.

Türkiye’s 60-year dream, the first electric car, TOGG, was introduced in 2019, which is a significant symbol of the country’s advancement in hi-tech.

Breakthroughs in defence and increasing security

Another area where Türkiye achieved breakthrough advancements in its bid to be independent was in manufacturing cutting-edge counter terrorism measures and technology through the development and export of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and unmanned combat aerial vehicles (UCAVs). This has also increased its security in what is a volatile region.

In the past two decades, Türkiye’s defence sector has reduced its foreign dependency from 80% to 20%.

Now, within a short time, Türkiye has also diversified the range of such products. There are Bayraktar TB-3, Kizilelma, Akinci drones, attack helicopters, naval systems, battle tank, combat aircraft and air defence systems, while the world’s first armed drone carrier TCG Anadolu is already in the Turkish Republic’s inventory in its 100th year.

Having modernised and strengthened its armed forces, Türkiye recorded high achievements in its fight against terrorism by the PKK/YPG, recently hitting targets of the terrorist organisation in northern Iraq and northern Syria.

National space programme

Türkiye also established the Turkish Space Agency in 2018, and launched its own national space programme in 2019.

Launching its first indigenous high-resolution Earth observation satellite IMECE into space, it continues its space research and exploration studies.

Energy security and investment in renewable energy sources

As part of its effort to be strategically autonomous and independent, Türkiye has increased energy exploration, search and exercise activities in the Black Sea, and for the first time, pumped domestically produced Black Sea natural gas into its national system.

To diversify its energy resources, Türkiye has also invested in renewable energy and initiated the building of a nuclear power plant in Mersin.

By October this year, Türkiye has produced 11,602 megawatts of wind power too, while launching its first offshore wind farms.

Through all its initiatives in clean energy, Türkiye’s total installed renewable energy capacity now stands fifth in Europe and twelfth in the world.

Agriculture

As one of the world's most significant agricultural producers, Türkiye has consistently ensured the security of food supply throughout the 100-year history of the Republic.

The country adapted technological innovations in the sector and initiated policies to ease the migration from rural to urban areas, while encouraging domestic production. After going through many transformations, especially in the last 20 years, Türkiye’s agriculture sector is now among the 10 largest in the world.

Agricultural production leapfrogged to over $56 billion in 2022 from $24.48 billion in 2002. These values get reflected in increasing exports, which have hit an all-time record with $34.2 billion in 2022.

Railway networks

Throughout its 100-year history, the republic heavily invested in railway networks. From 7,671 km in 1950, the network expanded to 10,940 km in 2002, reaching 13,919 km in 2023.

After 2002, the focus turned towards high-speed lines, 2,251 km of which have been built so far.

The "Development Road” project is the latest initiative by Türkiye to connect with Iraq via railways, roads, ports and cities.

Pipelines

In addition to these networks connecting many cities of Türkiye, many pipelines have been built to facilitate transport of oil, natural gas and other energy resources. From Azerbaijan to Türkiye and Europe, from Georgia to Türkiye, from Russia to Türkiye, from Iraq to Türkiye — these pipelines have strengthened energy security of the country while contributing to energy cooperation and guaranteeing the flow of energy supply to international markets.