Since 1923.
1923 - 1938 After taking the presidency of the Republic of Turkey, Atatürk would initiate reforms with the aim of westernising Turkey; these included: a secular government and education, introduction of the Latin alphabet and Gregorian calendar, equal rights for women, abolition of the caliphate and Sharia Law, introduction of western attire and adoption of surnames among many others.
November 10, 1938 The founder Mustafa Kemal Atatürk dies in Istanbul from cirrhosis of the liver. He is succeeded by Ismet Inonu, a former general who leads Turkey until the first democratic elections in 1950.
July 7, 1939 Province of Hatay joins Turkey.
1939 - 1945 Turkey stays neutral during World War II.
Between 25 June 1950 and 27 July 1953, Turkey was a part of the joint UN operation against North Korea during the Korean war.
Since the 1950's, Turkey hosted the USAF at the Incirlik Air Base as a deterrent against the Soviet Union.
April 27-28, 1961 Jupiter missile crisis: Turkey hosted American Jupiter missiles (nuclear) for an undisclosed period until the Cuban Missile Crisis, when the U.S. agreed to remove her nuclear missiles from Turkey in exchange for the Soviet Union removing her missiles from Cuba.
On May 27, 1960, the 1960 Coup d'Etat(1st "Darbe") took place due to the level of influence Islamists had gained in the nation. This clashed with the "separation of religion and state/goverment" which was one of the results of the clash between Inonu's republican party and his opponents, president Celal Bayar and prime minister Adnan Menderes, both former republican party members. Prime minister Adnan Menderes was held responsible and executed.
On October 1965, military rule dissolved back into civilian, the political system was reestablished, and a new consitution was drafted that reaffirmed the "separation of religion and state/goverment".
On March 12, 1971, military officials intervened, instead of taking over the goverment, forced an advisory comittee due to the increasing anarchical situation caused by the Right (fascist/capitalist) - Left (communist) clash and ineffective policies in maintaining order. Although the military were not in charge they had significant influence.
In 1974, Turkey invades Cyprus in response to an Athens backed coup of the island (see Cyprus dispute). Turkey maintains a garisson in the de facto TRNC.
On September 12, 1980, the 1980 Coup d'Etat (2nd "Darbe") took place, ending a long bloodshed of anarchical situation due to the Right (fascist/capitalist) - Left (communist) clash, and was welcomed by the general population, martial laws were almost immediately established and 25% of the military (about 475,000) were mobilised to settle the anarchical situation.
On November 6, 1983, military rule dissolved and removed itself from the political scene after the reestablishment of a new "1982 Constitution".
Between 1970 and 1983, international terrorism by the Armenian terrorist organisation ASALA. Attacks start with assassinating Turkish diplomats and bombing consulates in the USA and Europe, airports in Paris and Ankara, the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul, in an attempt to force the Turkish government to acknowledge that it committed "genocide against Armenians" in 1915. The organization ceases to exist after the Turkish secret service assassinates ASALA leaders.
Between 1984 and 1999, Turkey suffered terrorism again, primarily in form of PKK terrorism. Capture of Abdullah Öcalan, the leader of the terrorist organisation, resumed the conflict.
Since the ending of the 1991 Persian Gulf War, Incirlik Air Base enforced the Northern no-fly zone of Iraq.
Between 24 March and 10 June 1999, Turkey was a part of the joint NATO operation, 1999 Kosovo War, in the Balkans to end a brutal civil war in the region that used to be Yugoslavia.
Between June 2002 and February 2003, Turkey assumed command of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan.
On December 17, 2004, the European Union (EU) agrees to begin negotiations on the eventual accession of Turkey.
On February 14, 2005, Turkey assumed command of the ISAF in Afghanistan for a second time.
Since the start of Operation Iraqi Freedom, Turkey had been extremely concerned with the developments in Northern Iraq.
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