|
Poland |
Turkey |
Country name |
conventional long form: Republic of Poland conventional short form: Poland local long form: Rzeczpospolita Polska local short form: Polska etymology: name derives from the Polanians, a west Slavic tribe that united several surrounding Slavic groups (9th-10th centuries A.D.) and who passed on their name to the country; the name of the tribe likely comes from the Slavic "pole" (field or plain), indicating the flat nature of their country |
conventional long form: Republic of Turkey conventional short form: Turkey local long form: Turkiye Cumhuriyeti local short form: Turkiye etymology: the name means "Land of the Turks" |
Government type |
parliamentary republic |
parliamentary republic |
Capital |
name: Warsaw geographic coordinates: 52 15 N, 21 00 E time difference: UTC+1 (6 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time) daylight saving time: +1hr, begins last Sunday in March; ends last Sunday in October |
name: Ankara geographic coordinates: 39 56 N, 32 52 E time difference: UTC+2 (7 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time) |
Administrative divisions |
16 provinces (wojewodztwa, singular - wojewodztwo); Dolnoslaskie (Lower Silesia), Kujawsko-Pomorskie (Kuyavia-Pomerania), Lodzkie (Lodz), Lubelskie (Lublin), Lubuskie (Lubusz), Malopolskie (Lesser Poland), Mazowieckie (Masovia), Opolskie (Opole), Podkarpackie (Subcarpathia), Podlaskie, Pomorskie (Pomerania), Slaskie (Silesia), Swietokrzyskie (Holy Cross), Warminsko-Mazurskie (Warmia-Masuria), Wielkopolskie (Greater Poland), Zachodniopomorskie (West Pomerania) |
81 provinces (iller, singular - ili); Adana, Adiyaman, Afyonkarahisar, Agri, Aksaray, Amasya, Ankara, Antalya, Ardahan, Artvin, Aydin, Balikesir, Bartin, Batman, Bayburt, Bilecik, Bingol, Bitlis, Bolu, Burdur, Bursa, Canakkale, Cankiri, Corum, Denizli, Diyarbakir, Duzce, Edirne, Elazig, Erzincan, Erzurum, Eskisehir, Gaziantep, Giresun, Gumushane, Hakkari, Hatay, Igdir, Isparta, Istanbul, Izmir (Smyrna), Kahramanmaras, Karabuk, Karaman, Kars, Kastamonu, Kayseri, Kilis, Kirikkale, Kirklareli, Kirsehir, Kocaeli, Konya, Kutahya, Malatya, Manisa, Mardin, Mersin, Mugla, Mus, Nevsehir, Nigde, Ordu, Osmaniye, Rize, Sakarya, Samsun, Sanliurfa, Siirt, Sinop, Sirnak, Sivas, Tekirdag, Tokat, Trabzon (Trebizond), Tunceli, Usak, Van, Yalova, Yozgat, Zonguldak |
Independence |
11 November 1918 (republic proclaimed); notable earlier dates: 966 (adoption of Christianity, traditional founding date), 1 July 1569 (Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth created) |
29 October 1923 (republic proclaimed succeeding the Ottoman Empire) |
National holiday |
Constitution Day, 3 May (1791) |
Republic Day, 29 October (1923) |
Constitution |
history: several previous; latest adopted 2 April 1997, approved by referendum 25 May 1997, effective 17 October 1997 amendments: proposed by at least one-fifth of Sejm deputies, by the Senate, or by the president of the republic; passage requires at least two-thirds majority vote in the Sejm and absolute majority vote in the Senate; amendments to articles relating to sovereignty, personal freedoms, and constitutional amendment procedures also require passage by majority vote in a referendum; amended 2006, 2009, 2015 (2016) |
history: several previous; latest ratified 9 November 1982 amendments: proposed by written consent of at least one-third of Grand National Assembly (GNA) members; adoption of draft amendments requires two debates in plenary GNA session and three-fifths majority vote of all GNA members; the president of the republic can request GNA reconsideration of the amendment and, if readopted by two-thirds majority GNA vote, the president may submit the amendment to a referendum; passage by referendum requires absolute majority vote; amended several times, last in 2017 (2018) |
Legal system |
civil law system; judicial review of legislative, administrative, and other governmental acts; constitutional law rulings of the Constitutional Tribunal are final |
civil law system based on various European legal systems, notably the Swiss civil code |
International law organization participation |
accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction with reservations; accepts ICCt jurisdiction |
has not submitted an ICJ jurisdiction declaration; non-party state to the ICCt |
Citizenship |
citizenship by birth: no citizenship by descent only: both parents must be citizens of Poland dual citizenship recognized: no residency requirement for naturalization: 5 years |
citizenship by birth: no citizenship by descent only: at least one parent must be a citizen of Turkey dual citizenship recognized: yes, but requires prior permission from the government residency requirement for naturalization: 5 years |
Suffrage |
18 years of age; universal |
18 years of age; universal |
Executive branch |
chief of state: President Andrzej DUDA (since 6 August 2015) head of government: Prime Minister Mateusz MORAWIECKI (since 11 December 2017); Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Culture and National Heritage Piotr GLINSKI (since 16 November 2015), Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Science and Higher Education Jaroslaw GOWIN (since 16 November 2015), Beata SZYDLO, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Social Policy (since 11 December 2017) cabinet: Council of Ministers proposed by the prime minister, appointed by the president, and approved by the Sejm elections/appointments: president directly elected by absolute majority popular vote in 2 rounds if needed for a 5-year term (eligible for a second term); election last held on 10 May 2015 with a second round on 24 May 2015 (next to be held in May 2020); prime minister, deputy prime ministers, and Council of Ministers appointed by the president and confirmed by the Sejm election results: Andrzej DUDA elected president in second round; percent of vote - Andrzej DUDA (independent) 51.5%, Bronislaw KOMOROWSKI (independent) 48.5% |
chief of state: President Recep Tayyip ERDOGAN (since 10 August 2014) head of government: Prime Minister Binali YILDIRIM (since 22 May 2016); Deputy Prime Ministers Recep AKDAG (since 20 July 2017), Bekir BOZDAG (since 20 July 2017), Hakan CAVUSOGLU (since 20 July 2017), Fikri ISIK (since 20 July 2017), Mehmet SIMSEK (since 24 November 2015) cabinet: Council of Ministers nominated by the prime minister, appointed by the president (until the next parliamentary or presidential election following the April 2017 referendum) elections/appointments: president directly elected by absolute majority popular vote in 2 rounds if needed for a 5-year term (eligible for a second term); prime minister appointed by the president from among members of parliament; note - a 2007 constitutional amendment changed the presidential electoral process to direct popular vote; prime minister appointed by the president from among members of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey; election last held on 10 August 2014 (next to be held on 24 June 2018) election results: Recep Tayyip ERDOGAN elected president; Recep Tayyip ERDOGAN (AKP) 51.8%, Ekmeleddin IHSANOGLU (independent) 38.4%, Selahattin DEMIRTAS (HDP) 9.8% |
Legislative branch |
description: bicameral legislature consists of the Senate or Senat (100 seats; members directly elected in single-seat constituencies by simple majority vote to serve 4-year terms) and the Sejm (460 seats; members directly elected in multi-seat constituencies by party-list proportional representation vote with a 5% threshold of total votes cast for a party to gain a seat; members serve 4-year terms); note - the designation National Assembly or Zgromadzenie Narodowe is only used on those rare occasions when the 2 houses meet jointly note: all minorities are exempt from the 5% threshold requirement for seats to the Sejm elections: Senate - last held on 25 October 2015 (next to be held in October or November 2019); Sejm - last held on 25 October 2015 (next to be held in October or November 2019) election results: Senate - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - PiS 61, PO 34, PSL 1, independent 4; Sejm - percent of vote by party - PiS 37.6%, PO 24.1%, K15 8.8%, N 7.6%, PSL 5.1% other 16.8%; seats by party - PiS 235, PO 138, K15 42, N 28, PSL 16, German minority 1 |
description: unicameral Grand National Assembly of Turkey or Turkiye Buyuk Millet Meclisi (550 seats - will increase to 600 at November 2018 election); members directly elected in multi-seat constituencies by proportional representation vote to serve 4-year terms - term increased to 5 years beginning with November 2018 election) elections: last held on 1 November 2015 (next to be held on 24 June 2018) election results: percent of vote by party - AKP 49.5%, CHP 25.3%, MHP 11.9%, HDP 10.8%, other 2.5%; seats by party - AKP 317, CHP 134, HDP 59, MHP 40, ; note - only parties surpassing the 10% threshold can win parliamentary seats |
Judicial branch |
highest court(s): Supreme Court or Sad Najwyzszy (consists of the president of the Supreme Court and 116 justices organized in criminal, civil, labor and social insurance, and military chambers) judge selection and term of office: president of the Supreme Court nominated by the General Assembly of the Supreme Court and selected by the president of Poland; other judges nominated by the 25-member National Judiciary Council, and appointed by the president of Poland; judges appointed until retirement, usually at age 65, but tenure can be extended subordinate courts: Constitutional Tribunal; State Tribunal; administrative courts; regional and appellate courts subdivided into military, civil, criminal, labor, and family courts |
highest court: Constitutional Court or Anayasa Mahkemesi (consists of 17 members - a constitutional referendum held in 2017 approved an amendment to reduce to 15 from 17 the number of Constitutional Court judges); Court of Cassation (consists of about 390 judges and is organized into civil and penal chambers); Council of State (organized into 15 divisions - 14 judicial and 1 consultative - each with a division head and at least 5 members) judge selection and term of office: Constitutional Court members - 3 appointed by the Grand National Assembly and 12 by the president of the republic; court president and 2 deputy presidents appointed from among its members for 4-year terms; judges appointed for 12-year, nonrenewable terms with mandatory retirement at age 65; Court of Cassation judges appointed by the Board of Judges and Prosecutors, a 13-member body of judicial officials; Court of Cassation judges appointed until retirement at age 65; Council of State members appointed by the Board and by the president of the republic; members appointed for renewable, 4-year terms subordinate courts: regional appeals courts; basic (first instance) courts, peace courts; military courts; state security courts; specialized courts, including administrative and audit; note - a constitutional amendment in 2017 abolished military courts unless established to investigate military personnel actions during war conditions |
Political parties and leaders |
Civic Platform or PO [Grzegorz SCHETYNA] Democratic Left Alliance or SLD [Wlodzimierz CZARZASTY] German Minority of Lower Silesia or MNSO [Ryszard GALLA] Kukiz 15 or K15 [Pawel KUKIZ] Law and Justice or PiS [Jaroslaw KACZYNSKI] Liberty (formerly the Coalition for the Renewal of the Republic-Liberty and Hope or KORWiN) [Janusz KORWIN-MIKKE] Nowoczesna ("Modern") or N [Katarzyna LUBNAUER] Polish People's Party or PSL [Wladyslaw KOSINIAK-KAMYSZ] Razem (Together) [collective leadership] |
Democrat Party or DP [Gultekin UYSAL] Democratic Left Party or DSP [Onder AKSAKAL] Felicity Party or SP [Temel KARAMOLLAOGLU] Good Party or IYI [Meral AKSENER] Grand Unity Party or BBP [Mustafa DESTICI] Justice and Development Party or AKP [Recep Tayyip ERDOGAN] Nationalist Movement Party or MHP [Devlet BAHCELI] Patriotic Party or VP [Dogu PERINCEK] People's Democratic Party or HDP [Selahattin DEMIRTAS and Serpil KEMALBAY]; note - DEMIRTAS was detained by Turkish authorities in November 2016 over his alleged links to the PKK Republican People's Party or CHP [Kemal KILICDAROGLU] True Path Party or DYP [Cetin OZACIRGOZ] |
Political pressure groups and leaders |
All Poland Trade Union Alliance or OPZZ [Jan GUZ] (trade union) Independent Self-Governing Trade Union or Solidarity [Piotr DUDA] Roman Catholic Church [Archbishop Wojciech POLAK, Archbishop Stanislaw GADECKI] |
Confederation of Public Sector Unions or KESK [Mehmet BOZGEYIK, Aysun GEZEN, cochairs] Confederation of Revolutionary Workers Unions or DISK [Kani BEKO] Independent Industrialists' and Businessmen's Association or MUSIAD [Abfuttahman KAAN] Moral Rights Workers Union or Hak-Is [Mahmut ARSLAN] Turkish Confederation of Employer Associations or TISK [Kudret ONEN] Turkish Confederation of Labor Unions or Turk-Is [Ergun ATALAY] Turkish Confederation of Tradesmen and Craftsmen or TESK [Bendevi PALANDOKEN] Turkish Industrialists' and Businessmen's Association or TUSIAD [Erol BILECIK] Turkish Union of Chambers of Commerce and Commodity Exchanges or TOBB [M. Rifat HISARCIKLIOGLU] |
International organization participation |
Arctic Council (observer), Australia Group, BIS, BSEC (observer), CBSS, CD, CE, CEI, CERN, EAPC, EBRD, ECB, EIB, ESA, EU, FAO, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC (national committees), ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, ITUC (NGOs), MIGA, MONUSCO, NATO, NEA, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OIF (observer), OPCW, OSCE, PCA, Schengen Convention, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNMIL, UNMISS, UNOCI, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WFTU (NGOs), WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO, ZC |
ADB (nonregional member), Australia Group, BIS, BSEC, CBSS (observer), CD, CE, CERN (observer), CICA, CPLP (associate observer), D-8, EAPC, EBRD, ECO, EU (candidate country), FAO, FATF, G-20, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC (national committees), ICRM, IDA, IDB, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, ITUC (NGOs), MIGA, NATO, NEA, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OIC, OPCW, OSCE, Pacific Alliance (observer), Paris Club (associate), PCA, PIF (partner), SCO (dialogue member), SELEC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNIFIL, UNRWA, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WFTU (NGOs), WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO, ZC |
Diplomatic representation in the US |
chief of mission: Ambassador Piotr Antoni WILCZEK (since 18 January 2017) chancery: 2640 16th Street NW, Washington, DC 20009 telephone: [1] (202) 499-1700 FAX: [1] (202) 328-6271 consulate(s) general: Chicago, Los Angeles, New York |
chief of mission: Ambassador Serdar KILIC (since 21 May 2014) chancery: 2525 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 612-6700 FAX: [1] (202) 612-6744 consulate(s) general: Boston, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York |
Diplomatic representation from the US |
chief of mission: Ambassador Paul Wayne JONES (since 7 October 2015) embassy: Aleje Ujazdowskie 29/31 00-540 Warsaw mailing address: American Embassy Warsaw, US Department of State, Washington, DC 20521-5010 (pouch) telephone: [48] (22) 504-2000 FAX: [48] (22) 504-2688 consulate(s) general: Krakow |
chief of mission: Ambassador (vacant); Charge d'Affairs Philip KOSNETT (since 16 October 2017) embassy: 110 Ataturk Boulevard, Kavaklidere, 06100 Ankara mailing address: PSC 93, Box 5000, APO AE 09823 telephone: [90] (312) 455-5555 FAX: [90] (312) 467-0019 consulate(s) general: Istanbul consulate(s): Adana |
Flag description |
two equal horizontal bands of white (top) and red; colors derive from the Polish emblem - a white eagle on a red field note: similar to the flags of Indonesia and Monaco which are red (top) and white |
red with a vertical white crescent moon (the closed portion is toward the hoist side) and white five-pointed star centered just outside the crescent opening; the flag colors and designs closely resemble those on the banner of the Ottoman Empire, which preceded modern-day Turkey; the crescent moon and star serve as insignia for Turkic peoples; according to one interpretation, the flag represents the reflection of the moon and a star in a pool of blood of Turkish warriors |
National symbol(s) |
white crowned eagle; national colors: white, red |
star and crescent; national colors: red, white |
National anthem |
name: "Mazurek Dabrowskiego" (Dabrowski's Mazurka) lyrics/music: Jozef WYBICKI/traditional note: adopted 1927; the anthem, commonly known as "Jeszcze Polska nie zginela" (Poland Has Not Yet Perished), was written in 1797; the lyrics resonate strongly with Poles because they reflect the numerous occasions in which the nation's lands have been occupied |
name: "Istiklal Marsi" (Independence March) lyrics/music: Mehmet Akif ERSOY/Zeki UNGOR note: lyrics adopted 1921, music adopted 1932; the anthem's original music was adopted in 1924; a new composition was agreed upon in 1932 |