Turkey's powerful military - which has traditionally seen itself as the guardian of the secular system - has a long history of involvement in the country's politics. It was behind the removal of the first Islamist government in 1997. More recently, as Ankara has set its sights on European Union membership, the influence of the military has been restricted.
It became an official EU candidate country in 1999 but was told that there would have to be progress on human rights and economic reform. The country has since abolished the death penalty and introduced tougher measures against torture and other reforms to the penal code. It has brought in significant civil and other rights reforms, including in the areas of women's rights and Kurdish culture, language education and broadcasting.
In December 2004, after two days of intense bargaining in Brussels, EU leaders agreed to open talks in October 2005 on Turkey's membership of the union. The breakthrough came after Turkey agreed that it would recognize Cyprus as an EU member by the start date of the talks.
Prime minister: Recep Tayyip Erdogan
Mr Erdogan, leader of the Islamist-based Justice and Development Party (AK), became prime minister several months after his party's landslide election victory in November 2002.
He had been barred from standing in those elections because of a previous criminal conviction for reading an Islamist poem at a political rally, an action deemed to amount to Islamist sedition and for which he served several months in jail.
In Turkey the prime minister must also be a member of parliament. AK deputy leader Abdullah Gul took on the premiership in the months following the elections, but with Mr Erdogan playing a prominent role, particularly in foreign visits.
Soon after the elections changes to the constitution paved the way for Mr. Erdogan to run for parliament in a by-election. He was elected an MP in March 2003. Within days Mr. Gul resigned, leaving the way clear for Mr. Erdogan to become prime minister.
For many poor Turks, he is something of a working class hero although critics are dismissive of what they see as his populism. From a poor background, he worked as a street seller to help pay for an education. He attended Koranic school before studying economics at university.
As mayor of Istanbul in the mid 1990s he banned alcohol in official municipal buildings and won popularity for improving services. In 1997 the military became alarmed over what it saw as a threat to Turkey's secularism. Erbakan's Welfare Party was banned and he was forced to resign.
Although his new AK party has Islamist roots Mr. Erdogan insists that it is committed to secularism, something that the military will watch closely.
He has identified EU entry as a top priority and has promised reforms designed to bring Turkey more closely into line with entry requirements. Mr. Erdogan has predicted that Turkey could join in 2012 if these reforms are carried through.
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