Turkey Blog #13. Deforestation and Turkey.

Turkey Blog #13. Deforestation and Turkey.

China's buying up most of the wood from tropical forests to make chopsticks and
newspapers is a modern example of how global commerce is influencing tropical
deforestation to this day. The need of raw materials drives the incentive to cut down
more and more rich bio-diverse forests. Besides raw materials, certain goods like palm
oil and beef need large amounts of land to meet demand. Forests are being bought up
and cleared so that farmers and ranchers can start making money off crops and
livestock. The demand for these goods is so great because it comes from global
sources with large populations.
The deforestation of Turkey is not only brought out because of the potential land
profit, but also because the large population of Istanbul needs to spread outward.
Populations in large cities are another contributing factor to tropical deforestation, as the
population grows the city must expand outward with suburbs. Sometimes smaller cities
can develop out of larger ones, as is the case in Turkey with the city of Istanbul. The
government of Turkey has announced that they will start large scale projects, such as
bridges and sub cities for the urban area around Istanbul. The Black Sea Forest will
have 1.6 million trees cut down for the new bridge and road.

(Figure 2­ Deforestation of the Black Sea Forest)

Deforestation is a concern for the Turkish people and environment, one biologist
named Dr. Aykut Kence had this today about this issue. “There is an attempt to change
the constitution of Turkey to allow for the sale of lands that were once classified as
forests… The government of Turkey expects to receive billions of dollars of income by
selling off these once protected lands… In the long run, the deforestation of Turkey will
have important consequences for the country and the environment… Deforestation
causes a chain reaction which reduces the biodiversity of Turkey’s land.”Turkey has been trying to implement environmental policies since the 1950’s. In
1997 the “rules of the convention of biological diversity” have been a driving force for
the country. But in recent years things have started to turn around. While Turkey does
not have any tropical forests, its landscape is 13.22% forest at about 10,175,000
Hectares.

Figure 1. In green are areas of Forest in Turkey.

Text sources

Butler, Rhett. "Turkey." Forest Data: Deforestation Rates and Related Forestry Figures.
Mongabay.com, 2006. Web. 03 Dec. 2014.
<http://rainforests.mongabay.com/deforestation/archive/Turkey.htm>.

Nigros, J. E. "Environment and Ecology." Turkey: "May Our Forests Never Thin Out"
Enviorment­Ecology.com, n.d. Web. 03 Dec. 2014.
<http://environment­ecology.com/biodiversity/291­turkey­may­our­forests­never­thin­out­.html
>.

httGazetecllik, Feza. "Mega Construction Projects Drive Deforestation in Town."
TodaysZaman. Todayszaman, 2007. Web. 03 Dec. 2014.
<http://www.todayszaman.com/national_mega­construction­projects­drive­deforestation­in­to
wn_320652.html>.


Image Sources

"Turkey, Forestry and Antalya." EFIMED. European Forest Institute, 2010. Web. 03 Dec.
2014.
<http://www.efimed.efi.int/portal/events/annual_meeting/efimed_am_2010_­_antalya/turkish_f
orestry_and_antalya/>.

"More Turkish Forests Opened for Construction." Good Morning Turkey. Good Morning
Turkey, 18 Apr. 2014. Web. 3 Dec. 2014.
<http%3A%2F%2Fwww.goodmorningturkey.com%2Fturkish­forests­opened­construction%2F
>.

Turkey Blog #4. Cultural Imperialism and the Ottoman Empire

Turkey Blog #4. Cultural Imperialism and the Ottoman Empire

Dictionary.com defines Cultural Imperialism as “The imposition of a foreign viewpoint or civilization on a people.” If one looks into Turkey’s past they will find that cultural imperialism has played an important role for the country and its relationships with its surrounding neighbors.
Turkey and cultural imperialism is much less prevalent now than it was one hundred years ago before World War 1. One hundred years ago the Ottoman Empire existed where Turkey and a handful of other countries do today. The Ottoman Empire included parts of Italy, Greece, Iraq, and Syria. But on August 10th 1920 a peace treaty was established called Treaty of Sevres, this broke up the Ottoman Empire into multiple countries but the new country of Turkey retained Istanbul.

(Figure 1­ The spread of the Ottoman Empire)

The after effects of imperialism when the Ottoman Empire broke down help us understand the relationship Turkey has with the surrounding countries. Islands between Greece and Turkey, along with a few countries in the Middle East (Iraq and Syria) were particularly affected. After the Treaty of Sevres, another treaty would arise in a few years called the Treaty of Lausanne. This new treaty allowed Turkey to gain eastern Thrace, Several Aegean islands, the strip along Syrian border, and zone of the straits. This resulted in political controversy over the portions of Greece the Ottoman Empire previously controlled.

Figure 2.­ Breakdown of the Ottoman Empire 1920.

Turkey’s culture has been affected by the imperialism of the Ottoman Empire. There have been political coups d'etat and unrest within the government of Turkey, but surrounding countries like Syria have had political strain with Turkey after the break away with the Ottoman Empire. The end of the Ottoman Empire has caused Greece and Turkey confusion over the ownership of the bordering islands between them. Clearly imperialism once unified this area of the world, but since the fall of the Ottoman Empire it has had moments of cultural unrest.

Text Sources

Burak Sansal. All About Turkey. 1996–2014. Web. 23 Sep, 2­14. http://www.allaboutturkey.com/antlasma.htm

Definition
"cultural imperialism." The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition. Houghton Mifflin Company, 2005. 11 Nov. 2014. <Dictionary.comhttp://dictionary.reference.com/browse/cultural imperialism>.


Figure Sources 

Figure 1
Devillier Donegan Enterprises. Lawrence of Arabia.
Web. 23 Sep, 2014. http://www.pbs.org/lawrenceofarabia/features/non_flash/ottoman1.html

Figure 2
http://www.gwpda.org/gifs/turk1920.gif

Lt. Colonel Lawrence Martin. Geographer of the Institute of Politics at Williamstown,

MA, 1921­27 

Turkey Blog #10. The cost of the Green Revolution.

Turkey Blog #10. The cost of the Green Revolution.

A few decades ago millions of people were starving around the globe because

food production could not keep up with the rapidly growing populations of India and

China. This created an incentive to improve agriculture production around the world with

new technologies and innovations. The Green revolution started to develop in Mexico,

India, and other locations with Norman Borlaug, a Norwegian-American agronomist also

known as “the father of the green revolution.” Some of the new techniques introduced

were hybrid grain seeds, mainly wheat, rice and corn.

(Figure 1­ World Cereals Production and Yields)

While the many mouths of India were fed because of this revolution in

agriculture, there have also been negative side effects to this change. Many farmers are

having to deal with the burdens of the new agricultural trade. Financial burdens like the

costs of fertilizers, special seeds, and irrigation pumps. This has caused such great

hardship for the farmers, that some have resorted to suicide because of the debt and

difficulty. Besides the dependence and cost, there are also health issues. One villager in

the rural Punjab was quoted saying this in a BBC article.

“There are health costs. We have had babies born blue because they are not

breathing. Some of them have mental health problems. In the southwestern belt, we

have entire villages where each family has at least one or two cancer cases. All this is

all because of this intensive agriculture that we have been doing.” (BBC)

The benefit we have from this agricultural green revolution is the ability to feed

the many millions in India, who would starve to death otherwise if not dependent on

other countries. And the result is a world population that is being sustained with an unnatural system of agriculture, in which countries around the world are dependent

upon.

(Figure 2- Agricultural Products of in Turkey)

Turkey in 1968 was breaking crop records during the Green Revolution.

Demonstrating that the country “can raise yields by two and three times with the new

wheats.” Nowadays the agriculture sector has declined over the years but not by much.

Crop production is 57%, the majority when you also count in animals, fisheries, and

forestry's. Turkey is still one of the worlds biggest wheat and barley producers, but they

produce one third of what an advanced country puts up every year in crops. The

government has stepped in and tried to control inflation of agriculture by making

programs like the The Southeastern Anatolian Project for farmers, that allow them to

afford the expensive equipment and irrigation canals. Programs like The Southeastern

Anatolian Project are costing the state of Turkey lots financial debt to pay. The

government of Turkey is having a hard time keeping the programs, and the farmers still

do not have stable incomes.

Text Sources

Gaud, William S. "The Green Revolution: Accomplishments and Apprehensions." Letter to
The Society for International Development. 8 Mar. 1968. The Green Revolution:
Accomplishments and Apprehensions. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Dec. 2014.
<http://www.agbioworld.org/biotech­info/topics/borlaug/borlaug­green.html>.

Sansal, Burak. "Agriculture in Turkey." Turkish Agriculture. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Dec. 2014.
<http://www.allaboutturkey.com/agriculture.htm>.

Muthoo, Maharaj K., Dr. "New Agriculturist." : Country Profile. N.p., May 2000. Web. 03 Dec.
2014. <http://www.new­ag.info/en/country/profile.php?a=878>.

Figure Sources

Crops Agricultural Products of in Turkey. N.d. CIA WORLDFACT BOOK. Fanack.com. Web. 3
Dec. 2014. <http://fanack.com/en/countries/turkey/economy/agriculture/>.

"The Limits of a Green Revolution?" BBC News. BBC, 29 Mar. 2007. Web. 03 Dec. 2014.
<http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/6496585.stm>.

Kyoto Protocol: Post #8

Kyoto Protocol

Figure 1: Showing the effects of climate change, Polar Bears habitats are melting

     The Kyoto Protocol was first brought up in 1997 to help reduce further damage to the Earths natural greenhouse gases and to decrease greenhouse gases emissions for many industrialized countries. It was also issued to help with carbon inequity, which our textbook Globalization and Diversity: Geography of a Changing World by Rowantree, Lewis, Price, Wyckoff, defines as “The position taken by developing countries such as China and India, which argue that, because Western industrial countries in North America and Europe have been burning large amounts of fossil fuels since the mid 19^th century and because CO2 stays in the atmosphere for hundreds of years, these countries caused the global warming problem and therefore should fix it” (54).  The Kyoto Protocol became a legally binding treaty in February of 2005 after being ratified by nearly 55 countries. This treaty being signed has the force of international law backing it, with penalties for countries not reaching their targetedemission reduction.

Figure 2: Graph showing emissions from industrialized countries.  

            The major industrialized countries the Kyoto Protocol are China, United States, Germany, India, Russia, Brazil, and Japan. Many less industrialized,developed countries have signed the treaty as well, but are not required to issue a specific target of emission reduction, they are just required to show their emission levels. The United States and Canada are no longer apart of the Kyoto Protocol. 
      As of 2010 Turkey has opposed the Kyoto Protocol, backing up Russia's oppositions as well. Turkey opposes the Kyoto Protocol because it could reduce its chance to become more industrialized and developed. Turkey also opposes the Kyoto Protocol because they think it would set them back with technology and over all developmentally and leave them struggling more to become successful like The United States and other major developed countries. 

 Works Cited

Information on the Kyoto Protocol
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/legacy/thereporters/richardblack/2010/12/time_to_get_down_to_business_a.html November 30, 2014

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4269921.stm November 30, 2014

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/3927813.stm November 30, 2014
Definitions from textbook
Lewis, Price, Rowntree, Wyckoff. "Chapter Two: The Changing Global Environment."
     Globalization and Diversity:Geography of a Changing World. 4th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: 
      Pearson Education Inc, 2012. 54-55. Print.

Figures Works Cited

Figure 1
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/features/4369357/Global-warming-is-un-bear-able-for-polar-bears-stranded-on-ice.html November 30, 2014 

Figure 2 
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4269921.stm November 30, 2014

Population and the Impact of Immigrants/Refugees Post: #5

Population and the Impact of Immigrants/Refugees

                               

Figure 1.1 Map showing Turkey and its borders

                             

      The total population of Turkey in 2012 was 74.5 million people. The population of Turkey is affected by the amount of Syrian refugees fleeing the war and violence in Syria seeking political asylum and safety. There is not an accurate population for Turkey right at this point in time, but it has been reported by the BBC that there are roughly 1.5 million Syrian refugees in Turkey at present. Turkey has provided some refugee camps for Syrians and are helping out with the crisis/warfare in Syria the best they can.  

 

Figure 1.2 Showing a refugee camp in Turkey for Syrian Kurdish refugees

     The United States of America has a population of 316 million and has a limited number of refugees/immigrants from Syria. However, the United States is facing its own immigrant/refugee situation with a different part of the world. Many people, particularly women and children, are fleeing Mexico and other Latin American countries seeking refuge and safety in the United States. Both of the United States and Turkey have people seeking political asylum within their borders. According to a recent article published by ABC News states that there are 18,244 minors seeking political asylum from Honduras alone. There are 17,057 minors from Guatemala, 16, 404 from El Salvador, and 15,634 from Mexico. These numbers are just the amount of children under the age of 18 fleeing the violence and poverty of Mexico and South America to the United States.

     The net migration rate has increased greatly in both the United States and Turkey. Our textbook, Globalization and Diversity: Geography of a Changing World by Rowantree, Lewis, Price, and Wyckoff, defines the net migration rate as “the amount of immigration and emigration (25)”. Many of these immigrants/refugees are fleeing to big, highly populated cities in both the United States and Turkey. Population density has been steadily going up over the last few years in both countries. Our textbook defines population density as “the average number of people per area unit (square mile or square kilometer) (26). Another definition to know that relates to the increase in people in urbanized, large, and densely populated cites is urbanized population. Urbanized population is defined by our textbook as, “the percentage of a country’s population living in cities (26).”  Both Turkey and the United States have a problem/crisis with people fleeing to their borders for political asylum and personal safety.

	Population (Millions) 2012	Population Density (per square   kilometer)	Rate of Natural Increase	Total Fertility Rate	Percent Urban	Percent <15	Percent >65	Net Migration
U.S.A	313.9	33	0.5	1.9	79	20	13	3.1
Turkey	74.9	96	1.2	2	77	26	7	-0.1

Figure 1.3 Comparing the population, population density, rate of natural increase, total fertility rate, urban percent, and net migration of Turkey and The United States Of America.

Works Cited

Textbook definitions

Lewis, Price, Rowntree, Wyckoff. "Chapter One, Three, and Seven." Globalization and Diversity:      Geography of a Changing World. 4th ed. Pearson Education, 2014. 21- 26, 77, 226. Print.

United States Population

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-16759230 October 15, 2014

Turkey’s Population

 http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-17992009 October 15, 2014

Syrian Refugee Population

http://syrianrefugees.eu/?page_id=80 October 15, 2014

http://www.unhcr.org/pages/49e48e0fa7f.html October 15, 2014

Latin America Refugee Population

http://abcnews.go.com/US/unaccompanied-minors-adapted-life-america/story?id=26481233 November 2, 2014

Figures Works Cited

Figure 1.3

Lewis, Price, Rowntree, Wyckoff. "Chapter One, Three, and Seven." Globalization and Diversity:                Geography of a Changing World. 4th ed. Pearson Education, 2014. 21- 26, 77, 226. Print.

Figure 1.1

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-17988453 November 23, 2014
Figure 1.2

http://www.npr.org/2014/10/11/355340451/turkeys-troubles-complicate-u-s-battle-with-isis November 23, 2014

How Does Turkey's GNP Measure Up?: Post #6

How Does Turkey's GNP Measure Up?

A country's economy is vastly important. It is the beating heart that keeps nations alive. There are many ways to measure and observe economic growth and development. One of the most popular ways to do so is by utilizing the Gross National Product. A country's Gross National Product, or GNP,  is defined as "...the value of all final goods and services produced within its boarders...combined with net income from outside its borders through trade and other incomes." [1]. Sometimes called Gross Domestic Product, GNP is widely used to determine a county's economic well being. It does have some issues; it does not include non-market income (like work-away programs) nor does it consider depletion of natural resources. It also fails to take productivity into account. For example, if the price of wine increases, France's GNP will go up even though the same amount of wine may be produced.

Figure 1: Turkish lira coins.

But what does this mean for Turkey? Well, it certainly helps to put Turkey's economy into more comprehensible terms. The country's current GNP stands at 1.406 trillion PPP (Purchasing Power Parity) dollars, just under Saudi Arabia's 1.55 trillion PPP dollars. Turkey's GNP per capita is at about 18,760 PPP dollars. Compare that to the Unites State's 52,610 PPP dollars per capita. That is nearly triple the GNP of Turkey. Does that mean the US is three times as well off as Turkey? Not necessarily. While GNP is very useful information, as stated before it has its flaws. Bartering is considered a type of non-market income. This is a major issue as bartering and haggling are used widely across Turkey and is a tradition in the open air markets.

Figure 2: The Grand Bazaar is a hub of bartering.

Works Citfed

 "Turkey Gross National Product." Tradingeconomics.com. 1 Jan. 2014. Web. <http://www.tradingeconomics.com/turkey/gross-national-product>.

"Turkey." www.worldbankgroup.org. 8 October 2014. Web.
<http://www.worldbank.org/en/results/2014/08/27/engine-of-growth-for-turkey>


Figures
Figure 1: Turkish lira coins. Illustration. http://1001thingstodoinistanbul.wordpress.com/, April 4, 2012
Figure 2: The Grand Bazaar is a hub of bartering. Photograph. http://www.travelandescape.ca/, 2014.

[1] Rowntree, Lester. Globalization and Diversity: Geography of a Changing World. 2nd ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2008.

Food Production and Farming in Turkey: Post #12

Food Production and Farming in Turkey

Christina Martin (Group 4 Turkey)

           

Figure 1: Wheat field in Turkey's agriculture region (Intensive Farming)

            Food and food production are the most basic needs of everyone on Earth. There are few different ways to farm and produce food. Extensive farming, as defined by The BBC, is “where a relatively small amount of produce is generated from a large area of farmland.” Extensive farming is more likely to use traditional farming methods and go organic with little to no pesticides used. Intensive farming, as defined by The BBC, is “where a large amount of produce is generated from a relatively small area of land.” Intensive farming will need more help, such as multiple workers and more use of machinery and technology, and it will also need more money to make it successful to produce food in bulk quantities. Intensive farming is also more likely to use pesticides and GMO’s (genetically modified organisms) to help mass produce more food. Intensive Farming uses small areas of land over and over again, damaging and using all the nutrients in the soil. This means intensive farmers have to use more nutrient rich land more frequently than Extensive farming, wasting soil and places for more food to be planted.   Extensive farming is cheaper to maintain and does not need as many workers or as much work to produce select or low quantities of food

            The industrial food production is much like intensive farming, it is to create and supply food in big bulks and quantities, like the mass production of food for large, popular fast food companies. These foods are more likely to be processed packaged ready-to-eat-meals. The traditional food production is much like extensive farming and focuses on the smaller quantities with fewer pesticides, GMOs, or other chemicals. Like with intensive farming, industrial food production will be more expensive to maintain and will need more money and workers to keeps it successfully mass-producing food.

 

Figure 2: Turkish Farmer           

            The economy in Turkey has had strong growth partly fueled by agriculture beginning in the, among other things, such as tourism, trade, manufacturing, and foreign investments. Turkey is considered to be one of the leading countries in the world when it comes to agriculture and food because of its climate and geological conditions. Turkey is one of the largest exporters of food/agricultural products in Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa. The agriculture industry accounts for 25-32 percent of the employment in the country. Most farming that happens in Turkey is intensive farming because there is a bigger demand for packaged, processed, ready-to-eat-meals, and frozen food. Turkey is the world’s leader when it comes to the production of dried apricots, sultanas raisins, hazelnuts, and dried figs. Turkey also has a large amount of dairy farmers that are produced to the citizens by both industrial and traditional food production. 

Figure 3 & 4: Examples of two of Turkeys most exported items  

      There are problems arising with industrial food production and intensive farming because it leaves little land, money, natural resources, and other needed resources for traditional/organic farming. However, even with these problems there is a significant rise in organic and traditional farming. Many people in Turkey are beginning to question the methods used in intensive farming and industrial food production and are wanting to help more, be more informed on what is in the food they are eating, and to provide overall healthier foods for its citizens. 

 

 Figure 5: Turkish woman selling fresh produce at a farmers market in Kocaeli, Turkey.

Works Cited

Definitions of Intensive and Extensive farming

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/geography/rural_environments/farming_rural_areas_rev1.shtml December 1, 2014

Definitions of Traditional and Industrial Food Production

http://www.sustainabletable.org/941/how-industrial-food-impacts-your-health December 1, 2014

Exports From Turkey

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-17992009 December 1, 2014

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-17988453 December 1, 2014

http://www.nationsencyclopedia.com/Asia-and-Oceania/Turkey-AGRICULTURE.html December 1, 2014

Exports and Agriculture Employment in Turkey

http://www.invest.gov.tr/en-US/sectors/Pages/Agriculture.aspx December 1, 2014 http://www.allaboutturkey.com/agriculture.htm December 1, 2014

http://www.allaboutturkey.com/agriculture.htm December 1, 2014

Farming Methods In Turkey

http://www.todayszaman.com/business_organic-farming-in-turkey-still-limited-despite-improvements_246992.html December 1, 2014

Figures Work Cited

Figure 1 

http://www.nationsencyclopedia.com/Asia-and-Oceania/Turkey-AGRICULTURE.html December 1, 2014

Figure 2 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/wefwef/7513563396/ December 1, 2014

Figure 3

http://www.worldbulletin.net/news/139854/turkey-earns-169-billion-through-hazelnut-exports December 1, 2014

Figure 4

http://ozdemirler.en.ec21.com/Turkish_Sultana_Raisins--4231373_4388004.html December 1, 2014

Figure 5 

http://www.theperfectpantry.com/2012/02/market-to-pantry-27.html December 1, 2014