IntroThere are manydifferences and similaities between Monaco and Turkey, including theirbackground, culture, religion, government and political systems, and theireconomic situations. This comparison will be covering both Monaco and Turkeyshistorical background which includes how the state became said state and gainedits sovereignty and/or independence. It will also include both states politicalsystems in detail – their model of governance, regime type, parties, and howtheir governments work. Both of the state’s religion and culture will beexplained along with a description of their economy. Finally, the comparisonwill include current political issues within both states.
Monaco History Monacois the second smallest independent state in the world. It is located in WesternEurope, on the Mediterranean Sea along the French Riviera, and bordered byItaly (Central Intelligence Agency, n.d.).The land of Monaco was originally home to the Phoenicians, Greeks,Carthaginians, and Romans until the reign of the Grimaldi family came intopower in 1297 (Encyclopedia Britannica, 2017). The Grimaldisdeclared an alliance with France while under the protection of Spain after 800years of having their independence, Monaco was annexed to France in 1793 when theGrimaldis were no longer in power (Encyclopedia Britannica, 2017).
Under the terms ofthe Franco-Monegasque Treaty of 1861, Monaco traded about half of theirterritory, Menton and Roquebrune, to France in exchange for cash andindependence (Encyclopedia Britannica, 2017). Within the sametreaty, in 1918, France stated that in the event that there are no moreGrimaldi heirs, Monaco would become “autonomous state under French protection” (Encyclopedia Britannica, 2017). In 1993, Monacobecame a member of the United Nations. Turkey History Turkey is the onlystate in the world that is situated on two continents which are Asia and Turkey(Yapp & Dewdney, 2017) Turkey is surroundedby the Black Sea, Bulgaria, Greece, Georgia, Iraq, Syria, Armenia and Iran (Yapp & Dewdney, 2017). Turkey wasoriginally dominated by Greeks, Persians and Romans (professor).
Turkey was the center of theOttoman Empire and Muslim world (professor). Turkey was a caliphate, ruled by caliphs, whichbecame more corrupt, ruthless, and increasingly dictatorial until eventuallymany of the Bedouin tribes who resented the caliphate began to rebel (professor). In 1914, theOttoman Empire made a fatal mistake which led to the end of their Empire (book). The Ottomangovernment had no choice but to ally with Germany and join World War I becausethey had no relations with Britain or France. T.ELawrence from Britain got Muslim tribes to turn against the Turks and ally withthe British. In 1923, Mustafa Kamal became president and turned Turkeyinto a secular state (book).
He stopped the wearing of the turban, abolished the caliphate, sharia law, andgave women equal rights along with rights to vote (book). Today, the president is trying to createTurkey into a radical state (professor).Monaco Culture/LanguageUnlike many other countries, Monaco’s ethnicidentity is difficult to determine because many of the inhabitants are notactually citizens because of the high rate of tourism and/or are not originallyfrom Monaco (Safari the Globe, 2013). The nativeresidents are the French who self-identify as the French, Italians whoself-identify as Italians, and the Monegasque who identify first with theirethnicity and second as Monegasque. The French actually make up the largest proportionof the population at approximately 35%, native Monegasque make up about 22%,Italians make up about 18%, and other nationalities make up about 25% (Arnold, n.d.
). The official language is French but Monegasque, Italian, and English are also spoken (Safari the Globe, 2013). Due to its variety ofnative inhabitants, Monaco has strong influences from France, Italy and Spain (Safari the Globe, 2013).
Turkish Culture/Language Turkeyhas a long history of immigration which explains the significant ethnicdiversity. While it is mostly populated with Turks holding 80% of thepopulation, the Kurds come in next along with Caucasians, Europeans, and Arabs (Aschner, Bane, Kaiser, & Sene, 2009). The Kurds are anation of people who have never been politically unified with half of theirpopulation living in Turkey and others located in Syria, Iraq, and Iran (Aschner, Bane, Kaiser, & Sene, 2009). The Kurds are stillseeking sovereignty today. There was also a very high population of Armeniansliving there until the Turkish government issued a genocide against the Armeniansin 1915, reducing their population by more than half within two years (Aschner, Bane, Kaiser, & Sene, 2009).
Monaco Religion AlthoughMonaco’s constitution issues the people their right to freedom of religion, theofficial religion of Monaco is Roman Catholicism. According to the WorldmarkEncyclopedia of Nations, about 90% of the people there identify as RomanCatholicism (Encyclopedia, 2007). The second largest religious group arethe Protestants holding about 2% of the population. There is also “an estimated 1,000 Jewishnoncitizen residents and a smaller number of noncitizens who are Muslims or adhereto other religious beliefs” (United States Department of State, 2012).Turkey Religion Althoughit is officially a secular state, Turkey is mostly compromised of one religion:Muslim, with Christianity and Judaism following as minority religions beingpracticed there. However, Islam was heavily enforced by the government inTurkey.
This changed in 1924 when the government attempted to replace their Islamicways with Turkish ways i.e. turning it into a secular state (Aschner, Bane, Kaiser, & Sene, 2009). Turkish people werenot content with the change and it was not until the mid-1970’s when Islam wasslowly becoming tolerated again which results in Turkish people to identifywith Islam although Turkey is officially a secular state. MonacoPolitical System Monaco has been a constitutional monarchy since 1911.
The prince of Monaco, Prince Rainier III, serves as the chief of state. Theexecutive branch has a minister of state or head of government. The minister ofthe state serves a three-year term and is appointed by the prince. The minister”is responsible for foreign relations…, directsthe executive services, commands the police, and presides (with voting powers)over the Council of Government” (U.S. Department of State, 2009). The Council ofGovernment consists of a four-member cabinet with the minister of state as oneof those members.
The other members of the Council are responsible for “financial and economicaffairs, internal affairs, and public works and social affairs, respectively” (U.S. Department of State, 2009). On the other hand,the National Council (i.e.
the legislative body) has 24 members – sharing theirpower with the Prince. The prince is able to dissolve the National Council withnew elections held within 3 months (U.S.
Department of State, 2009). The role of thelegislative branch is to cast votes on the budget and approve of the lawsproposed by the prince (U.S. Department of State, 2009). Any laws passed bythe National Council (legislative branch) are then approved by the Council ofGovernment (executive branch), who then submit the proposal to the Prince (U.S.
Department of State, 2009). If the Prince doesnot reject the proposal within 10 days of having received it, the laws are thrownout (U.S. Department of State, 2009). The Prince alsodelegates judicial actions. The Supreme Court of Monaco has five chief membersand two assistant judges who are nominated by the National Council and electedby the Prince (U.S. Department of State, 2009).
Monaco hasrational-legal legitimacy along with traditional legitimacy. The Prince ofMonaco has a right to rule based on their electoral system. Their electionsystem is based on a proportional representation or further, an open-listsystem.
Citizens of Monaco can choose only one ballot with one list ofcandidates but they can also modify their ballots by deleting candidates and/oradding candidates from other lists (http://www.venice.coe.int/webforms/documents/default.
aspx?pdffile=CDL-AD(2015)001-e). Surprisingly, Monaco also has the rightto a cumulative vote, in which voters can enter the name of a candidate morethan once (). Turkey Politic SystemTurkey is a parliamentary republic. The executive branchcontains the chief of state, head of government and cabinet. The president is in office for afive-year term and is elected by the direct popular vote which sometimes canlead to a second round if there is no established winner. The head ofgovernment is the Council of Ministers, with Binali Yildirim who has held hisposition as Prime Minister since May 22, 2016.
The prime minister is elected bythe president with the approval of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey. Theprime minister nominates the Council of Ministers and the president electsthem. The legislative branch is held by the Grand National Assembly of Turkeywith 550 members holding four-year terms. Members of the Grand NationalAssembly are elected through proportional representation, holding a 10%threshold to enter parliament (Nardelli, Lyons, Letsch, & Louter, 2015). The Grand NationalAssembly is responsible for enacting, amending and repealing laws, passlegislation over the veto of the president, supervises the Council ofMinisters, approving international treaties, enforcing laws in the constitutionand more (Duties and Powers). The Constitutional Court contains 17 members whoare appointed by the Grand National Assembly and the president (Central Intelligence Agency, n.d.).
The Court of Cassation contains about 390 judges and is appointed by theSupreme Council of Judges and Public Prosecutors (SCJP) (Central Intelligence Agency, n.d.). The Council of Statewhich contains 15 members and the members are appointed by the SCJP and thepresident (Central Intelligence Agency, n.
d.). There are alsobasic courts, military courts, administrative courts and more. The mainpolitical parties are Justice and Development Party, Republican People’s party,Nationalist Movement party, and Peoples Democratic party (Nardelli, Lyons, Letsch, & Louter, 2015).Monaco Economic and Natural Resources In 1863, Prince CharlesIII realized that Monaco did not have many natural resources left when theygave up Menton and Roquebrune under the Franco-Monegasque Treaty of 1861 (Whitney, 1997).
Upon realizingthis, he established the “Societe des Bains de Mer” which today, is mostlyknown for Monte Carlo (Whitney, 1997). Monte Carlo is knownfor its hotels, theatres, and casinos which is what mainly brings in revenueinto Monaco. The Principality of Monaco is known as a tax-haven because thereare no personal income taxes (Monaco, 2007). Although Monacodoes not have significant natural resources, their living standards areexquisitely high. The principality depends on tourism, real estate, financialservices (Monaco, 2007). Due to their highincomes, flourishing economy, and established sovereignty, Monaco may bedescribed as a strong state. TurkeyEconomic and Natural Resources Turkey is a currently a free-market economywhich is also highly involved in trade.
With their export partners – Germany,United Kingdom, Iraq, Italy, United States, and France – Turkey totaled about$150.1 billion in goods and services (Central Intelligence Agency, n.d.
). With their importpartners – China, Germany, Russia, United States, and Italy – Turkey importedabout $198 billion in goods and services (Central Intelligence Agency, n.d.
). Turkey is still”highly dependent” on imported oil and gas but they are trying to find ways tobegin using renewable resources, nuclear, and coal (Central Intelligence Agency, n.d.). Their labor forceis occupied by 30.55 million people working within the state (Central Intelligence Agency, n.d.).
Their labor forceis mostly based on agriculture, industry, and services. Monaco Current Political Issues Monaco’s currentpolitical issues are due to their existing treaty since 1861. Under thistreaty, France must recognize Monaco’s independence and sovereignty and Monacocan exercise their rights as long as the French government agrees (Encyclopedia Britannica, 2017). French citizens whomoved to Monaco still had to pay French taxes as if they still lived in France (Encyclopedia Britannica, 2017). Turkey Current Political Parties Thechief of state is currently President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an based on his rational-legal legitimacy through theirelections. Due to an attempted and failed military coup that occurred in July2016, a state of emergency was declared.
In July of 2017, the governmentextended this state of emergency for another three months until their statereaches “welfare and peace” (Kingsley, 2017). State ofemergencies generally allows for citizens removal of basic rights. This stateof emergency in Turkey allows for president Erdogan to “issue sweeping decreeswithout parliamentary oversight or review by the constitutional court” (Kingsley, 2017).
According toKingsley, a writer from the New York Times, the decrees have allowed Erdogan toimprison more than 40,000 people including journalists, shut down civil groupsand media outlets and even block access to Wikipedia (Kingsley, 2017). The failed militarycoup and declaration/elongated state of emergency all points to a very weakstate.Conclusion Monacoand Turkey are alike in that they are both multi-party systems with primeministers involved in their government. In both forms of governments, they havethe three separate branches: executive, legislative and judiciary. Both statesare also members of the United Nations. Although Monaco promotes theirreligious freedom and Turkey is declared a secular state, they are both veryreligious states with Islam being the leading religion in Turkey andCatholicism leading in Monaco.
There are also multiple languages spoken in bothstates, but both have established languages: French being Monaco’s officiallanguage and Turkish being Turkeys’ official language. In contrast, Monaco isestablished as the second smallest state in the world, while Turkey is so largethat it resides on two different continents. In regard to their economy, Monacois an extremely wealthy state inhabited by extremely wealthy residents whileTurkey has an emerging economy with relatively middle-class residents. Finally,Monaco has a prince while Turkey has a president.
