Iran, Turkey, Cyprus, Central Asia & the Caucasus nations

REST OF SOUTHWEST ASIA

Iran, Turkey, Cyprus,

Central Asia & the

Caucasus nations

DEMOGRAPHICS

Has almost 230 million people(Turkey &

Iran are the largest at over 70 million

people each)

Life expectancy: 71; GDP: almost

$10,000(richest are Cyprus, Turkey & Iran)

Population density: over 160(remarkably

high given the desert-like conditions)

CULTURE

Diverse languages

Central Asia & Caucasus: each have their own

language; closely related to Russian(were

members of the USSR)

Turkey: Turkish

Iran: Farsi or Persian

All of these countries are mostly Muslim(Iran is

mostly Shiite; the rest are Sunni)

CENTRAL ASIA

Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan & Uzbekistan(all once members of the USSR)

Lots of Russian culture still exists

Orthodoxy dominates in some regions; Christianity in some; Islam in most

Region is major producer of oil(especially Kazakhstan)

Area is very dry---water scarcity is major issue

CENTRAL ASIA

Aral Sea used to be a major water source for Central Asia

Sea is only 25% as big as it originally was; and the salt content is five times what it originally was

Reason: overuse of the water supply for agricultural reasons

This is one of the biggest environmental catastrophes in modern history

8 Globalization &

Diversity: Rowntree,

Lewis, Price, Wyckoff

SHRINKING ARAL SEA (FIG. 10.2)

ARAL SEA SHIP CEMETERY

CAUCASUS COUNTRIES

Includes Georgia, Armenia & Azerbaijan(all former USSR members)

Located in the Caucasus Mountains

All three have massive internal problems---some involve other countries as well

CAUCACUS COUNTRIES

Chechnya

Russian region is close to the Caucasus, so they experience some of the fighting because of proximity

South Ossetia

Region that wants to break away from Georgia; Georgia & Russia fought brief 2008 war over it

CAUCACUS COUNTRIES

Armenia – Azerbaijan conflict Armenians are mostly Christian; Azeris are mostly Muslim

Nations were at war from 1988-1994; war started when they

were members of USSR

War was fought over a piece of land called ―Nagorno

Karabakh‖; this piece of land is in Azerbaijan

It is made up of ethnic Armenians who didn’t relocate when

the boundaries of Armenia & Azerbaijan were created

Native Armenians in Nagorno Karabakh are basically like

Palestinians in Israel---they want the area to either be

independent or to be a part of Armenia

Armenia and Azerbaijan Soviet Union’s divide-and-diminish plan

TURKEY

Turkey used to use Sharia, used to use death penalty, used to limit freedoms

Turkey has changed quite a bit

Major reason: they want in the EU and they know the EU will not take a country that does such things

Talks with EU formally began in 2005--most think they will not be seriously considered until at least 2020

CYPRUS

A major issue involving Turkey is the island of Cyprus

Cyprus is technically an island country

Attracts over 2 million tourists each year

Before Cyprus gained independence, it was claimed by

both Turkey & Greece

Therefore, Turkey & Greece have a history of animosity

towards each other

IRAN

Iran is an Islamic republic; it is also a theocracy

Iran has two leaders

The ―Ayatollah‖ is the supreme leader---he is selected by a very small group of Shiite scholars(kind of like the Pope’s selection in the Catholic Faith)

IRAN

The current Ayatollah’s name is Ali Khamenei --- only was he can be removed is by that small group that selected him

The prior one, the Ayatollah Khomeini, was a significant enemy to America

IRAN After the Ayatollah is the

president

He is ―elected‖ by the people

He is given basically every power that the Ayatollah has---but he must do what the Ayatollah says

IRAN

Until 1979, Iran’s ultimate leader was called the Shah---the shah in 1979 was an American ally

In 1979, a revolution overthrew the Shah and that’s when the Ayatollah Khomeini gained ultimate power

IRAN As a result of that revolution,

Iranian citizens rebelled against all

things that the Ayatollah thought

were unholy---one of these was

anything that was American

This led to heavy anti-Americanism

IRAN

Students who supported the ayatollah took an American embassy hostage in the same year, 1979

52 hostages were held for 444 days

Almost led to a U.S.-Iran war

IRAN

Ever since 1979, our relations with Iran have been unfriendly

Their president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, was very much anti-George Bush He claims the Holocaust was a myth

made up by Jews He wants Israel wiped off the map He has threatened war if countries try

and stop their nuclear power program(some feel they are trying to build nuclear weapons)

IRAN

Recently threatened to disrupt oil shipments out

of Persian Gulf at the Strait of Hormuz

1/3 of ALL oil

goes through

this chokepoint

IRAN

IRAN

Issues:

Recent protests for a more tolerant and democratic

government were harshly dealt with

High infant mortality (about 3X the rate of the

region’s average) and low birth rate (about ½ of the

region’s average)—government is worried about

maintaining the population