The geographical location of Turkey brings this country both benefits and numerous problems and difficulties. Located on the historical border of Europe and Asia, the state also occupies a border position at the junction of three "troubled" regions. These are the Caucasus, the Balkan Peninsula and the Middle East.
What are the features of the economic-geographical and geopolitical position of Turkey? How can you characterize the current relations of this country with its neighbors? All this will be discussed in this article.
Where is the state of Turkey located?
The defeat in the First World War became fatal for the Ottoman Empire, which finally ceased to exist on the world map. As a result of this, a new state was formed in 1923, which will be discussed in this article.
It is worth noting that the historical and geographical position of Turkey has always been distinguished by profitability. The country is located on the continent of Eurasia, just on the border of its two parts - respectively, Europe and Asia. Moreover, within the first of them is only 3% of the territory of the Turkish state. However, about 20% of its population lives on this small piece of land.
Turkey is among the countries with dynamically developing economies. Today, almost 78 million people live here, and the total area of the state is 783.6 thousand square kilometers (36th place in the world in size).
Geographical location of Turkey: briefly about the features
The state is located entirely within the eastern and northern hemispheres of the Earth, on the continent of Eurasia. Most of its territory, as noted above, is geographically located in Asia.
The geographical position of Turkey is generally favorable. The country is located at the intersection of historically important transport routes that have been connecting two “worlds” for more than a century - Europe and Asia. Modern Turkey is trying to make full use of this geographical feature by laying high-quality railways and highways on its territory.
The country’s territory is not compact: the distance between its extreme western and eastern points is 1,600 km, and between the northern and southern points it is only 600. Turkey has extensive access to two large seas: the Mediterranean and the Black. Moreover, the state controls the Bosphorus Strait, which is strategically important for the whole of Europe. It is on its shores that the largest megalopolis of the planet, Istanbul, is located. This ancient city is also known to us from history books as Constantinople.
Thus, the geographical location of Turkey has its strengths and weaknesses. And they, in turn, determine the features of conducting the foreign policy of this state.
Economic and geographical position of Turkey: main features
On the territory of modern Turkey, there was more than one powerful empire (Byzantine, Ottoman). The modern state is located at the crossroads of important economic routes and has access to two important sea basins. All this creates excellent conditions for marketing their products to the world market.
The geographical position of Turkey is also advantageous in that it borders on 8 other states. These are Bulgaria, Greece, Syria, Iran, Iraq, Armenia, Georgia and Israel. In addition, the country's sea neighbors are Russia, Ukraine and Cyprus.
The state of Turkey is an important geopolitical player on the world stage. On the one hand, it is part of a large Turkic-speaking region. On the other hand, Turkey is a member of the NATO military bloc and a candidate for EU membership.
Turkey’s relations with neighboring countries
Turkey is trying to build its foreign policy on the principle of "no problems with neighbors." In part, she succeeds, despite the general turbulent situation in the region. The state seeks to establish friendly relations with all its neighbors (first and second order).
Not everything is smooth with Turkey with only three states. These are Armenia, Syria and Israel. According to the Turkish Foreign Ministry, these three states pursue an aggressive or not entirely correct policy towards other nations. A section of the Turkish-Syrian border has been a particularly sore subject for the state for several years now.
Turkish-Syrian conflict and its history
The fall of 2012 can be considered the beginning of the Turkish-Syrian border conflict. On October 3, shells fell on the territory of Turkey, which claimed the lives of five of its citizens. The Syrian side accuses Turkey of financing the so-called Syrian rebels, whose goal is to overthrow the Assad regime.
At the end of 2012, at the NATO summit, it was decided to deploy six powerful Patriot anti-aircraft missile systems on the Turkish-Syrian border, directed towards Syria. According to the Secretary General of the Alliance Rasmussen, NATO is ready to protect Turkey from possible manifestations of external aggression.
In November 2015, another unpleasant incident occurred on the Turkish-Syrian border: a Russian Su-24 bomber was shot down. According to the Turkish side, the plane violated the airspace of the state and did not react to warnings about it. This incident substantially “cooled” the once warm and friendly relations between Moscow and Ankara.
Finally...
On the border of two "worlds" - Europe and Asia - Turkey is located. The geographical position of the country, as a whole, is notable for its profitability. The state controls the Bosphorus and is located at the intersection of the most important transport routes for the two continents.
Turkey borders on eight countries. Moreover, relations with some of them are very difficult to call warm and friendly.