May 22, 2013
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The week's top five must-sees,
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Description
Turkey, officially the Republic of Turkey, is a transcontinental country, located mostly on Anatolia in Western Asia and on East Thrace in Southeastern Europe. Turkey is bordered by eight countries: Bulgaria to the northwest; Greece to the west; Georgia to the northeast; Armenia, Iran and the Azerbaijani exclave of Nakhchivan to the east; and Iraq and Syria to the southeast. The Mediterranean Sea is to the south; the Aegean Sea is to the west; and the Black Sea is to the north. The Sea of Marmara, the Bosphorus and the Dardanelles demarcate the boundary between Thrace and Anatolia; they also separate Europe and Asia. Turkey's location at the crossroads of Europe and Asia makes it a country of significant geostrategic importance.
The country's official language is Turkish, a Turkic language, which is spoken by approximately 85% of the population as mother tongue. The most numerous ethnic group is the Turks, who constitute between 70% and 75% of the population according to The World Factbook. Kurds are the largest ethnic minority and, according to the same source, number around 18% of the population while other ethnic minorities are estimated to be at 7–12%. The vast majority of the population is Muslim.
(via Freebase)
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![Trial of fugitive Tariq al-Hashemi adjourned in Iraq [Press TV, Iran]](/images/image_cache/base-3938000/3938143/thumbnail.width=304,height=171,grow=1,crop=center.jpg?sig=752c00dfae3d1d51e603ce1b68c830b2)
![Over four hundred Syrians leave refugee camps to fight regime [Press TV, Iran]](/images/image_cache/base-3653000/3653101/thumbnail.width=304,height=171,grow=1,crop=center.jpg?sig=220c21e2e9358a2ec7647d5aaaf068ea)
![Iraq PM says Turkey is becoming 'a hostile state' [Future TV, Lebanon]](/images/image_cache/base-3484000/3484043/thumbnail.width=304,height=171,grow=1,crop=center.jpg?sig=e150d9fad609349abc8247270782b39c)
![Turkey protests as Syrians open fire at border [BBC Arabic, UK]](/images/image_cache/base-2918000/2918047/thumbnail.width=304,height=171,grow=1,crop=center.jpg?sig=4f75fead544e185c887f113b876adb34)
![Security in Israel raised to high alert for Passover [IBA, Israel]](/images/image_cache/base-2881000/2881008/thumbnail.width=304,height=171,grow=1,crop=center.jpg?sig=4bc7182cec377b2fa3dbeeebb70032d4)
