May 25, 2013
The week's top five must-sees,
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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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![Clashes in southeastern Turkey on 28th anniversary of PKK [Al-Alam, Iran]](/images/image_cache/base-8787000/8787335/thumbnail.width=304,height=171,grow=1,crop=center.jpg?sig=274e9b60d4bbb2228a40c32e19203f2f)
![Turkey deploys new air defense systems near Syrian border [Press TV, Iran]](/images/image_cache/base-8742000/8742315/thumbnail.width=304,height=171,grow=1,crop=center.jpg?sig=e36a08e2a9364247c631395e1b19e7b4)
![Turkey hints at military intervention in Syria against Kurdish 'terrorists' [BBC Arabic, UK]](/images/image_cache/base-8591000/8591364/thumbnail.width=304,height=171,grow=1,crop=center.jpg?sig=5d8f71c0c80d7a8d9a33629b329d5824)
![Turkish soldier killed, 30 injured in Izmir bus attack [Press TV, Iran]](/images/image_cache/base-8463000/8463598/thumbnail.width=304,height=171,grow=1,crop=center.jpg?sig=94600dcd71d572df17603e7d611b9bef)
![Turkish FM's visit to Kirkuk upsets Iraq [Press TV, Iran]](/images/image_cache/base-8367000/8367106/thumbnail.width=304,height=171,grow=1,crop=center.jpg?sig=95bcdc4803e01793c0612823d1dbd764)
![Turkey grants Iraqi VP permanent residency [Al-Alam, Iran]](/images/image_cache/base-8047000/8047314/thumbnail.width=304,height=171,grow=1,crop=center.jpg?sig=a89c6ba15bb336ef7ca1009d285ec720)
![Russia accuses US of justifying terrorism in Syria as Turkey closes its borders [New TV, Lebanon]](/images/image_cache/base-7707000/7707434/thumbnail.width=304,height=171,grow=1,crop=center.jpg?sig=196de2f549e53ad1580ae73af1da471f)
