preview

Turkey's Strategic Geographical Location In The World of Geo-Politics

Better Essays

Turkey's Strategic Geographical Location In The World of Geo-Politics The country of Turkey, slightly larger than Texas in size (780,580 sq km), lies on the southeastern side of Europe and the southwestern side of Asia.? It borders the Black Sea, the Aegean Sea, and the Mediterranean Sea.? Land wise, Turkey is bordered to the northwest by Bulgaria and Greece, to the east by Azerbaijan, Armenia, and Georgia (all three part of the former USSR) and Iran, and to the south by Iraq and Syria.? Strategically located, Turkey controls the Turkish straights including the Bosphorus, Sea of Marmara, and Dardanelles.? Because Turkey is positioned on an area where Europe meets Asia and is very close geographically to Africa, the country …show more content…

The 68,109,469 citizens of Turkey and the Turkish Parliament did not agree, however, and thus the United States army was not allowed to pass through Turkey.? Later, Turkey announced it would send a large detachment of troops into Iraq to handle the Turcoman minority which, due to its hostility to the Kurdish majority supported by the United States, had united itself with Iraqi resistance. The Turkish political opinion, on the other hand, was adamantly opposed to this plan so the project was abandoned (Gorce).? Fortunately for the United States a compromise was achieved.? Turkey, home to Incirlik Air Base, allowed the United States and British planes to fly from Turkey to monitor Iraq?s northern no-fly zone (Bender). Turkey?s Economic Future with its Neighboring Countries Turkey, a republican parliamentary democracy, in the past has suffered economic harm from having Iraq as a neighbor (through international embargoes) (?Turkey, Iraq, Sign Protocol to Boost Trade?) but can now play an important role in the rebuilding of Iraq (Larson). In fact, the Turkish Daily News writes, ?Turkey is committed to working closely with the United States, Iraqi people, and the international community to prepare the conditions for the Iraqi people to fully take charge of their country? (?Peace and Stability?).? Evidence of this statement can be seen in that Turkey and Iraq, on November 21st, 2003, signed a protocol to boost

Get Access