PS: And Turkey really isnīt europe.
Not that it matters a lot, but Turkey has a European part and an Asian part. Bosphorus is the limit.
Turkey is not a part of europe.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bosphorus
you're welcome
True, but only about 3% of Turkey's land mass is in Europe. It is primarily in Asia Minor, which is part of Asia.
Nobody said it was 50/50. But Istambul is half European, half Asian. And it doesn't matter a lot, as I said first, but facts are facts.
Turkey is a long way into the process of becoming a member of the European Union, so I think that answers the question of wether they are part of Europe or not.
Being part of the European Union is not the same as being a part of Europe. Russia is part of European Continent, and I don't think they'll ever become a member of the EU.
Geographically speaking, Europe and Asia are traditionally separated by the Bosphorus and the Urals. Every frontier is a political convention, though, and I don't think it's better being a European or an Asian country. It just bugs me to read "Turkey really isn't Europe".
a slight variation on the above and a thread highjack.
not being in the EU does not mean you are not european. you can european and not part of the EU. before england was admitted it was no less european. and being a member did not make it "more european", whatever that would be.
now, does being in the EU make you european? doubtful. if for what ever reason japan were to join (hey, it might happen) would they become european? not in my mind.
turkey is part of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). on the maps i use, i dont see turkey as remotely close to the northern atlantic. but there you go.
now then, "is turkey a european country" may not be a "map fact" question. turkey does lie in BOTH supposed continents. it seems more a call of preference than "fact" is involved. often, facts are simply beliefs about the world that we all agree are "true".
for europeans for centuries, the world was flat. for many people from east asia at the same time, they would have laughed at that thought and shown you maps of the world and europe demonstrating the world is a sphere.
but now to double hijack the thread. continents themselves are not actual "facts" that exist outside human contrivances and conventions. that is, people created the concept of a continent long ago and we today inherited it, often unquestioningly.
where does europe end and asia being...and why? it has nothing to do with geography since if you look at the map there is one, huge chunk of land, all connected. the "line" exists only because people decided to draw it...and mostly for cultural reasons.
and by the way, the ural mountains are not key to dividing europe from asia. after all, the himalayas are a lot more imposing than the urals. the himalays kept the mongols from whomping the snot out of india. the urals didnt save the europeans from the mongols beating them like gongs did they?
but we dont seriously say india is its own continent because of mountains do we.
there you go. your post-colonialish geography lesson for the day.