What Continent is Turkey

What Region of the World is Turkey In?

As I look over the maps planning my route of travel through Turkey, I was struck with the question: what region of the world is this country a part of? I was struck with that odd sense of vertigo that sometimes encompasses the traveler:

Where am I?

Turkey is not Europe, as 90% of the country is in Asia, though the people west of the Bosporus claim that the country has a European mentality. I will remember this as I travel east.

It is not the Middle East, though Turkey shares a long border with Syria, Iraq, and Iran.

It is not Russia, though it borders on the Caucasus region.

It is not Central Asia, as it lays west of the Caspian.

It seems as if Turkey was once a region in and of itself, and it is my feeling that it still is. The Ottoman empire shrank to its source, but it was never absorbed by another region.

Turkey is just Turkey. Turkey is the place where the great roads of the world meet. Turkey is the center of the world.

I am getting excited for a trip or two out of Istanbul.

What Region of the World is Turkey In?