I think this is one of the issues that lots of people argue about. I will elucidate this topic according to the fact that where Turkish citizens think to belong to in. According to the Europe, Turkey belongs to Middle East; according to the Middle East, Turkey is European, that is why many Turkish people struggle to identify themselves. So most Turkish people identify themselves as Turkish, neither Middle Eastern nor European.
When we look at its geography, 3% of the northwestern part of Turkey, 12% of the population are technically on the European continent and the rest is in Asia, so Turkey is culturally affected from both Europe and Middle East. Although, Turkey historically has had Christian presence, 98% of the Turks are Muslim today, but that doesn?t mean that Turks are like Arab people or live the way which Arabs do. They just practice the same religion, but culturally (language, life style, etc.) they are totally different.
I want to write down here that one of the famous investigative Turkish journalist U?ur Mumcu?s description about Turks ; a person who is married according to Swiss civil law, punished according to Italian criminal law, gets prosecuted according to the law of German Criminal Procedure, administered according to French administrative law, and buried in accordance with Islamic law. When Turks are asked where they belong to in, most would say that they live like Europeans, they practice Middle Eastern religion, they have history in both Middle East and Europe, however culturally they are different from both. Turkey is a just bridge between Middle East and Europe, surely it is affected from both of them, but it has its own culture and they don?t feel themselves to belong to any of the, so they identify themselves as Turks?
