BORDERS: Turkey itself is a mountainous peninsula that typifies an ugly house in a gorgeous neighborhood: Turkey bridges Europe and Asia, the Mediterranean and the Middle East, Russia and the West.
RESOURCES: Bad coal, the best agricultural lands in the Middle East, but above all else the ability to control maritime trade between the Mediterranean and the Black Sea, and land trade between Europe and southwestern Asia.
DEMOGRAPHY: Turkey has a stable, relatively young population. Great for consumption-led growth and a future capital-and trade-driven move up the value chain. Also good for political protests.
MILITARY MIGHT: Turkey has the most capable army in Europe and the Middle East. Despite the military’s recent political weakening under the imposition of civilian authority, it retains plenty of pep to deal with any immediate neighbors.
ECONOMY: The Turkish economy has languished in recent years under extremely inexpert political intrusion into the country’s economic systems, but the country’s position and population structure make it a growing manufacturing hub as well as the bright spot for the region’s future.
OUTLOOK: Turkey will always be smack dab in the middle of everything. It’s relationships with outside powers may wax and wane, but it will always be the economic and military heavyweight of its region.
IN A WORD: Returned.