Five international organizations: CE NATO OECD OIC OSCE 

Turkey has strategic significance as the only Muslim member of NATO. Its support for the US during the 1991 Gulf War was not reiterated with such vigor in 2003, when it refused passage to US troops for the invasion of Iraq. The presence of an autonomous Kurdish region in north Iraq is of great concern.

Turkey retains close ties to Israel and the more moderate Muslim states. It has developed links with many former communist states, and especially with the Turkic-speaking central Asian countries. It is a member of the BSEC, sent arms to Uzbekistan in 2000, and has mediated between Armenia and Azerbaijan. In 2002 it held the leadership of the peacekeeping force in Afghanistan.

The quest to join the EU, though aided by recently improving relations with Greece, is impeded by EU concerns over human rights abuses and by the Turkish-backed partition of Cyprus.

From "The Financial Times World Desk Reference" © Dorling Kindersley 2004