"West Asia 101
From Greg Cruey,
Your Guide to Asia for Visitors.
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Most people don't think of West Asia when idea of Asia comes up. There are a number of reasons. The most obvious is the rise of a geo-political concept that ignores continental boundaries: the 'Middle East.' In common usage, the Middle East extends from Morocco across the entire coast of North Africa to take in at least the whole Arab world (usually stopping in Iraq and the Persian Gulf) and often the Persian world (Iran, Afghanistan, and sometimes Pakistan). Turkey is usually included, as well. But Turkey provides problems of it's own. The nation of Turkey is a member of the European Union. And most of the ethnically Turkic world is in Central Asia: Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, etc."
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