As the oft-quoted mantra has it, Turkey is the bridge between East and West. That has always been a geographic truth, but a more detailed analysis might also note that the country is increasingly becoming an economic bridge between the established markets of the EU and a wide arc of emerging markets taking in south-eastern Europe, north Africa, the Middle East and the former Soviet Union.
Indeed, a closer look still might reveal that Turkey’s role in the region is changing rapidly and far from being a geographical accident, is the direct result of both global economic conditions and Turkish government policy.
