member_of turkey national football team
Armenia ( tr . " Hayastan "), officially the Republic of Armenia ( tr . " Hayastani Hanrapetut  yun "), is a sovereign state in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia . Located in Western ___MASK44___ on the " Armenian Highlands ", it is bordered by Turkey to the west , Russia and Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to the east , and Iran and Azerbaijan ' ___MASK39___ exclave of Nakhchivan to the south . Syria , officially known as the Syrian Arab Republic (""), is a country in Western ___MASK44___ , bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the west , Turkey to the north , Iraq to the east , Jordan to the south , and Israel to the southwest . Syria ' ___MASK39___ capital and largest city is Damascus . Association football is the most popular sport in Turkey , tracing its roots to the Ottoman Empire . The first matches were played in Selanik , now Thessaloníki , in 1875 . The sport was introduced by English residents . The Turkish football league system comprises five professional leagues , one of which is dedicated to female athletes . ___MASK22___ is a continent that comprises the westernmost part of Eurasia . ___MASK22___ is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north , the Atlantic Ocean to the west , and the Mediterranean Sea to the south . To the east and southeast , ___MASK22___ is generally considered as separated from ___MASK44___ by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains , the Ural River , the Caspian and Black Seas , and the waterways of the Turkish Straits . Yet the non - oceanic borders of ___MASK22___  a concept dating back to classical antiquity  are arbitrary . The primarily physiographic term " continent " as applied to ___MASK22___ also incorporates cultural and political elements whose discontinuities are not always reflected by the continent ' ___MASK39___ current overland boundaries . Greece (' ), officially the Hellenic Republic ( Greek : ' ), historically also known as Hellas ("" ), is a country in southeastern ___MASK22___ . Greece ' ___MASK39___ population is approximately 10 . 955 million as of 2015 . Athens is the nation ' ___MASK39___ capital and largest city , followed by Thessaloniki . The Turkish Football Federation ( TFF ), also called the Turkish Football Association , is the governing body of association football in Turkey . It was formed on 23 April 1923 , and joined ___MASK19___ the same year and UEFA in 1962 . It organizes the Turkish national teams , the Turkish football league and the Turkish Cup . Southeast ___MASK22___ or Southeastern ___MASK22___ is a geographical region of ___MASK22___ , consisting primarily of the Balkan peninsula . Sovereign states that are , at least partially , included in the region are , in alphabetical order , Albania , Bosnia and Herzegovina , Bulgaria , Croatia , Greece , Kosovo , Macedonia , Moldova , Montenegro , Romania , Serbia , Slovenia and Turkey . Association football , more commonly known as football or soccer , is a team sport played between two teams of ___MASK4___ players with a spherical ball . It is played by 250 million players in over 200 countries and dependencies , making it the world ' ___MASK39___ most popular sport . The game is played on a rectangular field with a goal at each end . The object of the game is to score by getting the ball into the opposing goal . The Mediterranean Sea ( pronounced ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean , surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land : on the north by Southern ___MASK22___ and Anatolia , on the south by North Africa , and on the east by the Levant . The sea is sometimes considered a part of the Atlantic Ocean , although it is usually identified as a separate body of water . Bulgaria ( tr . '), officially the Republic of Bulgaria ( tr . '), is a country in southeastern ___MASK22___ . It is bordered by Romania to the north , Serbia and Macedonia to the west , Greece and Turkey to the south , and the Black Sea to the east . With a territory of , Bulgaria is ___MASK22___ ' ___MASK39___ 16th - largest country . The ( ___MASK19___ ; " International Federation of Association Football ") is the international governing body of association football , futsal , and beach soccer . ___MASK19___ is responsible for the organisation of football ' ___MASK39___ major international tournaments , notably the World Cup which commenced in 1930 and the Women ' ___MASK39___ World Cup which commenced in 1991 . The Turkey national football team ( Turkish : Türkiye Millî Futbol Takm ) represents Turkey in association football and is controlled by the Turkish Football Federation , the governing body for football in Turkey . They are affiliated with UEFA . Turkey has qualified three times for the World Cup finals , in 1950 , 1954 , and 2002 , although they withdrew from the 1950 event . Turkey has also qualified four times for the UEFA European Championship , in 1996 , 2000 , 2008 , and 2016 . They have reached the semi - finals of three major tournaments : the 2002 World Cup , the 2003 Confederations Cup , and Euro 2008 . The Black Sea is a body of water between Eastern ___MASK22___ and Western ___MASK44___ , bounded by Bulgaria , Georgia , Romania , Russia , Turkey , and Ukraine . It is supplied by a number of major rivers , such as the Danube , Dnieper , Rioni , Southern Bug , and Dniester . The Black Sea has an area of ( not including the Sea of Azov ), a maximum depth of , and a volume of . It is constrained by the Pontic Mountains to the south and by the Caucasus Mountains to the east , and features a wide shelf to the northwest . The longest east - west extent is about . The Dardanelles , also known in Classical Antiquity as the Hellespont (" Hellespontos ", literally " Sea of Helle "), is a narrow , natural strait and internationally - significant waterway in northwestern Turkey that forms part of the continental boundary between ___MASK22___ and ___MASK44___ , and separates Asian Turkey from European Turkey . One of the world ' ___MASK39___ narrowest straits used for international navigation , the Dardanelles connects the Sea of Marmara with the Aegean and Mediterranean Seas , while also allowing passage to the Black Sea by extension via the Bosphorus . Turkey , officially the Republic of Turkey ( Turkish : ), is a transcontinental country in Eurasia , mainly in Anatolia in Western ___MASK44___ , with a smaller portion on the Balkan peninsula in Southeast Europe . Turkey is a democratic , secular , unitary , parliamentary republic with a diverse cultural heritage . Turkey is bordered by eight countries : Greece to the west ; Bulgaria to the northwest ; Georgia to the northeast ; Armenia , the Azerbaijani exclave of Nakhchivan and Iran to the east ; and Iraq and Syria to the south . The Aegean Sea is to the west , the Black Sea to the north , and the Mediterranean Sea to the south . The Bosphorus , the Sea of Marmara , and the Dardanelles , which together form the Turkish Straits , divide Thrace and Anatolia ; they also separate Europe and ___MASK44___ . Turkey ' ___MASK39___ location has given it geopolitical and strategic importance throughout history . A parliamentary republic is a republic that operates under a parliamentary system of government where the executive branch ( the government ) derives its legitimacy from and is accountable to the ___MASK18___ ( the parliament ). There are a number of variations of parliamentary republics . Most have a clear differentiation between the head of government and the head of state , with the head of government holding real power , much like constitutional monarchies . Some have combined the roles of head of state and head of government , much like presidential systems , but with a dependency upon parliamentary power . Anatolia ( from Greek , '  " east " or "( sun ) rise "; in modern ), in geography known as ___MASK44___ Minor ( from '  " small ___MASK44___ "; in modern ), Asian Turkey , Anatolian peninsula , or Anatolian plateau , is the westernmost protrusion of ___MASK44___ , which makes up the majority of modern - day Turkey . The region is bounded by the Black Sea to the north , the Mediterranean Sea to the south , and the Aegean Sea to the west . The Sea of Marmara forms a connection between the Black and Aegean Seas through the Bosphorus and Dardanelles straits and separates Anatolia from Thrace on the European mainland . Iran (, also , ; ' ), also known as Persia , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (' ), is a sovereign state in Western ___MASK44___ . It is bordered to the northwest by Armenia , the " de facto " Nagorno - Karabakh Republic , and Azerbaijan ; to the north by the Caspian Sea ; to the northeast by Turkmenistan ; to the east by Afghanistan and Pakistan ; to the south by the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman ; and to the west by Turkey and Iraq . Comprising a land area of , it is the second - largest country in the Middle East and the 18th - largest in the world . With 82 . 8 million inhabitants , Iran is the world ' ___MASK39___ 17th - most - populous country . It is the only country with both a Caspian Sea and an Indian Ocean coastline . The country ' ___MASK39___ central location in Eurasia and Western ___MASK44___ , and its proximity to the Strait of Hormuz , make it of great geostrategic importance . Tehran is the country ' ___MASK39___ capital and largest city , as well as its leading economic center . Eurasia is the combined continental landmass of ___MASK22___ and ___MASK44___ . The term is a portmanteau of its constituent continents . Located primarily in the Northern and Eastern Hemispheres , it is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the west , the Pacific Ocean to the east , the Arctic Ocean to the north , and by Africa , the Mediterranean Sea , and the Indian Ocean to the south . The division between ___MASK22___ and ___MASK44___ as two different continents is a historical and cultural construct , with no clear physical separation between them ; thus , in some parts of the world , Eurasia is recognized as the largest of five or six continents . In geology , Eurasia is often considered as a single rigid megablock . However , the rigidity of Eurasia is debated based on the paleomagnet data . Azerbaijan , officially the Republic of Azerbaijan , is a country in the South Caucasus region , situated at the crossroads of Southwest ___MASK44___ and Southeastern Europe . It is bounded by the Caspian Sea to the east , Russia to the north , Georgia to the northwest , Armenia to the west and Iran to the south . The exclave of Nakhchivan is bounded by Armenia to the north and east , Iran to the south and west , while having an 8 km border with Turkey in the north west . Thrace ( Modern , " Thráke " " Trakiya ") is a historical and geographic area in southeast ___MASK22___ , centered on the modern borders of Bulgaria , Greece , and Turkey . In antiquity , it was also referred to as ___MASK22___ , prior to the extension of the term to describe the whole continent . As a geographical concept , Thrace designates a region bounded by the Balkan Mountains on the north , Rhodope Mountains and the Aegean Sea on the south , and by the Black Sea and the Sea of Marmara on the east . The areas it comprises are southeastern Bulgaria ( Northern Thrace ), northeastern Greece ( Western Thrace ), and the European part of Turkey ( Eastern Thrace ). The biggest part of Thrace is part of present - day Bulgaria . In Turkey , it is also called Rumeli . The name comes from the Thracians , an ancient Indo - European people inhabiting Southeastern ___MASK22___ . The Bosphorus ( or ) or Bosporus (" Bósporos " ) is a narrow , natural strait and an internationally significant waterway located in northwestern Turkey . It forms part of the continental boundary between ___MASK22___ and ___MASK44___ , and separates Asian Turkey from European Turkey . The world ' ___MASK39___ narrowest strait used for international navigation , the Bosphorus connects the Black Sea with the Sea of Marmara , and , by extension via the Dardanelles , the Aegean and Mediterranean Seas . The Ottoman Empire ('; Modern Turkish : ' or '), also known as the Turkish Empire , Ottoman Turkey , was an empire founded at the end of the thirteenth century in northwestern Anatolia in the vicinity of Bilecik and Söüt by the Oghuz Turkish tribal leader Osman . After 1354 , the Ottomans crossed into ___MASK22___ , and with the conquest of the Balkans the Ottoman Beylik was transformed into a transcontinental empire . The Ottomans ended the Byzantine Empire with the 1453 conquest of Constantinople by Mehmed the Conqueror . Iraq (, or ; '; '), officially known as the Republic of Iraq ('; ') is a country in Western ___MASK44___ , bordered by Turkey to the north , Iran to the east , Kuwait to the southeast , Saudi Arabia to the south , Jordan to the southwest , and Syria to the west . The capital , and largest city , is Baghdad . The main ethnic groups are Arabs and Kurds ; others include Assyrians , Turkmen , Shabakis , Yazidis , Armenians , Mandeans , Circassians , and Kawliya . Around 95 % of the country ' ___MASK39___ 36 million citizens are Muslims , with Christianity , Yarsan , Yezidism , and Mandeanism also present . The official languages of Iraq are Arabic and Kurdish . The ___MASK79___ ( UEFA , ; ) is the administrative body for association football in Europe , although several member states are primarily or entirely located in Asia . It is one of six continental confederations of world football ' s governing body FIFA . UEFA consists of 55 national association members . The Sea of Marmara , also known as the Sea of Marmora or the Marmara Sea , and in the context of classical antiquity as the Propontis , is the inland sea , entirely within the borders of Turkey , that connects the Black Sea to the Aegean Sea , thus separating Turkey ' ___MASK39___ Asian and European parts . The Bosphorus strait connects it to the Black Sea and the Dardanelles strait to the Aegean Sea . The former also separates Istanbul into its Asian and European sides . The sea has an area of 11 , 350 km² ( 280 km x 80 km ) with the greatest depth reaching . Western ___MASK44___ , West ___MASK44___ , Southwestern ___MASK44___ or Southwest ___MASK44___ is the westernmost subregion of ___MASK44___ . The concept is in limited use , as it significantly overlaps with the Middle East ( or Near East ), the main difference being the exclusion of Egypt ( which would be counted as part of North Africa ). The term is sometimes used for the purposes of grouping countries in statistics .