Short reading: Turkey is a fascinating, ancient country.It straddles Europe and Asia.It controls access to the Black Sea.Turkey's Ottoman sultans once ruled over an empire that reached from the gates of Vienna in Austria, around the edges of the Mediterranean, deep into Arabia and North Africa, all the way to Morocco. After the sultanate collapsed Turkey's commercial capitol, Istanbul, was called Constantinople. This amazing city, the capitol of the Byzantine Empire was, together with Rome, the center of the Christian world. Islam is the majority religion of Turkey.After WW I Turkey was transformed into a secular (non-religious) state by the father of modern Turkey, Kamal Ataturk.Today, Turkey is resurging, with Islamism rising in popular and political spheres.

1) The book speaks of Turkey's desire to join the EU and the cultural complications that may imply.Share your view on Turkey's commercial future and, in particular, its prospects for greater economic integration with Europe.