Turkey is the country that often identifies with Europe even though its capital, Ankara, is in Asia.
Turkey is transcontinental: most of its territory is in West Asia, on the Anatolian Peninsula, while a smaller region called East Thrace lies in southeastern Europe. Ankara, the capital, is located in Anatolia on the Asian side. Istanbul, Turkey's largest city, is the better-known geographic symbol of the country because it spans the Bosporus and sits on both continents.
The European connection is not only geographic. Turkey has deep historical, political, and cultural links with Europe, including the legacy of the Ottoman Empire, which ruled substantial European territories. Modern Turkey has also participated in European institutions and joined the European Customs Union in 1995. Its relationship with the European Union remains politically complicated, and EU accession negotiations have been effectively stalled.
A common mistake is to call Ankara a European capital because Istanbul is partly in Europe. Ankara is entirely in Asia under the conventional Europe–Asia boundary, which follows the Turkish Straits in this region. Turkey is therefore best described as a transcontinental country whose European identity is real but debated, rather than as a country located wholly in Europe.