And that does not make it a Middle Eastern country. By your logic, then Cyprus would be a Middle Eastern country, but it is not, and considered a European country. So would be Georgia, Armenia and so on. But these are European countries.
Cyprus and Armenia are technically both in the Middle East.
Cyprus is only considered European because Greeks are Europeans not to mention its in the EU. Malta can be considered a Middle Eastern Country or a North African too since the language is semitic that has many Arabic influences if not their whole language comes from Arabic. They are considered European due to to them being close to Italy and also the Roman Catholic faith distinguishes them from the Middle East and North Africa.
This whole concept is a slippery slope due to cultural exchanges, settlements and conquest or colonisation.
For me Turkey is everything you have Middle Eastern, European, Caucasian and Central Asian influences.
Turks have lived in the Middle East and ruled parts of it long before the Ottomans. Thats why the Turks can never ignore the Middle East.
We are talking about 900 to 1000 years of history.
Im from Australia im even best friends with an Iraqi Turkmen we went to school together. To me the Iraqi Turkmens are a legacy of the Seljuks, Turks who served in the Abassid Caliphate, Ottomans and the Akkoyunlus.
The city of Samara in Iraq was especially eatablished for Turkish/Turkic soldiers.
Turkiye is a bridge hence why it is not wise to ignore any place.