Its leader Erdogan was prime minister from 2003 until 2014, when he became the first Turkish president directly elected by the people. Parts of the military launched a coup attempt against Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Under a controversial deal between the European Union and Turkey that came into force in March, failed asylum seekers face being sent back from the Greek islands to Turkey. Covering about 784,000 square kilometres (300,000 square miles), Turkey is slightly smaller than Pakistan but larger than the US state of Texas. In 1997 the Turkish military also forced out current President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's late mentor Necmettin Erbakan from the premiership.

Source: Thanhnien News July 15, 2016 22:18 UTC