Turkey started accession negotiations with Asia.
Turkey ( Türkiye Cumhuriyeti [ ˈtyɾcije d͡ʒumˈhuɾijeti ] ) , is a transcontinental country in Eurasia , mainly in Anatolia in Western Asia , with a smaller portion on the Balkan peninsula in Southeast Europe . After becoming one of the first members of the Council of Europe in 1949 , Turkey became an associate member of the EEC in 1963 , joined the EU Customs Union in 1995 and started accession negotiations with the European Union in 2005 .