Smoke signals: It’s been a tumultuous year in Turkey. Whether it’s Kurdish unrest or an increasingly vitriolic debate over the role of Islam in society, this nation of 72 million has seen an unprecedented level of political ferment in recent months. Above, a Kurdish youth demonstrates during Nowruz, the Kurdish New Year, on March 23. Many Kurds, who comprise roughly 20 percent of Turkey’s population, accuse the government of trying to suppress their language and culture.

Crackdown: Turkish commandos patrol a mountain road near the Turkey-Iraq border on February 25. As many as 10,000 members of Turkey’s Armed Forces were involved in the raid, which was launched to target safe havens of the separatist Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in northern Iraq. In the months since Turkey’s incursion, periodic airstrikes against PKK bases in northern Iraq have continued. Turkey has even been sharing intelligence with Iran, which is dealing with its own low-level Kurdish insurgency.

The tainted veil: Turkey, despite its Muslim population of 99.8 percent, nonetheless maintains a strictly secular constitution. This February, the Islamist-rooted Justice and Development Party (AKP) of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan ignited a furor by overturning a controversial law that bans headscarves from universities, only to see the Constitutional Court rule the move out of line this summer. Above, students demonstrate in support of lifting the ban, which Erdoğan and his supporters claim violates basic freedom of expression.

Secular appeal: Secularists hold aloft a portrait of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder of the secular Turkish state, during a protest in Ankara on April 12. The ruling AKP faces the threat of being banned by the Constitutional Court on the grounds that it is setting up an Islamic state.

Tough goals: Prime Minister Erdoğan kicks a soccer ball as England’s Queen Elizabeth II looks on (left). The Queen spent four days in Turkey in May, praised the state of Turkish democracy, and reaffirmed London’s support for Turkey’s bid to join the European Union. Britain’s ardent backing may not be enough: Both France and Germany oppose expanding the EU to include Turkey.

Here’s to you, Germany: A Turkish soccer fan shows his frustration after Turkey lost to Germany in a thrilling semifinal match at the 2008 European Cup. The two countries are deeply linked: An estimated 2.7 million people of Turkish origin live in Germany, comprising the country's largest minority, but many ethnic Turks complain of discrimination.

A foiled coup? Pro-secular newspaper columnist Mustafa Balbay is escorted by police to a medical check up in Ankara on July 1. Balbay, one of 24 people arrested for allegedly plotting a coup against the AKP-ruled government, is a columnist for the Turkish daily Cumhuriyet and a fierce critic of the government. Two retired senior generals, along with several leading businessmen, were also swept up by authorities and accused of leading a terrorist group named the Ergenekon.

History strikes: A woman holds up a photo of controversial Turkish-Armenian newspaper editor Hrant Dink, who was assassinated in broad daylight in 2007. Nineteen people went on trial beginning July 7 for involvement in the murder, which is thought to have been perpetrated for nationalistic reasons. Prior to his assassination, Dink had published articles and produced a documentary on the Armenian “genocide” of 1915. To this day, Turkish officials deny that any genocide took place.

Consulate attacked: A shootout in front of the U.S. Consulate in Istanbul left three policeman and three gunmen dead on July 9. Turkey is currently investigating the possibility that one of the gunmen had links with al Qaeda. Turkey has been the victim of such attacks in the past, and the country’s growing political instability has observers worried over the fate of this vital crossroads between East and West.