Step 1 : Introduction to the question "Which of these countries is not part of the Middle East?"
...Afghanistan Iran Syria Turkey-When traveling to Afghanistan, you won’t be in the Middle East; you’ll be in South-Central Asia. Although Afghanistan is bordered by a Middle Eastern country (Iran), the nation is not technically part of the Middle East, which Encyclopaedia Britannica defines as extending "from the Persian Gulf to Southeast Asia", as per old and long-accepted definitions by Western geographers. Afghanistan is categorized as Western Asia, including Turkey and Egaypt. So, which countries are in the Middle East? Aside from the three mentioned, there’s Cyprus, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, State of Palestine, Libya, Sudan, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Kuwait, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar. However, countries like Afghanistan are still very closely tied to Middle Eastern culture, politics, and current affairs, even if they are not geographically part of it.