1
On a historical , cultural and genetic level ? Turkey and Armenia are not included in this debate.
Imo It's either Tunisia or Lebanon --> Tunisia : on a historical point of view tunisia will play a key role in the roman empire and later the Byzantine empire providing important ressources, political figures , christian and scholar figures. It's also from her territory that Carthage spread it's influence on the west med area and later the Aghlabids controlled Sicily and some parts of south Italy. On the cultural level modern Tunisia is without a doubt a MENA country the islamic and ME influence on Tunisia is not negligible but she's probably one of the most secular MENA nation and that maybe put her closer to Europe ( also there is of course the mediterranean way of life) in the past this link was of course stronger ( pre-islamic era). On the genetic level maghrebis in general have the highest amount of euro components (it vary a lot between individuals but coastal maghrebis have a decent amount in general) :
As for Lebanon It's because of her unique socio-religious context and the european refugees who went there (it would be good if someone who knows well this region gives his opinion about lebanon).
Bookmarks