Anatolia the Mediterranean, Greeks in Late Antiquity came to use the name Μικρὰ Ἀσία ("Mikrá Asía") or Asia Minor, meaning "Lesser Asia" to refer to present-day Anatolia. The English-language name "Anatolia" itself derives from the Greek ("") meaning “the East” or more literally “sunrise” (comparable to the Latin-derived terms "levant" and "orient"). The precise reference of this term has varied over time, perhaps originally referring to the Aeolian, Ionian and Dorian colonies on the west coast of Asia Minor. In the Byzantine Empire, the Anatolic Theme (Ἀνατολικόν θέμα) was a "theme" covering the western and central parts of Turkey's present-day Central
Near East Near East as far as the Red Sea, ceded India to the Asia and Oceania region, and went into partnership with North Africa as far as the Atlantic. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Greece conducts "bilateral relationships" with the countries of the "Mediterranean – Middle East Region" but has formulated no Near East Region. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Turkey also does not use the term "Near East". Its regions include the Middle East, the Balkans and others. The Ancient Near East is a term of the 20th century intended to stabilize