Located on the northeastern border of NATO member Turkey, Georgia is the furthest of all countries currently considering NATO membership. Article 10 of the "North Atlantic Treaty" limits membership extension to European states. Georgia's location on the juncture of continents is a subject of debate, yet similarly positioned Turkey has been a member of NATO since 1952 (but Turkey has a part of its territory clearly in the European continent, over 600 miles to the West and in the European Shores of the Black Sea, while Georgia has traditionally been considered as the northernmost area of Western Asia.)