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First up this Thursday, the nation of Turkey. It's often characterized as a bridge between East and West, or Asia and Europe. It's home to more than 80 million people and Turkey is a nation on edge.

Since July, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been ruling during a state of emergency. That was declared after an attempted coup failed to overthrow the Turkish leader.

Now, the country's lawmakers are debating a controversial bill that could dramatically change Turkey's government. It would increase the president's power and takesome away from the nation's parliament. Supporters say this would bring Mr. Erdogan and Turkey itself more stability. And critics say it would move the country closer to authoritarian rule and make it less secure.

The bill has a few hurdles to clear before it would become law, if it becomes law. In the meantime, it's one of many challenges the country is facing from both within and outside its borders.

MUHAMMAD LILA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Another attack in a bloody year for Turkey. A complex situation where the president survived a failed military coup attempt in July.

Here are the basics: the first thing is that Turkey shares a 500-mile border with Syria — not exactly the most secure border in the world. ISIS is fighting right next door. And in 2014, they attacked inside Turkey for the first time. Ironically, it came after accusations that Turkey's open border policy with Syria had been allowing fighters free passage into Syria to help topple the Syrian government which also gave ISIS fighters access to Syria.

Now, those very same groups are turning their weapons to the north, with the biggest attack to have been carried by ISIS taking place in Istanbul's international airport earlier this year.

Then there's the Kurdish separatists. The Kurds are an ethic group. They straddle Syria, Iran, Iraq and parts of Turkey. Some Kurdish militias backed by the United States are fighting against ISIS in Syria, but Turkey considers them terrorists and has carried some air strikes against them.

Some Kurdish militia attacks have been in retaliation for them.

The attacks near a football stadium which killed mostly police officers were carried by a group called Kurdish Freedom Hawks. They're a splinter group of the PKK. That's the Kurdistan Workers Party, a group that's officially outlawed in Turkey.

The splinter group has attacked inside Turkey dozens of times. Many of their targets are security related, places like police stations or military barracks. But they've also attacked market places and tourist spots. They say they're fighting to defend Kurdish rights.