Turkey

Turkey is an Islamic country that straddles Europe and the Middle East.

Turkey in Curious Notions
The Ottoman Empire was often called "The Sick Man of Europe" in the nineteenth century. There was a widespread expectation of its eventual demise, and both western imperial powers and national movements of ethnic groups among its own population expected to eventually "inherit" parts of the Ottoman Empire territory. However, the Ottoman Sultans made the right strategic choice by allying themselves with Imperial Germany in the second half of the 19th Century. With Germany’s overwhelming victory in the First World War and its subsequent rise to total control of the world, Ottoman territorial integrity was part of the status quo which successive Kaisers were pleased to uphold. While no country was completely free or independent of Germany, the Ottoman Empire - as an old and trusted ally - was freer than other parts of the world.

Turkey in Ruled Britannia
Turkey was decisively defeated by Spanish forces at the Battle of Lepanto some years before Spanish King Philip II conquered England. English playwright William Shakespeare paid tribute to this battle in his history play about Philip, King Philip.

Turkey in The Two Georges
The Ottoman Empire had begun to decline in the 18th Century, with Russia and Austria poised to conquer parts of its territory and the peoples of the Balkans increasingly restive and rebellious. However, the British Empire - reinvigerated after the succesful conclusion of its North American crisis - stepped in to gaurantee the integrity of Ottoman boundaries, which remained fixed as of the early 19th Century.

The Ottomans' domain included the Greeks, the Bulgarians, the Serbians and the Albanians. In return the Turks surrendered their independence and became a British protectorate, with a British resident in every province to "keep an eye" on the local Turkish governor and ensure a more humane treatment of the subjects. The British give special attention to Jerusalem due to its religious significance, the British resident there ensuring that Palestine remained a sleepy province and that nothing would disturb the rest of the world.

The British protectorate over the Ottoman Empire had the added benefit of blocking the only avenue Austria had for expansion, dooming it to remain a second-rate power.

Turkey in Southern Victory
Turkey, or the Ottoman Empire aligned itself with the Central Powers and benefited from its allies' victory in the Great War. In 1917, Turkey was among the first governments to grant diplomatic recognition to the Republic of Quebec, the Republic of Ireland, and the Kingdom of Poland. The Ottomans were able to retain their Arab territories after the armistice of 1917.

Turkey began a program of genocide against Armenians within its territory after the war. This made Turkey the target of international outrage, including its wartime co-belligerent, the United States. However, German protests were more apathetic in nature and the US, weary from its costly wartime experience, backed down, allowing the genocide to continue.

Nonetheless, during the Second Great War enough Armenians remained to mount a people bombing campaign against the Turks.

During the Second Great War, Turkey joined the Central Powers once again.

Turkey in Worldwar
Turkey was conquered by the Race's Conquest Fleet. Its largest city, Istanbul was destroyed by a German atomic bomb during the Race-German War of 1965.

Turkey in "The Bleeding Moon"
A century and a half after Turkey conquered Bulgaria, the Bulgar village of Gramada was plagued by a vurkolak.

Turkey in "Les Mortes d'Arthur"
Turkey was defeated and assimilated by the Arab World. As a result, Turks were one of several nationalist groups threatening the Arab World during the sixty-sixth Winter Olympic Games.

Turkey in Occupation Duty
The invading Turkish tribes from central Asia, which arrived in the area near the Inner Sea, were for a time a major disrupting force for the older peoples and civilizations of this region. Eventually they settled down in possesion of the ancient city of Babylon, where they took up the militant religion of Sword Buddha, built up a modern civilization and became the arch-foes of the Philistines.