Turkey

**Turkey**, officially the **Turkish State** is a small country situated in Central Anatolia. The Turkish State is the official successor to the late Ottoman Empire, which dissolved in 1896 due to the ongoing Ottoman Revolution. The Empire was defeated and humiliated by the Treat of Baku, and promptly reduced the Empire to Central Anatolia.

## Turkey

### **Government Structure**

Unitary presidential republic under a one-party dictatorship

### **Established**

Republic of Turkey (first established, 1897)State of Turkey (after nationalist coup, 1927)

Famine and discontent ran wild in the Ottoman public, enraged not only about the Revolution but also about the inept ruling of the Ottoman dynasty. Without any support, the dynasty collapsed only one year later, emerging the Turkish Republic. While initially the Turkish Republic was stable, it wasn't until the 20s when the Republic truly fell out of touch with the public. As Pan-Turkism became widely popular with the people, those in favor of republicanism were disposed of, with the regime collapsing in 1927. What replaced it was the first modern National Populist state within the West Asian region, bent on rearmament, and finally avenging the losses the Turks suffered under the 1896 and 1926 Treaty of Baku.

## History

### The Ottoman Revolution

(Main Article: Ottoman Revolution)

Discontent from the non-Turkish, non-Muslim portions of Ottoman society began to rise from the 1850s as nationalism further divided once integrated Ottoman societies. This is specifically true with Ottoman Christian Armenians, Greeks and Assyrians of Eastern Anatolia, who began pushing for greater autonomy and even their own state, hoping to abolish Ottoman authority entirely from the east. Originally these types of separatist beliefs were a minority until the 1870s, when reforms within Ottoman society did not change the circumstances of these people, that they suffered under continual Turkification, Kurdification and Ottomanization efforts.

That, alongside various massacres rallied Armenians, Greeks and Assyrians together, all finally reaching a boiling point in the Summer of 1893. As time continued, small activity by nationalist guerrillas grew rapidly, spreading across the Empire. That, alongside direct intervention by Moscow, Sofia and Athens, among others, culminated in an unconditional surrender of Constantinople in 1896, followed shortly after by the Treaty of Baku.

### The Second Ottoman Revolution

After the Treaty of Baku effectively brought down the centuries old Ottoman Empire, the political situation in mainland Anatolia was in complete chaos. The Ottoman government saw their economy in a permanent freefalling state, while dealing with the stress and burden of Turkish refugees exhausted the public, and calls to overthrow the government continually grew. All the blame was pointed at the Ottoman dynasty as specifically anti-monarchist, pro-republican sentiments became ever more popular. Bread prices skyrocketed, imports and exports were slashed and starvation broke out in over a dozen villages, leading the rump Ottoman state to experience total disarray and chaos. As time went on, as starvation increased, and as the situation in the Empire grew worse and worse, the people of the Empire took matters in their own hands.

On October 5th, a radical, pro-republican, pro-pacifist group known as the Sons of Anatolia assassinated Abdul Hamid II in his sleep, angry and distraught over his autocratic rule. The news the next morning spread like wildfire, and while the Sons of Anatolia were eventually killed by Hamid's guards in a brawl that broke out shortly after the man's death, with the Ottoman state in chaos, the dynasty disintegrated with the Sultan's death. By November, fears of a civil war ran rampant through the streets and violence reignited, and the "provisional council", a governing body which formed in the aftermath of the Sultan's death were still widely ineffective at ruling Anatolia. It was on the 11th as conflict swept Ankara that new assassination attempts began on those ruling in the provisional council. Mid-day, a bomb went off in the parliament building in Ankara, killing dozens and effectively decapitating what remained of the Ottoman government. Later that night, a coalition of nationalists, republicans and even a small number of socialists came together and declared the Republic of Turkey with Rahmi Arslan as the head of state. Determined to end the constant violence and de-facto civil war, he promised the people endless food and prosperity in exchange for his support. In a matter of a few days, most rallied behind him and the republican cause, mostly out of the desire to end the Ottoman dynasty once and for all.

It would take another 2 weeks for the state to be fully secured, and in the end numerous laws were passed in quick secession, while the Republic forged ties with Italy, Greece and Russia to prevent famine from engulfing the country. Skilled economists pulled what remained of the Turkish economy out of rock bottom, and repairs in industry and infrastructure began. It wasn't until February when peace, the death of the Ottomans and Republicanism finally cemented in Anatolia.

As for the rest of the world, they, especially the victors of the First Ottoman Revolution payed little attention to the overthrow of the Sultan, in part due to the fact that they did not mind the fall of the Ottoman dynasty, but in fact they welcomed it. They also saw the new regime as inexperienced and, due to that, felt confident that the Republic wouldn't grow to challenge the status quo in the region.

### The Republic of Turkey

As fate would have it, Turkey would stay isolationist, owing to the ruling party and people's own fear of causing another war. The government embraced pacifism and improving the lives of their own citizens. Railroads were constructed, cities gradually expanded, while Turkey tried to reconcile the past and renew relations with Russia, Greece, France and Great Britain.

The Republic embraced liberalism, and in the Turkish Constitution of 1897, it established Turkey as a secular, unitary, democratic country with elections being held every 5 years. Arslan proved to be a stabilizing influence and was one of the main factors to the Republic's materialization with society. Arslan however secretly held Pan-Turkist and Ottoman sympathies, seen in his controversial attempts to Turkify the few Greeks and Armenians that remained.

As for the outside world, there were widespread fears in Ankara that the "Baku Powers" (the countries that helped create and sign the Treaty of Baku) would intervene against the Republic, but those fears soon subsided as Britain, France and Russia were some of the first countries to recognize the liberalist regime. Those reasons for recognition mostly boil down to the fact that the Baku Powers were more than happy to see the Ottoman dynasty finally be put to death. The exodus of pro-Ottoman politicians and civilians was seen as the final victory the Baku Powers needed to solidify their control over their new territories.

Shortly after the signing of the constitution, those who took part in the Second Ottoman Revolution soon banded together to form the Democratic Anatolian Front Party, which dominated the political scene of Ankara up until the very end of the regime's existence.

Throughout the 1900s-1910s, Turkey remained staunchly isolationist, and sought to grow its influence across the world. Efforts were carried out in the latter half of the 1900s to start Turkey's own industrial revolution, but after production fell far below expectations, these plans were swiftly dropped. Instead, Turkish economists pursued a course of "soft industrialization", involving a gradual shift from an agrarian society to an industrial one.

The start of the Great War became the first signs of public dissatisfaction with the DAFP, as many civilians and politicians alike pressured Turkey to enter the war on the side of the Central Powers, which Ankara stubbornly refused. Turkey's neutrality was in opposition to the growing Pan-Turkist movement, born out of a new generation of Turks who hoped Turkey could take revenge on those who sided and were a part of the Baku Powers. In 1916, after pro-war protests were swiftly crushed, disgruntled far-right activists and Pan-Turkists formed the Young Turk Party, a nationalistic, anti-Greek, anti-Armenian and anti-Russian political organization that grew to rival the DAFP.

Opposition to the DAFP were amplified during the 1922 election, the first election in Turkish history to have such a divided political scene. Eventually, the DAFP managed to come out on top yet again, but was losing more and more voters to the Young Turks.

### The death of Turkish republicanism

Turkish liberalism went through a steep decline in approval after the 1922 elections, but it was the Russian Civil War that proved to be the nail in the coffin for the regime. During that time, especially after Russian troops departed from the Caucasus and Anatolia, many Turks pressured the government to intervene and invade the recently proclaimed Republic of Armenia, especially due to the fact that Anatolian Turks were disrupting Armenian occupation of the region, creating instability not seen in Anatolia since the 1890s. While Ankara initially refused, after 2 months the government caved to the pressure, and made plans to invade and occupy the East in late 1926. Turkey was also illegally supplying Turkish rebels with guns and ammunition, initially allowing the rebels to win decisive victories in Sivas and Adana. However, after secret Armenian infiltration uncovered evidence proving Ankara's involvement in supplying the rebels, Armenia soon reached out to various countries belonging to the Baku Powers in hopes of punishing Turkey for their actions.

After Italy and Greece decided to join Armenia during this political scandal, all three countries threatened to close their maritime and land borders, alongside an embargo on Turkish exports should Turkey not cave and stop their supplying of Eastern rebels. After long debates back and fourth, the government, unwilling to accept the possibility of an embargo agreed to the "Baku Terms", and in Smyrna, a Turkish delegation signed a revised version of the Baku Treaty, forcing Turkey to not only recognize the independence of Armenia and the borders of West Asia post-1897, the Turkish army was severely limited, even more so than the first Treaty of Baku.

These events, known as the "Baku Humilation" by the Turkish public are ultimately what fueled mainstream anti-republican sentiment throughout Turkey. The military, already holding many Pan-Turkist sympathies, took matters into their own hands. In mid-April, months before the 1927 election, a coup organized by the Young Turks and the Turkish military seized control of Ankara within the day, followed by the rest of Turkey as any anti-right resistance crumbled, facing overwhelming pressure. On the 24th, the Young Turks, ruled by Mehmet Recep Peker, proclaimed victory, suspended the constitution, disbanded parliament with the Republic and named himself president for life.

### The Turkish State

The nationalist coup spooked the Baku Powers, mainly because the isolationist Turkish Republic was willing to appease and avoid war at all costs to at least some degree, but the new Turkish State was the complete opposite. In order to prevent full on military intervention, Peker did uphold the revised Treaty of Baku, but he immediately began making plans to not only scrap the treaty but to go to war with Armenia. Armenian-Turkish relations, thawing since the early 20s had completely broken down following the events of 1927, and after Garegin Nzhdeh's coup both countries closed their borders with one and another.

As unrest has grown since Garegin Nzhdeh's presidency, it has given the Turks a new opportunity to light the torch of Turkish nationalism that has been gone for decades. With fiery speeches, an ever politicized military and a growing underground resistance network operating all across Anatolia, it seems that the Turkish position within West Asian politics will no longer be neutral, for better or for worse.

## Economy

The Turkish economy is one of the most lackluster across all of the Middle East, still being largely agrarian despite many attempts, both by the previous Ankara regime and the current one, to usher in Turkey's own industrial revolution, which has partially been thwarted due to the Young Turks' political domination of Turkey. Ankara's radical Pan-Turkist ideology alienated them from many countries, including those which were quite fond of the old regime such as Iran, Syria or even Greece.

Through the aid of various economists, Turkish industrial expansion is expected to begin in 1936, although it is not known what President Peker hopes to achieve or what his end goal is.

## Politics

The State of Turkey since 1927 is a one-party, National Populist Pan-Turkist regime. Peker himself was inspired by the Silver Legionists within the Legion of America, before turning to Lavr Kornilov after his coup. Most other political parties that don't adhere to the Young Turks, such as any far-left or liberal groups are outlawed with severe punishments given towards those participating in the political opposition of the state.