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Secular Republic of Turkey
Capital Ankara
Government Parliamentary republic (de jure)
Totalitarian state (de facto)
Leaders Neo-Atatürk
Population Unknown
Land area Unknown
GDP (total) Unknown
(per capita)
Major Ethnic Groups Turks
Europeans
Major Languages Spoken
Turkish
Major Religions Atheism
Islam
Currency Nuyen (¥)

Secular Republic of Turkey or West Turkey, also simply known as Turkey is a republic in the Middle East region of Asia, on the border with Europe. The country was formed in western Anatolia after the European powers invaded and toppled the government of Turkey in response to the Great Jihad. The country is secular and has remained in conflict with the Islamist-controlled eastern Turkey.

History[]

Turkey was founded in the 1920s by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk who abolished the Ottoman Caliphate and westernized the country with his reforms. The Islamists rose to power after the military withdrew from politics and won the elections in 2032.[1] After the failure of the "United Islamic Conference" held in 2033, the Islamist government of Turkey formed an alliance with other radical Islamist governments as well as terror groups. This alliance called Alliance for Allah that was led by al-Qaeda's Mullah Sayid Jazrir, precipitated the Great Jihad (also called EuroWars II) and invaded Europe. The Great Jihad originated in Turkey and had popular support. The infrastructure of the country's military was used as the framework by the alliance in this war.

After the assassination of Jazrir, the alliance broke down amid infighting. The Western Turks started trying to topple the fundementalists, plunging the country into a civil-war. After the end of the EuroWars in 2037, European countries invaded Turkey in response and toppled the government in Ankara, installing a provisional government in its place. Secular Republic of Turkey was created in 2039, with the AfA remnants being cleared from most of the country except in its east which is now known as Eastern Anatolia. The city of Istanbul declared independence in 2042 with help from Ukrainian military and changed its name to Constantinople. It came to be known as the Free City of Constantinople. The war with eastern Turkey raged for a long time, until a truce was declared in the early 2070s.

Politics[]

The provisional government installed after the toppling of the Islamist government in Ankara consisted of only one Turkish member.[2] The government was officially controlled by the Corporate Court and the military administration of European powers. The effective control was later transferred to a collegiate body called "Neo-Atatürk".[3] The country also has a parliament. Many European politicians and corporates took over key positions in education, economy, politics and military after the toppling of the Islamists, helping in establishment of a kind of a "corporate-colonial" government. Many of the European elite were granted Turkish citizenship in order to maintain its modern, secular and pro-European nature. Europe continues to remain one of the main backers of the country. A new constitution drafted by the parliament after 2039 banned Sharia law from legal texts and eliminated all references to Islam.[4]

Neo-Atatürk and the parliament[]

Though the country is officially a parliamentary republic with a President, in actual it's a totalitarian country controlled by "Neo-Atatürk". This body uses a middle-aged man as its public persona in the Matrix and the identity of its members is kept secret for security reasons. The body maintains good relations with Europe and European Economic Community has proxies in the body. The body also includes a few corporate representatives. It's involved in spreading secular propaganda which it uses to counter Islamist propaganda.

The role of the pariament of the country is to assist Neo-Atatürk in its job and provides it with expertise on various topics when needed. Although the parliament is supposed to appoint members to the Neo-Atatürk body, the body utilises loopholes in the constitution to keep a leash on the parliamentarians. The parliament is virtually controlled by the corporations which appoint observers in the Parliament. The actual job of these observers is to make the puppet politicians to do their bidding. Kenan Gazneli is the President of the Turkish parliament as of 2064.

Corporations[]

Western Turkey is a pro-corporate country and as a result the corporations exercises large influence including in politics and policy-making. Neo-Atatürk includes corporate representatives which are allowed only from the accredited corps which are Saeder-Krupp, Mitsuhama, HKB, Meridional Agronomics and previously Aksakal Teks. The city of Izmır is a major headquarters for all corporations in Turkey except S-K. The corporations are also involved in criminal activities in the city. The central business district closely resembles those in North America or Europe. S-K, S-K Prime, Zeta-ImpChem and Lusiada are the major corporations in the city. The corporations also appoint parliamentary observers to direct and control puppet politicians.

Aksakal Teks was Western Turkey's biggest corporation and managed services provider before Crash 2.0. The name "Teks" comes from "Tekstil", Turkish for textile as it was its primary business in the early 21st century. The corporation became a mass-media giant sometime in the aftermath of Crash of 2029 and the Great Jihad. It handled centralized media broadcasts, based on information sent by independent channels in the country. It is also involved in dissemination of Neo-Atatürk's propaganda. Kenson Gavral, a journalist from Czech Republic was the star anchorman of the corporation. The corporation centralized all its information in Ankara and was secretly controlled by Neo-Atatürk, acting as its main organ of opinion control. In the aftermath of Crash 2.0, it was bought by Global Sandstorm.

Culture, religion and secularism[]

Western Turkey is a secular country. Secularism was strengthened and institutionalized due to the large number of casualties in Great Jihad and fear of European retaliation. Sharia was banned from legal texts and all references to Islam were removed by the parliament after 2039. All private schools were closed with education being only provided in public and secular institutions with a moderate view on religion. The European elite were granted Turkish citizenship, transforming Turkey into a pro-European state. Many of the Turkish scientists and scholars were born in Western Europe.

Most of the people are secular, with the local population comprising mostly of atheists or moderate Muslims. Many of the Turks became non-religious after the Great Jihad to such a extent that many of them are wary of religion. The Turkish people have tried to seek redemption in atheism for past actions of the Turkish state and spiritual references are avoided. All of this has also led to mass-disillusionment and skyrocketing of drug abuse among a large section of the population, sparking a kind of identity and spiritual crisis. Kurds are despised by many of the citizens.

The culture of the country closely resembles that of North America and Europe. The peaceful and moderate Islamic Renaissance Movement has some of its most radical supporters in Turkey. The country also has homegrown fundamentalists, who spread their propaganda through Matrix, pirate trideo and other mass media. This is countered by Neo-Atatürk which also encourages civilians to send all contacts to the government-sponsored National Foundation for Freedom of Information to distribute West Turkey's ideals through the Aksal Teks corporation.

Places of interest[]

The city of Izmır is a major corporate center as well as headquarters of the organized criminal syndicate known as the maffiya. The city was destroyed during the earthquakes on December 29, 2048. Since then, it has been completely rebuilt. Organized crime is prevalent in the city as is corruption. All corporations with observers in Neo-Atatürk have their headquarters in the city except Saeder-Krupp. The ruins of Troy which lie near Izmır have been the object of focus by The Atlantean Foundation which hurriedly abandoned the place in 2064. A small team of researchers remained near the site however.

Crime[]

The Grey Wolves which are descendants of nationalist Turkish militias, is a paramiliatry-like criminal organisation based in Greece and Turkey. The crackdown of the Islamist government drove it from the country but it returned after the Great Jihad and its popularity was a significant reason for return of the country to secular rule. It maintains contacts with both the religious insurgents, European partners and clients as well as the Kurds. They often blend in to the local culture to achieve their objectives. They also control the immigration network and control the refugee flow from the Balkans, with the corporations handling the goods in agreement with the organisation. The organisation has contacts with the government, Kabul maffiya, the Alta Commissione and is involved in the Golden Triangle drug trade.

The organized criminal syndicate known as the Maffiya which is headed by Bühlent Fiah, is based in Izmır. The corporations are involved in illegal activities in the city along with the criminal syndicates. The corporations pays protection money to the maffiya which uses its connections to persuade authorities to look the other way. There is a vast amount of corruption at the local level. Though the police often acts against the maffiya and the government acts strongly against the syndicates, ties between them remain strong. The Grey Wolves are particularly strong in the city and handle killings of competitors and rebellious mobsters, acting as a kind of de facto police and security of the city. The criminal organisations keep mob killings on the streets in check. Although the city is a hotbed of criminal activity, criminality is low in the urban sprawl and harbor districts in comparison to other cities. The city acts as a port for human trafficking and drug smuggling, with pirate and smuggler vessels berthing at the port openly.

Homegrown fundamentalists as well as terrorists from Eastern Turkey operate terror cells, targeting civilians as well as the soldiers in terrorist attacks. They often spread their propaganda through pirate trideos, the Matrix and other mass media. They regularly spam inboxes of citizens with their rhetoric, with emailboxes in Turkey get the most spam in the world. They also target government as well as corporate strongholds. In March 2064, they fooled West Turkey's air defenses into dropping hundreds of thousands of leaflets over the country's main cities, calling for jihad and a new Ottoman revolution, as part of a test of their new brainwashing technique while at the same time crashing a dozen Matrix hosts simultaneously. The Matrix is host to intense gang wars and vandalism, with even servers of corporations being regularly attacked and vandalised.

With the introduction of the bioengineered awakened drug called Tempo in 2070s, gang wars were sparked off in the Middle East including in Turkey where the Grey Wolves executed many new upstarts dealing on their turf as they didn't want the drug interrupting their traditional drug business. A faction however partnered with Olaya Cartel for supply of the drug in Istanbul.

Military[]

The country is allowed to maintain limited armed forces which has fought for years against the insurgents in control of eastern Turkey but have been unable to completely defeat them due to their limited number. The military has been involved in elimination of many insurgents and their leaders, though the operations have mostly been conducted with aim of keeping a check on them rather than smoking them out. It controls all of the roads outside the mountainous region east of the Içel-Samsun line. Kurds have also aided it in counter-terror operations and have themselves been involved in clashes as well as military operations against the insurgents, helping to keep them in check.

References[]

  1. o42265136Loose Alliances p. 107
  2. o70096438Shadows of Asia p. 113 Shadowtalk Ambassador
  3. o70096438Shadows of Asia p. 114
  4. o70096438Shadows of Asia p. 113

Index[]

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