Ottoman Republic

Great Ottoman Republic Büyük Osmanlı Cumhuriyeti
Flag Emblem of Emblem
Motto: Birlik, Barış, Güç Unity, Peace, Strength
Anthem: Ceddin Deden
File:Neo turkish empire 3.png
Capital and largest city	Istanbul
Official languages	See below
Recognised national languages	Turkish
Recognised regional languages	Greek, Arabic, Kurdish
Ethnic groups (2013)	Turks, Greeks, Arabs, Kurds, Assyrians
Demonym(s)	Ottoman
Government	Federal dominant-party semi-presidential republic
• President	Mustafa Öztürk
• Prime Minister	Abdullah Shukeiri
Legislature	General Assembly
• Upper house	Chamber of Regions
• Lower house	Chamber of Deputies
Population
• 2018 estimate	115,573,826
• 2016 census	112,854,573
GDP (PPP)	estimate
• Total	$2,006,823 million
• Per capita	$17,364
GDP (nominal)	estimate
• Total	$908,872 million
• Per capita	$7,864
Gini	30.8 medium
HDI	0.753 high
Currency	Lira (₺) (OTL)
Date format	dd-mm-yyy
Driving side	right
Calling code	+90
ISO 3166 code	OT
Internet TLD	.ot

The Great Ottoman Republic (Turkish: Büyük Osmanlı Cumhuriyeti) commonly known as simply the Ottoman Republic is a sovereign state in Eurasia straddling between the Balkans and the Middle East bordering Georgia, Azerbaijan, Macedonia, Greece and Egypt. A federal dominant-party state the Ottoman Republic is one of the most populous countries in the world with a total population of 115 million. The Ottoman Republic's largest city and capital is Istanbul.

The Ottoman Republic has been inhabited since the prehistoric period. The region was part of first the Persian than the Greek civilisations, with the Anatolian region becoming part of the Roman Empire. The area became the core of the Byzantine Empire which dominated south east Europe during the 10^th century. The Byzantine Empire entered decline after the 1071 Battle of Manzikert when the Seljuk Turks defeated the Byzantines. The Byzantines were furthered weakened by the Fourth Crusade leading to during the 13^th for the Ottoman Turks to start to unite the disparate principalities across the region. In 1453 the Ottomans conquered Constantinople ending the Byzantine Empire and asserting the Ottoman Empire as the pre-eminent power in the region. Under Suleiman the Magnificent the Ottoman Empire became one of the most powerful nations in Eurasia having significant military power, a vibrant culture and a multicultral character.

The Ottomans started to decline during the 1700's with the government experiencing significant military, economic and political problems.This culminated in the Serbian Revolution and the Greek Uprising which led to Sultan Mahmud II to launch the Tanzimat which led to administrative and fiscal reforms. The 1856 constitution was a victory for liberal reformers that led to the Ottoman Empire to start industrialisation and reform the fiscal system to end the insolvency problems faced by the Empire. The rise in Ottomanism also led to ethnic tensions to dissipat. During the Great War the Ottomans faced military difficulties and in 19XX underwent a communist revolution by a revolutionary group known as the Dekabrists who created the Anatolian People's Socialist Republic under the rule of the Committee of Revolution and Socialism. Under the CRS regime state socialist policies were imposed alongside a programme of land reform, secularisation and ethnic cleansing. During the second great war the Ottomans were unable to defend themselves against Russia leading to the decimation of their territory with Macedonia, Bosnia, Albania, Romania and numerous gulf states being given independence. A new federal democratic government was installed which instituted progressive social and economic reform - however this government became increasingly unstable leading to the military to launch a coup in 1953.

The new government maintained the federal system but began to centralise power, putting forward a series of "approved governments" between 1972-1980. However after a Turkish nationalist party won the 1980 election and ethnic tensions flared up the military directly intervened in a coup again in 1984, creating its own political party - the Union of National Development (UKB) - which has since won every election. Since the UKB takeover the government has implemented economic reform whilst attempting to retain the Ottomanist structure of the state.

The Ottoman Republic is considered a developing country with an industrial corporatist economy focused primarily on industrial and natural gas exports. Noted for its ethnic and religious diversity, the Ottoman Republic is considered a middle power in international relations with significant military, political, economic and social influence in the Black Sea and Middle Eastern regions.

History

Prehistory

The Ottoman Republic has been inhabited by people since the Palaeolithic period, with the first evidence of human activity coming from archaeological evidence dating back 27,000 years ago. The Anatolia region of Turkey housed several civilizations, with Neolithic settlements from that period including Çatalhöyük, Çayönü, Nevali Cori, Hacilar, Göbekli Tepe, and Mersin. The region of Thrace also has traces of Neolithic inhabitants with the Thracians functioning as a group of Indo-European tribes. During the Bronze age this region of Turkey was occupied by the Akkadian Empire around 1900BC. During the middle of the Bronze Ages Turkey was taken over by the Old Assyrian Empire, as well as the Hittite Old Kingdom.

During the Iron Age Ionian Greeks settled into the regions of Anatolia. In the following centuries Greek city states were established in Anatolia, with Pre-Socratic philosophy originating there. The mysterious Phrygian Kingdom was located in Anatolia, formed after the fall of the Hittite Kingdom.

Classical Anatolia and Thrace

After Croesus's defeat at Thymbra, Persian king Cyrus moved into Lydia, taking its capital Sardis. Various dominions of Lydia as well as the kingdom of Ionia initially resisted Persian rule, was eventually was forced to submit. These territories were incorporated into the Persian ruled Achaemenid Empire, with Anatolia being absorbed into Persia both politically and culturally, with satraps (local governors) ruling over the people.

In 502 BC a revolt on the similarly Persian ruled island of Naxos enabled Ionian satrap Aristagoras of Miletu to unearth plans to obtain Naxos's wealth, aiming to spilt it with Lydia's satrap Artaphernes. Aristagoras failed in this endeavour, disturbing the Persian state, causing Aristagoras to start the Ionian revolution, allying with the Greek state of Athens. After the destruction of Sardis Persian King Darius I retook Ionia, ending the uprising.

Carian satrap Hecatomnus was more successful in controlling his own state, paying his tithes to the Persian yet increasing the influence of his family in local politics, with his son Mausolus continuing his fathers plans. Moving the capital from Mylasa to Halicarnassus, Mausolus claimed that he would offer protection to the islands of Chios, Kos, and Rhodes with his powerful naval forces. Mausolus died before his plans for expansion were fully realised, with his tomb, the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus located in Bodrum, being one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Caria remained in Hecatomnus's families hands until the arrival of Alexander the Great.

By 500BC Greek historian Herodotus named the Thracian people to be one of the most populous people on the planet, second only to the Indian people. Herodotus further claimed they could be the most powerful people on the Earth, but their lack of unity denied them of that title. The Thracian people were spread across numerous tribes and city states, such as the Odrysian kingdom of Thrace and the Dacian kingdom of Burebista. The Thacian people often clashed with the Greeks, as well show animosity towards the Persians and the steadily expanding kingdom of Macedonia.

In 336BC Alexander the Great was crowned king of Macedon. Alexander began to expand his military forces so to combat the Persian empire. He first attacked the Persians on the coast of Anatolia, routing their forces before driving them out of Lydia and Ionia. Alexander rather then openly face the Persian fleet systematically took every city on the Mediterranean coast, before liberating Phyrgia, Cappadocia, and Cilicia. Alexander defeated the forces of Darius III in the Battle of Issus, effectively ending Persian rule within Anatolia.

In 323BC Alexander died suddenly, causing a power vacuum within his empire. Ptolemy, one of Alexander's lieutenants and founder of the Ptolemaic Empire seized power within southern Anatolia, while Lysimachus, another of Alexander's officers, took control of western Anatolia and Thrace. Finally Seleucus claimed the rest of Anatolia as part of the Seleucid Empire.

A rift erupted between Lysimachus and Seleucus with the two waging war upon each other by 281 BC. Selecucus defeated Lysimachus, annexing his territory into the Seleucid Empire. However Selecucus was soon assassinated by future king of Macedonia Ptolemy Keraunos. Seleucus's empire was able to resist attacks from Gaul, but King Eumenes I of Pergamon was able to successfully create the kingdom of Pergamon. A series of political instability led to Egyptian king Ptolemy III Euergetes to invade the empire, creating Phrygia after the third Syrian war.

A Bactrian-inspired revolt in Parthia weakened the region. This was followed by an invasion of Parthia by Parni nomads, with eventually the entire of Parthia being occupied by the Parni, creating the Parthian Empire. The independent kingdom of Pergamon was established by Eumenes I under the Attalid dynasty expanded into Anatolian territory. Eumenes's successor Attalus I continued this expansion, eventually taking over large swathes of Anatolia. Seleucus III was able to regain control of the empire, but this marked the noticeable weakness of his empire.

Ottoman Empire

Mahmud II's reforms have been credited with modernising the Ottoman Empire

• 1800 - Sultan Selim III begins to train several Ottoman brigades to adopt modern military strategy, weakening the power of the Janissary corps. (POD)
• 1807 - The Janissary Revolt; Janissary corps force Selim III from power. However his brother Mahmud leads Selim’s modern military force into Istanbul where the Janissary forces were slaughtered; Mahmud becomes Sultan where he dissolves the Janissary corps and creates a modern European-style military force.
• 1812 - Sultan Mahmud II announces new tariffs on foreign goods and adopts a protectionist trading policy; although leading to a temporary economic downturn the tariff policy would help nurture industrialisation in the Ottoman Empire.
• 1815 - Sultan Mahmud II announces the Tanzimat reforms, reforming the military, tax system and beginning to write a constitution. The reform of taxes sees a rebellion in central Anatolia by nobles which is crushed by the Sultan.
• 1830 - The Ottoman Empire begins state-sponsored industrialisation as part of the Tanzimat reforms and a response to the loss of Greece in the year prior.
• 1832 - The Kanûn-u Esâsî is declared, officially turning the Ottoman Empire into a constitutional monarchy/

Politics

President Mustafa Öztürk

Prime Minister Abdullah Shukeiri

The Ottoman Republic is according to the 2007 constitution a federal semi-presidential constitutional republic with an executive led by a President and a bicameral legislature known as the General Assembly. The President is directly elected every seven years with the president appointing a Prime Minister to head a cabinet with the confidence of the General Assembly. The Ottoman Republic is divided between 20 vilayets which have a degree of decentralised power as per the federal model.

In practice the Ottoman Republic is an authoritarian dominant-party state with the military-backed Union of National Development (Ulusal Kalkınma Birliği; UKB) having ruled the country since 1984. The UKB's rise to power occurred after a military coup that year that saw the military and select civilian politicians officially create the UKB as a vehicle for advancing their interests - since then the UKB has maintained electoral dominance albeit being accused of retaining power due to coercion and close links with the military. Ideologically the UKB is considered to support Ottomanism with a balanced view regarding ethnic relations whilst also supporting statism, state capitalism and a moderate form of "Islamic democracy" (although the UKB denies the latter point, nominally endorsing secularism). Political power in the Ottoman Republic is sometimes perceived to be in the hands of a deep state of senior UKB bureaucrats and military officers rather than formal elected politicians.

Although the Ottoman regime emphasises the plurinational nature of the Ottoman Republic in actuality the Ottoman Republic is considered to be politically dominated by Anatolian Turks. Despite this the regime disavows "nationalist separatism" and has been involved in the marginalisation of Arab, Kurdish, Greek and Turkish nationalist groups.

Government

The Ottoman constitutional executive is centred around the President (Başkan) who is directly elected every seven years with the option of being re-elected once. The President appoints a Prime Minister (Sadrazam; literally grand vizier) to head a Council of Ministers (bakanlar kurulu) of 22 ministries which functions as the executive government. The executive government has supreme authority with the consent of the General Assembly over fiscal, defence and foreign policy affairs. The Prime Minister is responsible to both the General Assembly and the President; the President cannot force a prime minister into power without the General Assembly's consent and vice-versa.

The president approves of all laws passed through the General Assembly, and has the ability to dissolve the Chamber of Deputies. The president also serves as the commander-in-chief of the armed forces and sets the majority of foreign policy. The speaker of the Chamber of Regions can take up the role of presidency in the event of the presidents death or removal from office.

Elected politicians within the Council of Ministers are considered to have little real power with a small clique of officials known informally as the sığınak (the bunker) believed to hold real executive power. There is dispute amongst observers on whom holds the most power within the sığınak - the military is sometimes identified as the primary powerbroker whilst others point to apparatchiks and senior bureaucrats within the UKB as the most powerful grouping whereas some observers see the state intelligence agency, the Directorate of General Intelligence, as the main source of power within the regime. The power of the sığınak has declined due to the death of many of its senior figures, with loyalists to president Mustafa Öztürk dominating both the UKB and constitutional organs of government.

Legislature

The Ottoman Republic operates a bicameral legislature known as the General Assembly (Meclis-i Umûmî) with an upper house known as the Chamber of Regions (Bölgeler Odası) and the lower house the Chamber of Deputies (Milletvekilleri Odası). Of the two the Chamber of Deputies is constitutionally more powerful. The General Assembly has powers that include adopting federal law, declaring war, approving treaties, retains the power of the purse and the power of impeachment of the President. The General Assembly officially lends support to the Prime Minister and the Cabinet. The General Assembly has the ability to amend the constitution if constitutional amendments are approved by both chambers of the General Assembly with a supermajority of votes (132 in the Chamber of Regions and 330 in the Chamber of Deputies).

Members of the 200 member Chamber of Regions are appointed by the regional assemblies of the vilayets with each vilayet electing 10 members to the Chamber regardless of population size. Members of the Chamber of Regions serve seven year terms being appointed the same year there is presidential elections. The Chamber of Regions can officially delay or gridlock legislation but the Chamber of Deputies has the right to overrule the Chamber.

The Chamber of Deputies is the more powerful chamber. The 500 members of the Chamber of Deputies are elected in single-districts in a first-past-the-post system with Deputies serving for four year terms. The Chamber of Deputies is task with the formulation of most legislation amending, repealing and introducing legislation for presidential approval.

Administrative divisions

The Ottoman Republic is divided into 20 vilayets, which were reformed from the former system of eyalet's in 1843 under Sultan Abdülmecid I. Since 1967 vilayets have become federal units with remit over several policy areas with their own designated languages, elected vizier's and regional assemblies elected every four years. Although the vilayets have wide reaching powers over several policy areas, the domination of the state by the UKB has seen their power become ceremonial in recent years.

Several vilayets has regional languages - Selanik, Kıbrıs and Girit have Greek, Lazkiye, Musul, Ḥaleb, Bagdad and Beyrut Arabic and Diyarbekir Kurdish. There have been movements in Trakya and Kars to introduce Greek and Armenian as regional languages respectively.

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