Alcarres

Confederacy of Alcarres
Flag
Capital	Ieraskevi
Official languages	Alcarresian
Ethnic groups	90.2% Alcarts 4.3% Crotos 5.4% Other
Demonym(s)	Alcarresean
Government	Unitary parliamentary constitutional confederacy
• President	Akkin Gunaydin
• Prime Minister	Zoran Mikilovich
Establishment
• Unification	17 March 1821
• Belmoska Regime	31 May 1900
• Confederacy	2 June 1946
Population
• 2020 estimate	22,233,000
Date format	mm-dd-yyyy

The Confederacy of Alcarres, most commonly known as Alcarres, is a nation in the Coalition of Crown Albatross located on the continent of Adula, bordered by Saudi Jiddiya, Alonnisosa, and Durnstaal, sharing a maritime border with Emmiria through the Valengny Bay and the Albarine Sea. Its capital, Ieraskevi, is one of 16 districts that together maintain the nation's population of 22.23 million people, most of whom are Orthodox christians. The nation's largest city is Valengny, located on the southern coast.

Historically an intersection of the Bezdekia Road and the Emmirian Empire, Alcarres has a long and rich history. A sovereign state, Alcarres is a confederacy governed under a parliamentary system. It is a member of the Coalition of Crown Albatross as well as multiple other regional alliances, such as the Central Adula Trade Agreement (CATA) and the Central Adula Mutual Defense Agreement (CAMDA). Since 2000, the Alcarresian government has constantly invested in infrastructure, especially transport routes and facilities along the Pan-Adulan corridors.

Politics

Alcarres has been a unitary parliamentary confederacy since 2 June 1946, when the regime was abolished by a constitutional referendum. The President of Alcarres, currently Akkin Gunaydin since 2015, is Alcarres's head of state. The President is elected for a single seven years mandate by the Parliament of Alcarres and some regional voters in joint session.

Government

Alcarres has a parliamentary government based on a mixed proportional and majoritarian voting system. The parliament is perfectly bicameral: the two houses, the Chamber of Deputies that meets in Palazzo Montecesto, and the Senate of the Confederacy that meets in Palazzo Acadama, have the same powers. The Prime Minister of Alcarres, officially President of the Council of Ministers, is Alcarres's head of government. The Prime Minister and the cabinet are appointed by the President of the Confederacy of Alcarres and must pass a vote of confidence in Parliament to come into office. To remain the Prime Minister has to pass also eventual further votes of confidence or no confidence in Parliament.

The prime minister is the President of the Council of Ministers – which holds effective executive power – and he must receive a vote of approval from it to execute most political activities. The office is similar to those in most other parliamentary systems, but the leader of the Italian government is not authorised to request the dissolution of the Parliament of Alcarres.

Another difference with similar offices is that the overall political responsibility for intelligence is vested in the President of the Council of Ministers. By virtue of that, the Prime Minister has exclusive power to: co-ordinate intelligence policies, determining the financial resources and strengthening national cyber security; apply and protect State secrets; authorise agents to carry out operations, in Alcarres or abroad, in violation of the law.

A peculiarity of the Alcarresean Parliament is the representation given to Alcarresean citizens permanently living abroad: 12 Deputies and 6 Senators elected in four distinct overseas constituencies. In addition, the Alcarresean Senate is characterised also by a small number of senators for life, appointed by the President "for outstanding patriotic merits in the social, scientific, artistic or literary field". Former Presidents of the Confederacy are ex officio life senators.

Alcarres's three major political parties are the Socialist Party, the Democratic Party and the Confederate Party. During the 2018 general election these three parties won 614 out of 630 seats available in the Chamber of Deputies and 309 out of 315 in the Senate.

Foreign Relations

Alcarres is a member of the Coalition of Crown Albatross, and a founding member of both the Central Adula Mutual Defense Agreement and the Central Adula Trade Agreement, while also being a member of many other international organizations. Alcarres strongly supports multilateral international politics, endorsing the C.C.A. and its international security activities. As of 2013, Alcarres was deploying 5,296 troops abroad, engaged in 33 C.C.A. and C.A.M.D.A. missions in 25 countries of the world. Alcarres deployed troops in support of C.C.A. peacekeeping missions in Semalia, Togaria, and Saudi Jiddiya and provides support for C.C.A. operations in Jaginistan. Alcarres deployed over 200 troops in Jaginistan in support of Operation Counter-Yisko from February 2003 to January 2004.

Alcarres supported international efforts to reconstruct and stabilise Jaginistan, but it had withdrawn its military contingent of some 200 troops by 2006, maintaining only humanitarian operators and other civilian personnel.

Military

An Alcarres Air Force fighter

The Alcarres Army, Navy, and Air Force collectively form the Alcarres Armed Forces, under the command of the Supreme Defence Council, presided over by the President of Alcarres. Since 2005, military service is voluntary. In 2010, the Alcarres military had 293,202 personnel on active duty.

The Alcarres Army is the national ground defence force, numbering 109,703 in 2008. Its best-known combat vehicles are the Dardo infantry fighting vehicle, the Centauro tank destroyer and the Ariete tank, and among its aircraft the Mangusta attack helicopter, in the last years deployed in C.A.M.D.A. and C.C.A. missions. It also has at its disposal many Leopard 1 and M113 armoured vehicles.

The Alcarres Navy in 2008 had 35,200 active personnel with 85 commissioned ships and 123 aircraft. It is a blue-water navy. In modern times the Alcarres Navy, being a member of the C.C.A. and C.A.M.D.A., has taken part in many coalition peacekeeping operations around the world.

The Alcarres Air Force in 2008 had a strength of 43,882 and operated 585 aircraft, including 219 combat jets and 114 helicopters. A transport capability is guaranteed by a fleet of 27 C-130Js and C-27J Spartan.

Culture

Cuisine

The Alcarres cuisine has developed through centuries of social and political changes, with roots as far back as the 4th century BC. Alcarres cuisine in itself takes heavy influences, including Emmirian, Durnstaal, Albarinean, and Jiddiyan. Significant changes occurred with the discovery and introduction of items such as potatoes, tomatoes, bell peppers and maize, now central to the cuisine but not introduced in quantity until the 18th century. Alcarres cuisine is noted for its regional diversity, abundance of difference in taste, and is known to be one of the most popular in the world, wielding strong influence abroad.

The Albarinean diet forms the basis of Alcarres cuisine, rich in pasta, fish, fruits and vegetables and characterised by its extreme simplicity and variety, with many dishes having only four to eight ingredients. Alcarres cooks rely chiefly on the quality of the ingredients rather than on elaborate preparation. Dishes and recipes are often derivatives from local and familial tradition rather than created by chefs, so many recipes are ideally suited for home cooking, this being one of the main reasons behind the ever-increasing worldwide popularity of Alcarres cuisine, from Euronia to Ausiana Ingredients and dishes vary widely by region.

A key factor in the success of Alcarres cuisine is its heavy reliance on traditional products; Alcarres has the most traditional specialities protected under CATA law. Cheese, cold cuts and wine are a major part of Alcarres cuisine, with many regional declinations and Protected Designation of Origin or Protected Geographical Indication labels, and along with coffee (especially espresso) make up a very important part of the Alcarres gastronomic culture. Desserts have a long tradition of merging local flavours such as citrus fruits, pistachio and almonds with sweet cheeses like mascarpone and ricotta or exotic tastes as cocoa, vanilla and cinnamon. Gelato, tiramisù and cassata are among the most famous examples of Alcarres desserts, cakes and patisserie.