State of Elazig (1983: Doomsday)

State of Elazig
Timeline: 1983: Doomsday
OTL equivalent: Republic of Turkey

Flag of the state of Elazig Location of
Capital	Elâzığ
Largest city	Elâzığ
Language	Turkish
Religion   main	Islam
others	Orthodox Christianity, Judaism
Ethnic Groups   main	Turkish
others	Armenian, Kurdish, Azeri
Demonym	Turkish
Government	Oligarchy
Legislature	Elazig Assembly Council
Population	300,000 Elazigis (2005 estimate)
Established	October 29, 1983
Independence	from Republic of Turkey
declared	October 20, 1983

The State of Elazig was a minor post-Doomsday Turkish state on the southwest edge of the Eastern Turkish Wasteland. Like the neighboring republics of Hatay and Greater Patnos, it was ruled by an assemblage of Turkish military officers, who shared power with the civilian authorities. The State of Elazig served as a buffer to further expansion into the eastern Anatolian plateau by Hatay and the Sultanate of Turkey. As the Sultanate grew in power and influence, Hatay and Elazig pursued ever-closer relations.

The Sultanate's annexation of Hatay in 1998 left Elazig in a strategically vulnerable position. After months of border incidents and provocations, the Sultanate began massing troops and military equipment along Elazig's borders in late 2004. A full-scale invasion of the country occurred in October 2004, touching off a costly six month campaign by the Sultanate to subdue the smaller state. Elazig's military and political leadership capitulated in March 2005, and the state was formally annexed by the Sultanate.

Pre-Doomsday

An ancient town and citadel called Kharput (Armenian: Խարբերդ Xarberd, in Eastern Armenian pronunciation: Kharberd, in Western Armenian pronunciation Kharpert or Harput), which means "rocky fortress" in Armenian, was built by the first Armenian kings about five kilometers from modern Elâzığ during the classical period. It was known simply as Harput in old Turkish.

Under the reign of Ottoman sultan Mahmud II, the governor Reşid Mehmed Pasha started the expansion of Mezre, meaning "hamlet" in Arabic, in a reference to its formerly uninhabited state. During the reign of Sultan Abdülazîz, military barracks, a hospital and a governor's mansion were built to accommodate the seat of a new vilâyet (province). The city was renamed "Mamûretü'l-Azîz" (معمورة العزيز made prosperous by Aziz in Ottoman Turkish) in 1866 on the occasion of the fifth anniversary of enthronement of the Ottoman Sultan Abdülaziz, although he was not the initial founder. The city was known many years as "Elâzîz" due to its ease of pronunciation. Historically, the surrounding countryside produced silver, which ceased being mined in 1885. The Ottoman Empire attempted to modernize the mines during the nineteenth century; however, the cost of fuel and energy caused them to shut down. Coal, gold, and salt continued to be mined well into the twentieth century.

In 1915, Harput was the site of one of the most well-documented episodes of the Armenian genocide. Ottoman authorities systematically disarmed and executed most of the male Armenian population, while deporting women, children, and the elderly. These atrocities were documented by the local American consul, Leslie Davis, who hid 80 Armenians on the grounds of the US consulate. Davis estimated that 10,000 Armenians rounded up in and around Harput were massacred and buried in mass graves around Lake Hazar. Another 51,000 were deported or fled; survivors from the Harput killings later went on to found the village of Nor Kharberd in Soviet Armenia in 1929. The village was founded with the help of the Compatriotic Union of Kharpert (Hamakharberdtsʻiakan miutʻiwn), which was founded in the US in 1926 and established branches in a number of countries.

On November 17, 1937, President Mustafa Kemal Atatürk changed the name of the city to "Elazık". However, since this was hard to pronounce in Turkish, on December 10, 1937 the government changed the city's name to its final form, "Elâzığ". It is known as Elezîz (that means "the province improved by Abdulaziz"). The old township of Harput, in the meantime, acquired the status of a neighborhood separate from modern Elâzığ with a population running around two thousand. Most of the vacated Armenian businesses, churches, and homes remained standing as abandoned structures in Harput until they were demolished during the 1960s and 1970s.

From its foundation until the end of the World War II, the city's growth was somewhat irregular. While the town probably consisted of 10 to 12,000 inhabitants at the beginning of the World War I, the first census conducted by the Republic of Turkey in 1927 counted 20,052 inhabitants. This figure continued to rise to reach 25,465 in 1940, but the general shortages suffered during the World War II years by the neutral Turkey led to an exodus of population, reducing the population to 23,635. From then onward, the city has gone through uninterrupted growth.

Doomsday

As was with the rest of the world, Doomsday came suddenly for the Republic of Turkey in 1983 and enacted a devastating toll. Due to their membership in NATO, Turkey was a target of the Soviet nuclear barrage. Eastern Turkey, with its low levels of development and relatively sparse population, was spared much of the destruction, although Soviet nuclear strikes obliterated the strategic NATO and Turkish military command centers at Erzurum and Diyarbakir.

Turkey's Third Army was largely paralyzed by Doomsday, as its commanding officer (General Fikret Oktay), then in Izmir, had been killed during the nuclear exchange. Additionally, its 9th Corps had ceased to exist after the strike on Erzurum. The Third Army Headquarters at Erzincan made a concerted effort to mobilize its remaining corps and divisions to counter an anticipated Soviet ground invasion. The 11th Corps, based in Trabzon and providing security for the south Caucasus, was hastily mobilized and thrown into battle against the Soviet 31st Army Corps along the Georgian and Armenian borders, where it soon suffered heavy losses. Also ordered to mobilize for this effort were the 9th Infantry Division (based near Kars), the 7th Mechanized Brigade (Kars), the 49th Motorized Infantry Brigade (Bingöl), and the 10th Infantry Brigade (Van), all of which also took heavy casualties.

Elazig was then home to the Third Army's 8th Army Corps headquarters, and much of the units under its command were soon engaged along the Soviet border, or in brutal street fighting in Van, where the Third Army was forced to increasingly commit larger and larger numbers of troops to stamp out an uprising by the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). During this time, martial law was imposed in Elazig by the Third Army general staff, along with most other provincial capitals in eastern Turkey, and Kurdish civilians were detained in makeshift camps established in the former township of Harput. PKK raids were rare but not unheard of; some of the PKK's founders - such as Mazlum Doğan - had originally hailed from rural Elazig, and scores of Kurdish men of fighting age fled to PKK-controlled areas near Van rather than risk being mobilized or detained.

Military courts in Elazig were established to try cases of desertion, mutiny, and dereliction of duties, and a number of Turkish conscripts were publicly hanged on the orders of the 8th Corps command. In an attempt to backfill the staggering losses to the Soviets and the PKK, the Third Army also ordered a general mobilization, although the collapse of communications and the general state of chaos ensured that there were never enough conscripts and mobilized reservists to reconstitute units destroyed in the fighting. In March 1984, the 8th Corps reformed the 487th Mobile Artillery Brigade out of hastily conscripted and mobilized troops from the city and province of Elazig. It is unclear whether this was a historical formation which had long ago ceased to exist, and was reactivated, or a unit destroyed in the Soviet border war and reconstituted; nevertheless, it came to form the Third Army's strategic reserve in Elazig. Before the 487th could be deployed to Van or the border, however, contact was lost with the Third Army headquarters.

While the brigade was being formed, the Third Army's war effort - hamstrung by the wholesale destruction of Turkey's civilian government during the nuclear exchange - had finally collapsed. In the north, its 11th Corps mutinied and unilaterally withdrew from the Soviet border towards Trabzon. In the south, the PKK succeeded in holding the city of Van and arming large segments of the Kurdish population, which seized control of most of Van Province. The Third Army headquarters staff was hastily withdrawn to the town of Patnos north of Van, along with the remnants of whatever Turkish units remained in the province, and contact was lost with the 8th Corps headquarters in Elazig. This, in effect, left the 8th Corps general staff and a single understrength brigade as the sole prewar military authority south of Tunceli and west of Bingöl.

A New Era

The local aristocracy, related to principal Turkish families in the area, glowered at the sight of the military forces that had marched into Elazig and turned Harput into a prison city. They had no cause to welcome the troops and their commanders which had seized control of the area out of which themselves had been used to drawing their rents and owning successful businesses. As for the ordinary people of Elazig, for their part they regarded the institution of a new regime with some wariness. Their previously content lives had little accustomed them to martial law and strict military control.

To preside over the new regime, the military officers appointed a council assembly comprising of Elazig civilian authorities and the local aristocracy, which now welcomed the idea of a new government with open arms. The assembly hall was set up in a nearby university.

Solidifying the State

Elazig and much of the surrounding area soon came under strict control of the assembly. Many of those suspected of rebelling against the regime were taken by the truckload to be shot. After shooting their victims, Elazigi soldiers would bayonet them repeatedly to ensure no one would live to tell the tale. Outside of the city of Elazig, most of the local population began to starve. Many of the Turkish people within the province were soon reduced to skin and bones on a meagre diet of gruel alone, which was issued to them at restricted food centers set up by the council.

Within a year, the borders of Elazig were heavily defended by a series of strongholds and fortifications which were well-garrisoned by Elazig troops. The soldiers were given almost unlimited control and chaos ensued across the province and the city as the soldiers raped, stole, and murdered at will. At last, the military authorities saw their mistake and realized that such unrestricted anarchy by the soldiers only destroyed morale and discipline. The council was making enemies of their populance and that would make administration difficult.

Anguish, pain, and suffering ensued at the hands of the troops, who conducted claimed 'Counter-Espionage' activities. Their brutal methods of torture soon gained them infamy and hatred among the people. At last, the assembly restored order among the ranks and limited counter-espionage activities to a 'Devlet Guard', which policed the city, ruthlessly suppressed protests by the citizens, their distinct helmets and armbands striking terror wherever they went. Ration cards were issued by the Elazig assembly in an attempt to ease food shortages. Many people resorted to eating snakes, rodents, and dogs. By 1986, food was so scarce that even crumbs which had fallen to the floor were carefully scooped up and eaten.

The State of Elazig was not alone in Eastern Turkey. While order was very slowly being re-established in Western Turkey, Eastern Turkey had been divided into separate minor factions and states constantly fighting for control. Elazig's heavily-defended borders and strategic positions also discouraged excursions from neighboring states such as the Republic of Greater Patnos, which was far more stable and prosperous than the other states in the warzone, now known as the Eastern Turkish Wasteland. Many of Elazig's citizenry attempted to flee to the neighboring republic, but it was not easy to evade the assembly's men or the Devlet Guard. For a bounty, desperate people were encouraged to report on the activities of their neighbors. Those caught attempting to flee were beheaded by Devlet Guardsmen in public. Life was hard under the new state. Power and luxury were held by members of the assembly, and they intended to keep it that way.

The price of foodstuffs skyrocketed as storeowners withheld goods to sell them on the black market. The Elazigi- issued currency was soon rendered worthless as black markets began appearing overnight. A new rationing system was implemented in 1988, and 4-hour lineups for basic foods became a normal occurrence. The quality of the food also steadily worsened. Under the assembly, all available plots of land were used to cultivate food. Cloths became expensive and rare, thus the people were forced to patch and repatch their clothing. Assembly members tried to control the situation, but found even themselves forced to buy commodities on the black market.

In 1989, Elazig's first challenger came in the form of the Republic of Hatay (which bordered Elazig to the west) and attempted to expand into Elazigi territory to restore order to some part of the lawless wasteland, which was getting torn apart by the intense violence. The Hatayan forces advanced swiftly and conducted the invasion under the belief that their troops would soon subdue an inferior Elazigi army. However, the assembly's forces violently repelled the Hatayan onslaught with dextrous tactics and sheer aggression. The Republic of Hatay never advanced beyond two miles of the Elazig border.

By 1990, the Hatayan forces had been completely repulsed with heavy losses, and the assembly voted to make peace with the republic. In the following months, the Elazigi council concluded a mutually beneficial peace treaty with Hatay. This also granted Elazig trade rights within the Hatayan Republic, advancing their economy and bringing some much-needed support.

The following year, the assembly launched their most ambitious project yet: To resettle populance from the overcrowded Elazig to a new settlement in Baskil, within central Anatolia. Schools and eating areas were set up within the new settlement, and shops sold home-grown vegetables. However, raiders, poor land, and disease doomed the project. The same year, Elazig encountered a new threat in the form of the powerful wasteland state called the 'Second Empire of Trabzon. The Second Empire of Trabzon, the most organized and militarily powerful of all of the wasteland states, had invaded the coalition of New Erzurum (A set of refugee and military communities in central Anatolia). This brought on new tensions with the Elazigi assembly, who feared imperial power would soon expand south into their territory.

The excuse for war against the emperor of Trabzon came in 1993, when the Republic of Hatay invaded the Second Empire of Trabzon's southwestern territories around New Erzurum in an attempt to restore some form of order to the region. Elazig, by this point severely alarmed by the growth of Trabzon's power and the growing proximity of the empire to their territory, sent a message to Hatay agreeing to support the Hatayans in the invasion. But it was doomed to failure as the Hatayans had grossly underestimated the strength of Trabzon's imperial defense force. Although the expedition managed to gain some ground, they were soon suffering heavy losses when the Trabzon emperor ordered a round-the-clock bombardment of their positions. Bloody fighting raged until late in the year, when Elazig and their Hatayan allies made a last-ditch attempt to assault the Trabzon-controlled town of Divrigi. However, they were faced with an impossible task as they attacked the heavily fortified city. The militarily disciplined Imperial Legion, an elite Trabzon unit, marched out to defend the town and massacred the Hatayan forces, ending the ill-fated invasion. Even as the Hatayan lines wavered, the Elazigi troops fought bravely and clung to their positions. Although assaulted by soldiers of the Imperial Legion, they stood their ground and fought back until they were forced to retreat due to heavy losses. Nearly 60 per cent of all casualties in the Devlet Guard (which fought as a reserve force in the battle) came from this clash. Having failed in their mission, the surviving Hatayan stragglers retreated out of the wasteland. Without support from the Republic of Hatay, Elazig was also forced to withdraw its troops.

The Beginning of the End

By 1990, the central Turkish government had been resurrected in the form of a sultanate. Throughout the 1990's, the Turkish military had focused on reclaiming much of southern Turkey as the northern part of the country was affected by nuclear radiation left over from Doomsday.

In 1997, they reached the border of the Republic of Hatay. The same year, the Republic of Hatay believed they had sufficiently rebuilt to be able to combat the Sultanate of Turkey. Though the Sultanate had a greater population than the Republic, Hatayan military leaders believed believed that the Sultanate was stretched too thin from their recent conquests in the north and would be easy to defeat in their primary southern territories. According to their military planners, Hatay would be able to successfully invade and defeat the Sultanate by reaching Konya within 9 months. If they were able to reach Konya, they believed that the Sultanate would fall. With this conviction, they began massing troops on their border. On April 12, 1997, the Republic of Hatay invaded the Sultanate of Turkey.

The invasion began in the early morning hours and was able to quickly overwhelm the border defenses. Within seven weeks, the Hatayan forces had reached Karapinar, which was only 100 km from Konya, the Sultanate's capital. The Hatayans had rightfully assumed that the Sultanate was spread thin due to their conquests. However, what they did not anticipate, was the speed with which they reassembled their forces and the large number of conscripts their population was able to mobilize. Three months after the invasion, the Republic of Hatay was pushed back to just beyond Silifke, only a few km from their border. At this point, the Hatayan military leaders realized what they had done and fortified their forces for the impending invasion. The Sultanate was able to devote an increasing amount of soldiers to the war effort due to the stabilization of the northern frontier. Slowly, Hatay was driven back until February of 1998, they were decisively defeated at the Battle of Osmaniye, which opened the road to Iskenderum, Gaziantep, and beyond. Shortly after, the oppressed people of Hataya and the Syrian generals rebelled, causing increased problem for the Hatayan government. While the Syrian generals were defeated, many of the popular rebellions destablized the front and forced the Hatayan military further back. In June of 1998, the Hatayan capital, Iskenderum, was taken and the Republic of Hatay collapsed. The remants of the central government continued to fight in northern Syria and the Kurdish border provinces. Much of the still unconquered eastern portions of the nation rebelled, due to the harsh treatment of the Hatayan government, and joined the Sultanate. Finally, on November 11, 1999, the last of the Hatayan military leaders surrendered and the war was finally over. The entirety of the Republic of Hatay was annexed into the Sultanate of Turkey.

Despite the defeat of the Hatayans, minor insurgencies would arise in the area. These would not be completely defeated for another three years. Nonetheless, Turkey was one step closer towards its goal of total unification. The effect on the State of Elazig was a grim topic of discussion among the members of the aristocratic assembly, which now shared a direct border with the rising Turkish sultanate. To counter this new threat, the Elazigis formed an unsteady alliance with the neighboring Kurdistan. But the alliance would be soon tested as flimsy and worthless. Due to the failure of previous expeditions into the Eastern Turkish Wasteland and the weakness of their military, the Kurds would soon refuse to attempt to expand into the Wasteland to help Elazig during the final months of its fall.

Move Towards Democracy

As the Turkish Sultanate loomed threateningly on the horizon, local discontent with Elazig's regime forced the government to take measures or be subject to loyalist revolts supporting the Sultanate.

The first multi-persons democratic elections were held in May 2002 for assembly seats, causing some discontent among the council members. Many lost popular support during the elections and were forced to resign. For the first time, the regime allowed restricted representatives appointed by popular vote to be admitted into the assembly.

The State of Elazig soon required all but the core assembly members to be elected or reelected by popular vote among the people, inducing the first major step towards democracy within the government. The assembly also appointed new administrative divisions for the provinces throughout the country, and politics in the State of Elazig finally settled into a stable, more democratic republic. The 2002 Elazigi constitution established a system composed of adopting a new bureaucracy, consisting of a multitude of officials (appointed by the assembly) which operated the administrative machinery of the state.

To encourage new recruits for military training, the assembly allowed civil service to constitute the clearest path to aristocratic status, but, tensions soon arose when the rising new civil aristocracy had soon began to rival the local (noble) aristocracy in the council. These important administrative reforms were originally begun as propaganda to halt loyalist revolts to the Sultanate and improve the worsening internal conditions of the Elazigi state. However, they had soon spun out of control into a complete Democratic reform.

Although with its unlimited and absolute control now hindered by the new democratic reforms, the unhappy assembly mainly began to focus on preparing their military for future wars and their nation for future survival.

War with the Sultanate

Beginning in 2002, the Sultanate of Turkey began expanding into the Eastern Turkish Wasteland. Slowly, it was able to conquer several smaller warlord states along the border, but was rebuffed by several larger states, most notably the powerful Second Empire of Trabzon. Seeing the chaos that engulfed this region, the Turkish government quickly set out to establish a series of alliances to break up the coalitions in the area opening them up to conquest.

The Doğu Fethini, or Eastern Conquest, was a planned military campaign launched by the Sultanate of Turkey in late 2002. Elazig had strategic connections to both the Republic of Hatay and the Republic of Kurdistan, who they often played off each other and used them to harass their enemies in the Wasteland. After the Republic of Hatay fell, the Sultanate saw the conquest of Elazig as one of its first goals. As a result, once the Sultanate military was sufficiently recovered and finished defeating a number of smaller states on the eastern borders, they quickly advanced on Elazig.

The war began in October 2004 when the Sultanate launched a blitzkrieg-style invasion of the Elazig. The Elazigi army soon proved disastrously inefficient in its resistance to Turkish troops, and suffered heavy losses along the border. The assembly managed to mobilize forces of conscripts in an impressive amount of time but they were mainly comprised of raw recruits fresh from hasty training courses where some had never used a gun. On October 20, a small squadron of Turkish planes salvaged and raised by the Sultanate attacked important installations across Elazig. Four hours afterwards, the Sultanate forces had captured all of the poorly-garrisoned 'impregnable' strongholds along the border and were advancing in full force. Many of the Elazigi positions were without adequate air cover and were devastated by heavy bombing raids. Meanwhile, the Sultanate armies were moving swiftly on the roads to Elazig, making use of whatever transportation the soldiers could lay their hands on. Backed by planes and tanks, one town after another fell to their onslaught before the assembly was able to organize a credible resistance.

Receiving much support from the populance, labor officials organized work crews to maintain essential services and construct defense works. Many nurses also volunteered to assist when the one hospital in the city of Elazig could not cope with the incessant influx of casualties. By November 1, there was no place in the city where the wounded could recover and be safe from further harm. Grievously injured patients were soon forced to endure great anxiety, misery, and devastation.

The Elazigi assembly soon realized they had inadequate forces to check the advance of the Sultanate. Thusly, they hired a number of professional mercenaries from the PRMDS in the Black Sea to assist them against the Turkish government troops. With their capital city threatened, greater and greater numbers of Elazigi citizens took up arms against the Sultanate despite their dislike of the past regime. By nightfall of November 10, Turkish troops had claimed a number of strategic positions in a mere feint attack which met minimum resistance. As they advanced to the east, however, they were forced to attack a number of scattered military outposts along the way.

The same night, Sultanate agents planted a bomb in the university assembly hall shortly before a meeting of the council to examine the situation. During the meeting, the bomb was detonated and all but one of the members were killed. The lone survivor, a Turkish commander and core member of the original assembly known as Zafer Erul, sustained only minor injuries but the most of Elazig's top political leadership was destroyed as a result of the explosion and the government crippled. The Sultanate forces then launched an assault on the Elazigi defense line established in the district of Keban. This area was defended by the 36th Elazig Infantry Brigade and a number of local volunteers. The volunteers were mainly prisoners held in Harput prison camp. They were largely untrained and equipped only with elementary weapons and hand grenades. The Sultanate troops were soon able to inflict heavy losses on the volunteers because the Elazigi forces were too thinly spread out and the attackers were able to overwhelm their weakest positions. Artillery support to the frontline soldiers were also slow in coming due to the destruction of the assembly and a breakdown in communication lines. The Sultanate gradually infiltrated the widely scattered defensive positions and fought a fierce battle against the 36th Elazig Brigade. The defenders were soon forced to retreat and were quickly overrun by the arriving Turkish tanks. The 36th Brigade was no match for the tanks and fled down the road towards Elazig.

Bombardment completely destroyed all remaining communications throughout the northwestern defense area in Elazig, and all telephone lines had been left in shambles by bombing raids. This effectively cut the frontline troops off from the city of Elazig. Through a serious misunderstanding of orders, all the defending troops to the northwest began withdrawing to the city's defense perimeter positions during Christmas of 2004. This set into motion a series of related withdrawals from other defense positions which severely damaged the Elazigi war effort. Through a series of miscalculations and miscommunications, the northwestern defense lines had been wrested away from Elazig by December 29. With the rapid Sultanate approach, their troops also managed to capture the neglected Keban Dam, once the second largest dam in Turkey.

The situation had only worsened by January 2005 despite a series of especially bloody battles to the south of Elazig. For three months the Elazigi forces managed to force an incredible stalemate despite the mounting odds stacked against them. By the end of February, many of the Elazigi troops were far too exhausted, demoralized, and disorganized to continue. A major battle was fought to the north of Eazig, as part of a plan developed to recapture lost territory. One infantry brigade would launch a feint attack to draw the Sultanate forces west while another would try to stabilize the Karakoçan district. The plan failed and both brigades were compelled to fall back to the perimeter defense line of the city.

By mid-March the Sultanate had begun a frontal assault on Elazig's southwestern perimeter. Unable to withstand this renewed attack, General Zafer Erul took matters into his own hands as the only surviving member of the assembly and ordered a retreat. By this point, the relentless Sultanate pressure had already caused confusion and panic along many sectors of the Elazigi defense line, with many of the troops withdrawing to wrong locations in disorder due to a series of miscommunications. Elazig was by this point completely surrounded on three sides; the rest of the state except for its eastern and far southern boundaries had fallen. The established Turkish troops were also repelling valiant attempts by the defenders to break the pressure, resulting in costly firefights. The Turkish tanks also attacked the southern perimeter of the city, which was defended by a combination of volunteers and mercenaries. The defenders quickly improvised two roadblocks fitted with hastily strung barbed wire, using wrecked cars and anti-tank mines to deter the Sultanate's advance. By nightfall of March 19, Turkish soldiers had overrun this position through sheer numbers and the defense began to cave in. A spirited counterattack by Elazigi troops failed and was repulsed with heavy artillery bombardment of the city.

On March 21, an isolated battle took place to the east of Elazig, where Sultanate troops attempting to encircle the city met stiff resistance by a Elazigi Infantry Battalion and the Devlet Guard. The defenders were driven back after two hours of fighting, and the survivors were cut off from the city, forced to flee into the countryside. With no rations or discipline, the Devlet Guard, already demoralized and exhausted from the fighting, plundered local villages on Elazig's eastern borders for supplies. The guardsmen were soon reduced to a lawless band of deserters, stealing and robbing soldiers on both sides and civilians alike for food and valuables. A Turkish unit was dispatched in hopes of engaging them and catching the principal efforts, but this only led to fresh bloodshed and destruction.

Fall of Elazig

By March 23, it was clear Elazig would be unable to hold out much longer. Heavy Turkish shelling had devastating effects on the ground defense works. Many of Elazig's troops were deserting in the face of the odds against them, the ones who remained suffered as they looked forward to an uncertain future. Many of the civilians had begun to support the new democratic reforms in the state, but under the Sultanate they feared a new and unpleasant dictatorship.

The defense continued to hold out doggedly, but was seriously beginning to weaken. The troops were unmercifully shelled day and night. The firing line and Zafer Erul's headquarters were struck constantly by the Sultanate's heavy guns and the city was being cratered by shrapnel. Ersul made rounds along the battle line and deemed them stable enough to withstand the onslaught, then, along with one of his staff officers, handed command of the city to a lower ranking noncommissioned officer and moved their headquarters to a bus station which had been converted into a bomb shelter.

Meanwhile, the Sultanate was becoming displeased with the slow advance of its army. Although the siege of Elazig was being carried out as planned and every day more reinforcements were arriving, the commanders were becoming impatient. The Elazigis should have given up their fight within a month of the destruction of the assembly, but they had refused to do so. Altogether, nearly six months had passed since the invasion of Elazig. A final assault was ordered on early March 24, the day of doom for the city. The Sultanate forces attacked in great number to the east, where the weakest positions were located and the city perimeter was only defended by a makeshift and hastily constructed set of obstacles and defenses. A group of brave defenders sounded the alarm and rushed to stop the attack, and General Erul remained idle in his command center, even after the officer whom he had entrusted with the defense had deserted and fled.

The Sultanate forces quickly swarmed towards the defenses, although they suffered some losses and withering rounds of rifle fire from the defending troops. Some of the attackers were pinned down, but the others continued the assault. With a failure to man all the posts, other parts of the city came under attack as well. The Eastern perimeter was the first to be overrun, where the Sultanate soldiers managed to fight their way past the defenses and poured in to battle the Elazigis.

Less than twenty minutes later, attackers had also taken the Southwestern perimeter of the city and were pulling themselves over a layer of makeshift walls. Vicious fighting followed, but the battle here was over quickly. There were far too many Sultanate forces coming from all sides for the defending troops to defend themselves or their posts. Many of them were surrounded and forced to surrender. Even if General Erul was able to maintain a bold resistance, there was now little doubt of the outcome against the massive numbers of men and guns at the Sultanate's disposal. But Erul, as it was, was paralyzed to the point of indecision by the sudden assault. Even as he irresolutely sat in his headquarters, agents of the Turkish Sultanate were in the streets urging the inhabitants to join the victorious Sultan, to adopt new principles of liberty and freedom the rest of Turkey was thriving under, and to hasten the downfall of their cruel and unwanted relics of Turkish rebellion.

General Erul caused controversy when he made no attempt to coordinate the resistance and refused to issue any serious orders. Having no orders, the defending officers were just as indecisive--doing little, if anything at all. Before nightfall most of northern and eastern Elazig was in the Sultanate's possession. The only resistance offered were by a handful of Elazigi militia and volunteers. Despite their valiant attempts, they were ill-officered and ill-disciplined, hardly a match for the superior Turkish troops. Although they came under fire as they advanced towards Erul's headquarters, the Sultanate managed to overtake this area and Erul quickly found shelter in an abandoned home nearby. For a time, the attackers were held in check as they reached the center of Elazig. But even here there was unrestricted chaos, mutiny, and desertion.

Several of the citizens quickly armed themselves and set out to take revenge on individual officials and authorities. Others, mainly comprising leading citizens, found General Erul and demanded he agree to peace. The Elazigi government aristocrats, now seemingly giving up in cowardice, inspired anger and contempt among the people of Elazig. Throughout the day gunfire echoed from all over the city and there was indescribable confusion. By evening, Erul and his accompanying officer went to see the Sultanate commanders under a white flag of truce and agreed to sign an armistice. Erul formally surrendered shortly after seven. The main terms agreed upon were as follows: Unconditional surrender of all Elazigi military forces. Elazig was surrendered to the Turkish Sultanate and its army by the state, which would be formally dissolved.

Aftermath

With the State of Elazig at an end, southeastern Turkey was mostly united. However, after the end of the campaign, Elazig was clearly in need of assistance from the central government. While some areas were stable and rebuilt, other areas around the city of Elazig were ravaged and destroyed by the fighting. Luckily, reconstruction and reindustrialization efforts had recently completed in much of western and northern Turkey along with the former Hatayan provinces. This greatly increased the Turkish economic and industrial base, which enabled them to begin the reconstruction of the eastern territories.

Initially, reconstruction personnel focused on the repair of any direct damage from warfare. This primarily included the repair of buildings, the clearing of debris and rubble, and reactivation of basic utilities. Despite the newly acquired resources available, this phase of reconstruction progressed over the course of several years because of the long-term construction projects that were included. The second phase of the reconstruction process was the redevelopment of transportation infrastructure. The goal was the total re-establishment of the Turkish road and railway system. The final phase of the reconstruction process was the implementation of the Turkish Re-industrialization program in recently acquired territories, which is planned sometime in the near future.

Government and Politics

Politics of the State of Elazig takes place in a framework of a slightly democratic republic, whereby the Elazig Assembly members are both heads of state and heads of government. Executive power is exercised by the government. The National Assembly is either a legislature, or the lower house of a bicameral legislature in most countries. However, the Assembly of Elazig is more of an upper ruling class exercising control over the government and most of the affairs of the state. The assembly has a total of only about 20 members, 13 of which are elected in by popular vote. All but the core seven members serve five-year terms.

The assembly was the effective government of Elazig. The assembly had acquired absolute power; business and economy depended on it; and the military obeyed it. The assembly received new members in larger numbers when the first assembly democratic elections were held in 2004. These new officials united in support of democratization, strongly sympathetic to and representing mainly the interests of the broader range of the common people of the state.

Military

The State of Elazig had a small but effective military force in the Eastern Turkish Wasteland. Though the state's army only existed for only 22 years, they clearly demonstrated how small units, trained to exceptionally high methods of expertise, could have an effect utterly disproportionate to their size.

The Elazigi army was one of the best in the wasteland zone. Their intimacy with local environment, plus a courageous disposition, combined to make them excellent fighters. Yet their skills could not prevent the crushing Elazigi defeats in their six-month struggle against the Turkish Sultanate, during which nearly 10,000 Elazigi troops were captured. The Elazigi army had several prized tanks which formed a special squadron in Elazig. But the military suffered a chronic downscaling of its armored resources as wars in the wasteland dragged on, mainly because Elazigi tanks could not compete with the higher number of Sultanate armored units.

The uniform of the Elazigi army was standardized in its most basic form in 2003. During this year new uniform colors were required and would later serve to distinguish the Elazigi forces from the armies of the Turkish sultanate.

Devlet Guard

Originally formed as a military police unit which terrorized the population and seeking out suspected traitors to the regime, the Devlet Guard formed both the vanguard and the reserves in many a battle. It has also acquired a significant operational record since its formation in 1984. Devlet Guardsmen are mainly identified by their black armbands and distinctive helmets. Their uniforms consistently revolved around the environments most likely to be faced on a particular campaign.