Having just been created to serve as a wetwork ops division of the Turkish intelligences services undermine control of Kaya, we see in the next few updates how Kelebek sidelines him, takes control of SITH and rapidly expands their remit using a variety of events and incidents, to the extent that by the Middle of 1939, they're well on their way to controlling all intelligence operations outside of the Glorious Union. And we know they doesn't stop there either...
Interior Minister Kaya declares the latest round of German influence over, arresting a ring of alleged German sympathisers and agitators. The effect this time is to set alignment progress back about 12 points. ‘The Kelebek Kompositor’ (aka Darth Kelebek), back from his ‘learning tour’ of the Iranian dominions, is sent to interrogate the prisoners. An early winter chill seems to settle into the corridors of S.I.T.H. – no new information is gleaned, but the perpetrators (after confessing to anything Kelebek puts to them) will not offend again. Or do anything, for that matter.
So here we are at the begining, Kaya calling the shots and Kelebek serving as his personal attack dog.
That was merely a Quite Good Churchill scene. Much like the tale of the giant rat of Sumatra the world is not yet ready for a full strength super Churchill scene, but rest assured when the populace are capable it shall be published so that all may bask in it's radiant magnificence.
I may have to start compiling a separate list of Pip prompts to put into the epic list thread.
I have consulted the oracles and dug deep into the entrails and bring great knowledge. I believe that due to the dark influences of Darth Kelebek that Ataturk will not die of old age or disease and cannot be killed with conventional weapons.
This is because in HoI3 there is no Death of the Great Turk or similar event. There was in HoI2, then Paradox 'improved' the game by removing it and so politicians are mostly immortal unless there is a specific event for them, which only the important leaders of the major powers get.
I note, with approval, miners being praised and believe that Turkey can adopt similar Stakanhovite methods (i.e blatantly cooking the books and lying about production figures, then putting a massive propaganda effort in). If others will take care of the actual production part then, for the good of the nation, I am prepared to put in the long hours in with Persephone to make this happen...
Further, further research indicates it was only added in Their Finest Hour, it wasn't in the base HOI3 game (but was in HOI2). I imagine it was sold as a feature of the DLC - "Their Finest Hour also includes the semi-realistic death of Ataturk!"
It lives in the tfh directory away from all the normal events, the curious will find it in political_events.txt - Event 8000
The event specifies it has to be at least 1938 and it is a "mean time to happen" event with a period of 6 months, so on average he should die in June 1938 but in theory it can be any point after 1/1/1938.
Well we did have an in-canon scene where the president made a deal to that effect...he can't die until he's made some headway into destroying the Nazis and building the Turkish empire. I never said that meant he was going to be healthy for all that.
One French specialist remarks the delay in diagnosis may have been due not to ignorance but instead to the delicate nature of having to tell Atatürk, and also the Turkish nation, that a widely respected Muslim leader had a serious alcohol-related disease.
Quite the awkward and embarising thing, in and out of universes.
The subordinate National Governments within the Union will also be directed to conduct their own information campaigns in the constituent Republics. Expertise in such work will be imported from the Soviets, while Kaya and Ögel will provide the services of S.I.T.H. to ensure the directive is enforced in the provinces. Good to see a collaborative whole-of-government approach to getting the story out!
Oops. This is their first critical error. Once SITH start being allowed to operate in the outer republics, they didn't stop. By the end of the year, with all the revolts and security issues going on, SITH becomes the default secret police in the Balkans.
Fearing saboteurs and assassins from disgruntled elements from the recently acquired Dominions, Interior Minister Kaya puts Darth Kelebek and a large contingent of S.I.T.H. agents in charge of general security arrangements in the capital.
The second huge mistake, letting a wetwork group of assassins and counter espionage types run the security in the capital, even for a brief period of time. It sets the precedent that is followed throughout the rest of the aar that despite being barred from normally operating within turkey itself, they can provide security at times of national importance or crisises. And guess what, those happened more and more oftentimes, to the point that eventually a SITH guard I suspect permentaky attached to the cabinet by their own recommendation.
Following the short speech, broadcast to the Nation, the Union and the World, President Atatürk and the newly inaugurated Milli Şef Inönü review the Foundation Day military parade, taking the salute as the proud veterans of the 1937-38 Wars of Establishment march pass in review order.
The sound of the aircraft gets louder and louder. Luca, looking out the window, sees it is a large, low flying civilian floatplane, heading straight for their corner room. It looks like it has been rigged with large machine guns or canon under each wing …
Try as he might, he cannot get the improvised gun system to operate. It had worked so well in the practice firing! He turns away desperately, making for the country and heading west for the sea. He is soon pursued by two Curtiss Hawk 3s of the Turkish Air Force, scrambled to apprehend this daring would-be assassin.
This episode is seen as yet another lapse by Interior Minister Kaya: had the jury-rigged firing mechanism on the plane not malfunctioned, most or all of the Council of Premiers, including Inönü, would have been butchered. At the least, such a bold and destructive attack at the heart of Turkey and the newly established Glorious Union would have been seen as a stunning slap in the face for Turkey and its Union. While the affair has been largely hushed up and ‘alternative facts’ provided by the state-run media, it shows the Path to Glory has many potential potholes along the way.
Kelebek is not happy. There will certainly be a visitation a midnight tonight in store for Kaya.
Something clearly happens at this point because after this time, Kaya becomes increasingly paranoid and terrified of Kelebek.
On the available evidence I would suspect the Germans. It's an overly elaborate, needlessly complicated plan that depends on countless things going absolutely right or, as we saw, it fails spectacularly. Those features were a hallmark of the German intelligence services and indeed many other parts of the German state at the time. Mark my words, German plot.
But, while we only got their Ambassador on an official basis, we did manage a diplomatic coup: the good offices of our private strategic advisor, Lord El Pip, and the close attentions of our very diligent ambassador in London, have secured attendance by Sir Winston Churchill! He is on a fact-finding tour as a ‘private citizen’, but is given VVIP treatment and a meeting with PM Inönü himself. Discussion of course centres around the (as Churchill and Inönü both see it) inevitable threat of general war in Europe. Inönü explains the rationale of Turkey’s actions to establish the Glorious Union and diplomatic alignment to the Comintern: while our country respects the might of the British Empire and its Royal Navy, the existential threat to Turkey will be land-based and will come from Germany. Without Russia in the war, we are afraid the Calistar Line will not be enough to preserve the Turkish Motherland.
On this visit, Litvinov is accompanied by a quiet and mysterious officer who is introduced as Vladimir Net-Nazvanija (clearly a cover name). Intelligence Chief Ögel believes this is agent ‘SkitalecS3’ - which translates as ‘RoverS3’ - of the GRU. The GRU is the Soviet’s highly secretive Main Intelligence Directorate - or ‘Fourth Department’ - of the Defence Ministry, Glavnoye Razvedyvatel'noye Upravleniye in Russian, hence GRU. RoverS3 is clearly here to assess Turkish military capabilities and preparedness, in case they have to either oppose or work with us in the future.
Inönü's newly appointed ‘personal security adviser’, his ‘illegitimate’ nephew Volkan (or ‘Vinnie’) Mancini, sits in on the meeting. His mixed Turkish-Italian parentage, propensity for merciless violence and fierce family loyalty make him a risky but logical choice in these troubled and treacherous times (where alliteration lurks menacingly behind every door).
Japan’s Ambassador was encouraged by the Turkish Foreign Ministry to fall unexpectedly ill
Oo...I bet Churchill loved that. The Turks telling him his navy would be of little use to them in the Great War coming against Germany and it was going to be the armies of the world that would get all the credit (and most of the hardship)...AND THAT THEY ARE REINFORCING THE DARDANELLES?
Turns out he's a bit of a wet blanket, much like the rest of the British are.
There is also an early report from the crash site of the would-be assassins’ float-plane. Not much is left in one piece, but there is evidence to be had – it will just take time. There is no immediate identification possible on the two crew who were in the plane when it crashed. But weapon parts should be recoverable and the site will continue to be scoured for other evidence, such as maps, personal effects or flight plans that might give something away. Our investigators will also look for serial numbers or any identification of aircraft parts that might make it possible to track down the history of the plane. We know it is Italian, but how did the conspirators get hold of it? It is too obvious to blame this simply on the Italians – or is it a devious double-bluff!?
Elsewhere in Ankara, in a cold, grey, windowless room in the Interior Ministry, the key members of Turkey's feared internal security apparatus are meeting. They have received extremely concerning reports of Zasa’s increasingly brazen activities in Albania. Things are at the point where they are worried Albania could be on the point of breaking away from the new Union: if Zasa were to let the Italians in, Turkey could find its own tactics being used on it. And the contagion could start to spread if Zasa gets away with it. Inönü’s orders to keep the troops out of Albania could open the door to that possibility, while Turkey is also simultaneously dealing with the rebellion in Bosnia-Herzegovina.
An icy chill sweeps through the room. The Kelebek Kompositor has entered and started listening to the conversation. He is quietly amused at the whole situation, in his usual cold and dark way. Who lives and dies in this world of despair, for him is neither here nor there.
Do it!” says Kelebek, with cold determination. He is interested to see if this Vinnie is up to it – able to catch and kill his own.
When questioned about the strange design decision to make the rooms as unlivable as possible, the architect (having been sedated with morphine after his fifth panic attack) explained that most of S.I.T.H.'s buildings were built on dormant volcanoes, like the ones dotted around the massive chain in central Italy. When asked why Kelebek and his private office would want such volatile bases, he gave a nervous chuckle and suffered a fatal heart attack.
The Dark Lord sighed in its private office. What was this world coming to when it could simply dare people into doing foolish things for no reward? In the past, you actually had to try to corrupt the hearts and minds of men. Not that they were any less animalistic and puerile than these modern creatures but they were also heavily indoctrinated against such hedonistic ways by a ruling over class of priests. This world was becoming much less so over time, which made things both easier and less fun. Mind you, it thought reflectively, this was merely a holdover holiday before the true test would begin. Though fascinating these Turks were (especially compared to many other examples throughout the dimensions) they were never going to 'get off the ground' as it were. Kelebek shifted as the entity once again twisted inside. It hated being completed by the kompositor. The Kompositor was no fun at all and kept freezing everything it came into contact with. Kelebek preferred energy, the rush of fleeting heat and light rather than empty blackness.
It just so happened one of the press reporters from before was in the shop, buying some of that excellent salami that Joey had recommended earlier. He had heard the gunshots and commotion in the street and had his camera at the ready. He was facing the door as Zasa came up and started banging on it: he managed to take this photo of Joey Zasa hit after the first shot. At which point, having taken the ‘money shot’, he wisely took cover. The photo was seized by the Turkish secret police before it could be published, and Vinnie’s cover blown. It is now mounted and framed at S.I.T.H. in Ankara!
“I got a go-ahead from Kaya; I got a go-ahead from Kelebek. It was the right decision, Uncle Ismet.”
This is the first time Kelebek orders something before Kaya does, and Kaya, notably, does not kick up a fuss about it. Vinnie and the rest of the Turkish government still view Kaya as in control, that's why vinnie cites him first, but in actual fact, it seems power is slowly being usurped from within.
News Report: Berlin, Germany. The dismemberment of Czechoslovakia is completed with the proclamation of the Protectorate
Yes...we've definetly been giving Hitler ideas.
“Same routine as usual, Mr Kelebek. He has risen late and has just been given his breakfast and milk thistle extract.” Ridvan pauses for a moment; he is one of the Father Turk’s longest serving and most observant guards. “Though
But Kelebek has already burst through the door and moved like a hot desert wind into Atat
“STOP!” he yells in a blood-freezing scream.
Atatürk was about to raise the milk-thistle mixture to his lips, and does indeed freeze.
“Have you drunk any of it yet?” asks Kelebek urgently. Atatürk shakes his head. “Please, put the cup down carefully sir,” he instructs more calmly now.
Kelebek walks over and sniffs the mixture. He is a master of poisons and detects the tell-tale signs of cyanide, which the attempted poisoner had relied on being masked by the liver-treatment mixture. “This was an assassination attempt. Nobody touch this tray. Get the President to a safe location immediately. I will discover the details of this plot and report back.” There is not a hint of doubt in his voice. He sweeps out of the room.
As they drive through Istanbul, Kelebek starts talking to Gültekin: “Paulie, just so I have this straight, who reviewed the maids' roster this morning and authorised the change?”
Paulie fidgets uneasily. “You know I checked in sick this morning, Kelebek. So I wasn’t able to review the roster today. I’m sorry.”
“Ridvan, pull over could you, I need to take a leak,” says Kelebek as they drive past a deserted area of park land. Ridvan looks at him in the rear-vision mirror; Kelebek nods slightly then gets out of car and moves off to the side of the road. He relieves himself, his back to the car. There are two gunshots.
“That is his reward for betrayal,” says Kelebek coldly. Paulie had checked in sick three times in the last month. Each time he got calls from a payphone across from the Palace building. Kelebek had checked the telephone exchange records this morning. The number was traced to an Italian ‘Import-Export’ business run by a man named Virgil ‘The Turk’ Sollozzo. He is a known enforcer and drug dealer for a powerful Sicilian crime family. Polat Gültekin had sold out his President - for money.
The April Fools’ Day Plot (with Polat ‘Paulie’ Gültekin ending up in the starring role) has been averted and security stepped up to unprecedented levels. But it cannot prevent gratuitous alliteration. Nor can it thwart the one assassin who cannot be stopped and who makes it through all their careful defences: time. Months of severe illness have taken their toll on the Father Turk. The best treatments available to the modern medicine of the 1930s have only delayed the inevitable. Mustapha Kemal Atatürk dies peacefully in his sleep, from natural causes, in the early hours of 2 April 1939.
This is more a happy bit of luck. Kelebek and SITH get all the credit for preventing the assassination whilst the traditional security services look increasingly inept and incompetent.
I mean...the uk could sit out of this I guess. It would screw up everyone's plans if they did though, since I don't think anyone including the Germans believe they won't declare war.
Huh...turns out this is correct.
News Report: Paris, France. OTL Event (no game effect): France and Turkey sign a mutual assistance pact. France renounces all claims to the Republic of Hatay while Turkey promises aid to France in the event of aggression.
Given what ends up happening to France and turkey, I would say this agreement is closer to cannon than you might have thought at the time.
Inönü will have none of it: “I’ve come here to show myself and demonstrate the power and fortitude of the Union of Glorious National Republics. I will not cower nor shy away from these gutter crawlers and sewer rats. Let them do their worst!” He is fully aware of some of the parallels to 1914. Indeed, he has deliberately chosen the 25th anniversary of the assassination of Austro-Hungarian Arch Duke Franz Ferdinand for his visit to Sarajevo. But he will not succumb to fear. Everyone would know he had done so and this would diminish Turkey’s standing in a restive and volatile region. The show must go on!
The Cession of Hatay finally becomes available, which Turkey enforces immediately. 1/3 Cav Bde is sent to secure our new Mediterranean port of Iskenderun.
Vinnie sits next to Inönü. “Everything is fine for now, Uncle. Luca Brasi has been sent to the Vatican and Kelebek is in Rome, about to deliver a message from you to ‘Don’ Licio Lucchesi.”
In Rome, Kelebek is admitted into Lucchesi’s office. He has been thoroughly searched.
In Keinszig’s hotel room, one of Ögel’s assassins slips in silently. As Keinszig lies on his bed, the assassin puts a pillow over his face and begins to suffocate him, saying “This is from ‘Vito’ Ceylan.”
In Lucchesi’s office in Rome, Kelebek stands before him. “So, you have a message from President Inönü. What is it? Speak!”
“You have lost the faith of the people,” says Kelebek in Italian.
“He who builds on the people builds on mud,” answers Lucchesi disdainfully. “And Ismet Inönü’s message?”
“It is very important, I must whisper it in your ear.”
Kelebek approaches and whispers to him: “Power wears out those who don’t have it.” Lucchesi just laughs.
At which point Kelebek takes Lucchesi’s reading glasses, which are lying folded on his desk, and stabs him in the neck with them. While he dies quickly in a fountain of blood, Kelebek springs through an open window into the darkness before the stunned bodyguard can react. He looks out and, although they are three floors up, nothing can be seen of the deadly visitor. He has seemingly disappeared into the night.
In the Vatican, Archbishop Gilday walks up a long flight of stairs towards the Pope’s offices, clearly expecting to hear soon if his handiwork has succeeded. Luca Brasi steps out of the shadows and, before Gilday can react, shoots him three times with a silenced pistol and then throws him off the balcony, making good his escape.
As the confusion begins to clear a little, it transpires Inönü has been shot in the shoulder. But he can see that Vinnie has been shot just below the heart: he had seen Mosca pull the gun and threw himself into the path of the bullet. After looking down briefly at the blood spreading on his white dress shirt, he knows the wound is fatal. He just manages to say “Uncle?” before slumping to the ground, dead.
Another very successful day for SITH. even better from their perspective, the only other intelligence operative the president trusts more than them is now dead.
She has adopted the surname and nom de guerre of Kavgaci (“fighter” or “militant”, also “quarrelsome, contentious, belligerent, combative, bellicose”). Having recently come of age and in accordance with Atatürk’s teachings on the equal place of women in modern Turkey (and having already carried out her first mission as a ‘civilian’ in helping to take down Montenegrin Premier Osvaldo Altobello in Sarajevo on the recent ‘Night of Reckoning’), she has enlisted as a trainee undercover ‘special operative’ in Ögel’s Milli Emniyet Hizmeti (National Security Service). She begins her training at S.I.T.H. immediately after the funeral.
...and Kelebek immediately recruits cennet given half the chance.
Another nationalist uprising breaks out in the former Yugoslavia
And now SITH, not Kaya's mob, are in charge of dealing wit it. Part one of their rise to power is almost complete. They have almost full and unilateral control over all operations outside of turkey itself.
Very interesting to watch this evolve naturally over time.
