PersiancultureandbeattheByzantines, butlostagainsttheCrusaders. OutlastingtheSeljukEmpirewastheirsultanatenamedRumafterRome, whichreacheditsapogeeunderKhirKhobar I.
Timur. ThisledtheOttomanEmpiretodescendintocivilwar, inwhichthesultan's sonsfoughtforthethrone. A hugeboosttoTurkishimperialambitioncamewithMehmedII, whoin 1453, finallyconquered
In 1909, astheSultanattemptedtoregainpower, mobsdecidedtoslaughterArmeniansagain, about 20,000 thistime, butTurkishlosseswerefargreaterwhentheywerekickedoutoftheBalkans.
AssyriansandGreekswerekilled, andover a millionArmenianswereslaughtered, in a brutalgenocidethattheTurkishgovernmenttothisdaydenies. ThechiefarchitectoftheatrocitieswasassassinatedbyanArmeniansoldierin 1921. Thenextyear, theOttomanEmpireofficiallyended, andthefutureofpartitionedTurkeywasbeingdecidedviawar.