This is Turkey, you will notice it is in the crossroads between the middle east, europe, and the asian step. It controls all access to the black sea. The only way Ukrianian, Bulgarian, Romanian, and Georgian goods get onto the med and then the international sea is by their say so.
This control over the black sea naturally makes who ever controls the straits very wealthy historically speaking. This is the power that made Byzantium great and the Turks control it. Its a naturally wealthy region which is why people have fought over antolia for centuries.
The problem is that their location also means their surrounded by potential enemies, Which fucked the Byzantines and then fucked the Turks when the West became strong. The only thing that saved the ottoman empire and the turks was that europe remained firmly retarded and up its own ass.
Still their luck ran out in ww1 and the ottoman empire died the turks kept what I consider the most valuable chunk of their old empire and basically kept quiet and rebuilt themselves.
Now their more or less industrialized look around and realized that every one around them is weak and stupid. The Balkans? Their demographics suck and their the balkans. The middle east? The arabs are not only laughably bad in a fight their countries are more or last collapsing. Russia? Their facing the god damned end. Oportunties all around, any place they move they will most likely conqure and do so easily.
I firmly expect a resurgence of Turkish power soon.