What the hell is your problem?
1. Istanbul is full of recent immigrants from the countryside and the count is not considered reliable. Even disregarding that, it's an urban area with population outside the city limits. I also contains enormous numbers of transient residents not included in the census. Finally, half the population of the city is in Asia. You obviously didn't excel in geography in school.
2. I said "fully mobilized". You obviously didn't excess at reading comprehension at school. Turkey has universal conscription.
If you'd care to point to any Turco-wanking, please do. If you think a country of 11 million is going to defeat a country of 75 million in a war, you're entitled to your opinion, idiotic as it might be, but that still doesn't make betting on the country that's seven times larger "wanking". I suppose you think Belgium could conquer Paris, too. You obviously didn't excel at logic in school.
1. That is the total population for Istanbul, both sides of the Bosphorus. Certainly the figures are not certain to be accurate but that would mean a big inaccuracy. Although I grant you it's population is increasing fast.
2. Why not? Finland effectivly deafeated the Soviet Union, the Greek City States defeated the Persian Empire, a ragged army (well, mostly ragged) army of Scots defeated the English. I could go on but the point is that the size of the nations population is not a dead set way of ensuring a military victory. Sure turkey could send waves and waves of young men at the Greeks, but the political implications of that would be devastating. There is more to winning a war than just military force (certainly important). While I seriously doubt that Greece itself would be able to outright win such a war and take any land but equal it could be the same for an opposing force.
3. Belgium is a country, Paris is a city, two different political and social concepts and common features of geography.
My problem was that too many people seemed to simply be jumping down Hapsburgs throat without a shread of thought, simply based upon the "ones dick is bigger than yours" theory. His POD (although ASB) allows for the reasonable justification of what he presented. I think his TL is quite interesting, even if ASB.
Russell