Word: albanians
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...confusing days of the Balkan wars, he was traveling through the Balkans with a small circus, doubling as sword swallower and magician. Albania had just proclaimed its independence of the Ottoman Empire. While the great powers sought a European princeling to head the new state, some Albanian Moslems had their heart set on Prince Halim Eddine, a kinsman of the Turkish Sultan...
...circus performers noticed that Otto Witte bore a striking resemblance to Halim Eddine, and then and there the whole beautiful scheme sprang full-blown to Otto's mind. In no time at all a pair of telegrams, purportedly originating in Constantinople, were on their way to Essad Pasha, Albanian-born commander of Turkish forces in the Durazzo area. One telegram was signed "Sultan" and the other "High Command," but both carried the same news: "Prince Halim Eddine arriving Albania, will assume command all troops stationed there...
...five days all went well. With royal mien, King Otto accepted professions of loyalty from the troops "and from 25 harem girls as well." To consolidate his rule, he ordered an amnesty for all Albanian jailbirds, made lavish distributions of gold among the local chieftains. (To this day, one former foreign consul in Albania argues that no mere circus performer ever had that much money to spend, remains convinced that Otto was acting as an agent of the Austro-Hungarian government.) Then, genuine telegrams began to pour in from Constantinople. "It was a shame," Otto used to tell his admirers...
...group troup took the Experimenters and some of their Yugoslav hosts through Macedonia to Lake Chrid, a resort area on the Albanian border; then along the Dalmatian coast on the Adriatic to Dubrounik...
...Albanian rulers of Egypt and overlords of the Ottoman Empire did little else to benefit mankind, they were identified with some of the most beautiful women in the world. Princess Fawzia, sister of Egypt's fat Farouk and onetime Empress of Iran, was one. Dark-eyed Princess Zehra Hanzade, granddaughter of Turkey's last Sultan and mother of Fazilet, was another. Fazilet's father, Prince Mohammed Ali, is a cousin of Farouk's. He fled Egypt when Farouk did, and got most of his vast wealth out to Europe. At first, Papa was not keen...