With the halting of the offensive in the Balkans, the combined Austro-German army faced the Ottomans on 2 fronts, with the Balkan pocket on one side and the rest of the Ottoman army across the Bosphorus from occupied Constantinople. Though while the front was relatively calm, the newly arrived German High Seas Fleet was mercilessly hunting the Turkish navy around the Aegean.
In a bid to speed up the war, and grab more territory for themselves, the Germans land a force of cavalry from the Black Sea in Eastern Turkey. Though meeting no opposition in the landing, the German cavalry is too slow to exploit the breach effectively due to lack of infrastructure and is bogged down in and around their beachead.
Even though the winter is still making warfare difficult, German High Command orders an attack into Izmit, a battle which would prove as the longest and bloodiest of the war.
While both sides reinforce their armies in the Battle of Izmit, the landed cavalry force pushes west in order to outflank the Turkish army and force a crossing of the Bosphorus. 2 cavalry divisions join the attack, but it proves far from decisive.
Meanwhile, the Italians, unwelcome members of the Central Powers, have decided to carve up the Ottoman Empire for themselves and landed in Palestine. Despite surprise and superiority, the Italians manage to botch their campaign in a typical fashion and only progress as far as Damascus.
In the end of February, while the Battle of Izmit still rages, the German and Austro-Hungarian troops continue their offensive into the Balkans. The Austrian attack into Skopje is halted in it's tracks, but the Germans manage to push into Salonika and then west to the shore, cutting off the Greek border by mid-April.
In April, advancing German cavalry units have secured a line across Turkey itself, cutting off the main body of the Ottoman army. Soon after, the surviving Ottoman forces in Izmit retreated after over 3 months, linking the divided Austro-German forces once more.
As the German cavalry moved south to link up with the Italian divisions, the Balkan pocket was finally eliminated. German and Austro-Hungarian troops also pressed their offensive against the surrounded forces in Turkey itself, first cutting off and destroying an Ottoman division in Konya then attacking and routing the Ottoman army in Smyrna and Bursa into the Dardanelles Islands.
The Ottoman army, at this point, was completely and utterly crushed. Whatever was left of it was either running around Arabia or holed up in the Dardanelles. It was here that the Ottoman army made it's last stand. The battle was also noticable because of the fact that it saw a new weapon introduced into warfare on a large scale, the aircraft, with 8 German recon/bomber squadrons attacking the Turkish troops. Expectations were low for this newfangled machine, but it's stunning decimation of the Ottoman divisions gave hope to it's advocates that it could prove a decisive weapon.
The Ottomans, in a last bid to survive, offer peace to the Germans. But, seeing no point in sparing them, the Germans continue and secure the remainder of the Ottoman provinces.
The Ottomans are annexed, and with minor land shuffling, divided by the Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy. Austria-Hungary will occupy the Balkans, all the way south to Constantinople and the Greek border. Germany will get Turkey and Mesopotemia while Italy gets the other useless places that nobody wants in Palestine, Syria and Lebanon.
With the end of the war, a massive redeployment order is given pulling troops back from the frontlines. The German and Austro-Hungarian leaders are now debating who will be the next unfortunate victim of their warmongering.