Thanks for your comments all of which I agree with totally. Destroying them helps increase your diplomacy with the West which is essential to keep the peace in Europe whilst Ottoman armies conquer Persia, the Balkans, and India. They are a good buffer against Spain, and it keeps out any other power that might want to invade otherwise weak Pirate provinces. They add to your prestige, and open a land route to Morocco for trade. So why keep them around.Д¦/ The benefits of taking the Pirates out of the game are obvious. After the first 4 or 5 years they are reduced to effectively nothing. The arguement that the Pirates maintain a large and effective navy for the Ottomans is a moot point entirely. This could have been put to better use trading with someone else and so why trade with the Pirates.why have them around? The Pirates develop very slowly and so any money made from the 50% Protectorate is minimal.ДҐ/ What navy!! Because the Pirates are at war with so many nations they get ground down very easily, and their effective nany becomes non-existent. When I looked at my trade inventory quite often the only one reading zero was trade with the Pirates.

These lands serve as a good buffer to any threat from Spain.Д¤/ I found that because the Pirates are at war with almost all of Europe they get blockaded alot or their trade routes pillaged. You can develop its resource squares quicker and better, so why let the Pirates keep them?ДЈ/ Taking out the Pirates means taking provinces which, if left over time, would be taken by European powers such as Italian states or Spain. This helps an Ottoman player who wishes to improve relations with the West and focus on conquering in the East.Дў/ The Ottomans can run North Africa more profitably than the Pirates can. In fact, I found that once you are at war with them your standing with most Western nations improves as the Pirates are at war with all the nations of Europe.

What does everyone else think?ДЎ/ Slowly coming out of an alliance with the Pirates and waiting a few turns lessens the negative effects of cutting ties with them on your diplomacy with other nations. Here are my reasons why is should be done.

The Ottomans lose the 50% income from their Protectorate, the trade, the valuable navy the Pirates provide, and of course prestige with other Muslim nations. There has been some debate over whether it is worth attacking the Barbary States as the Ottomans, and to a larger degree the view has been to reject such a radical notion.

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