Turkey is a country of the near-east. The currency is the lira (incorrectly written lirasi in the book). Some population are Armenian and people are fluent in Greek, French and Turkish. A major city is Istanbul.
The country is backwards and sluggish: written communication is still used (people use voiceprinters) some cars feature primitive hydrogen-cell conversion and vending consoles operate with coins instead of credits; also there is disapproval of women with surgical modifications.
There seems to be some political turmoil and the turkish secret police is after dissidents. Terzibashjian was a torturer/interrogator for the turkish secret police. For 3 years Peter Riviera sold women to the secret police.