Started in 1910, and I put some effort early into the diplomatic side. I befriended Bulgaria, but the only effect was an increased Ottoman opinion of them. They still disliked me (and the tooltip for the relations had some broken text like 'ottoman_friend'), and of course the Balkan War started with them attacking me.

What is the point of these focuses? If the game is running on rails for major events, then they serve no purpose. I also 'befriended' Jebel Shammar, and there was no increase to either party's opinion of the other.