[seowulf]

In the USA people take out college loans and voluntarily become slaves to the banks. At least the Turks were more honest about slavery.

I'd say it's probably more like an indentured servant, but it is true: people will jump at any chance to enslave themselves to useless baubles.

[Verginius Rufus]

The Turks enslaved a lot of people—pirate raids, capturing people traveling by sea, and through the “blood tribute” (taking Christian boys from rural areas of the empire and forcing them to become Muslims). If some of those enslaved had offspring there could be Turks with Greek, Bulgarian, Serbian, Italian or other ancestries.