Word: ottoman
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Tomorrow, April 24th, Armenians around the world will gather on what they call Martyrs’ Day to commemorate the Ottoman Empire’s deportation and mass slaughter of Armenians during World War I. Armenians and many others deem this the first genocide of the 20th century, citing scholarly consensus that the atrocities were a well-documented and premeditated wartime assault on an ethnic and religious minority...
...second day, Obama used the symbolism of Istanbul - the former seat of both the Byzantine and Ottoman empires and a city that bridges Europe and Asia - to full effect. He toured the historic Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia (a church converted into a mosque and now a museum), met with religious leaders of all faiths and held a town-hall meeting with 100 university students. He also reiterated his commitment to a two-state solution in the Middle East, despite the potential roadblocks posed by the new Israeli government under Benjamin Netanyahu. "Peace in the Middle East is possible...
...Obama's praise for Turkey was plentiful, there was some tough love too. Using the example of the U.S. and its struggle in dealing with the legacy of slavery, he urged Turks to "reckon with their past" in dealing with the killings of hundreds of thousands of Armenians by Ottoman Turkish forces in 1915. During last year's presidential campaign, Obama had said he would officially recognize the deaths as genocide. But in Ankara, he steered clear of the term - which Turkey rejects - and instead voiced support for Turkey's efforts to normalize relations with Armenia...
...Another contentious point on the agenda is the continuing effort in the U.S. Congress to recognize the 1915 mass killings of Armenians by Ottoman Turkish forces as a genocide, a term Turkey rejects. While campaigning, Obama said he would recognize the killings as genocide but has given no sign that he will raise the issue while here. He may be helped by the fact that Ankara is quietly working to normalize relations with Armenia and is expected to re-open its border shortly. That announcement could be made during the Obama visit...
...months since that blast, the rebirth of Mutannabi Street has also been well documented by both journalists and politicians. With its Ottoman architecture and once lively trade, it was a picturesque and perhaps obvious barometer for the city. Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki held a reopening ribbon-cutting ceremony at the end of last year. The image he hoped to project was that Baghdad was no longer a city where intellectuals were marked for murder, where university professors lived in fear or fled. The idea was that Baghdad was increasingly a safe and functional place. Which it is. There...