Obama Restores Ottoman Empire

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Wat's funny is that the right was loving arab democracy under Bush. They wanted a democratic domino effect to start in the middle-east. Some have even given Bush credit for the Arab Spring but suddenly Arabs voting is a bad thing. Partially due to islamophobia and partially due to Obama Derangement Syndrome. Whatever Obama says, it's wrong. Even if he agrees with previous policy under the GOP.

Non-thinking partisan low brows like that disgust me. You never know what they believe because it will literally change on a dime after an election. My dog puts more thought into his opinions.

In fourteen-hundred-and-ninety-two, when Columbus sailed the ocean blue, the King of Spain also forced all of the Jews to flee Spain.

A lot of them fled to the Ottoman Empire. Some of their descendents still speak Ladino (a form of Spanish).

Some settled in the part of the Ottoman Empire that eventually became modern Greece. Most of their descendents were murdered by the Nazis.

Most of the descendents of those who settled in what eventually became modern Turkey have moved to Israel.

On the other hand, the Ottomans really weren't very nice at all to the Armenians.

Or the Assyrians.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assyrian_Genocide

I had heard of the Armenian genocide, but I have to admit, I hadn't ever heard of the Assyrian Genocide.

-Bill, otherwise known as Kraichgauer

Also, the Greeks

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greek_genocide

Not enough Assyrians survived to make a stink about it.

Did not know about that, either. Pretty terrible s**t.

-Bill, otherwise known as Kraichgauer

Well that's what happens when you aren't taught history in schools...

There is a reason why the Greeks don't like the Turks.

Most history in schools is either American history, or a wider history encompassing the greater powers. There just isn't enough time in a finite curriculum to cover every historical incident, unless it's a college course specifically tailored to teaching modern history of Greece, Turkey, the Balkans, and the Middle East.
As a matter of fact, I majored in history in college - specializing in the Roman period of ancient history - and I can vouch that there was nothing lacking in the history courses offered.

-Bill, otherwise known as Kraichgauer

Really, my History classes pre-college included not simply American History, I got some world History too.

Also I studied early middle eastern history, as well as the History of World War II, also Native American History, and I studied some Medieval History. Furthermore I studied Early Constitutional Law. I have enough History courses under my belt for an unofficial History Minor (which I would have if the Department I was in allowed for a history minor).

Though in fairness I picked up the information on the genocides a few years ago.

Fox News I believe had an article concerning one of the genocides (I think it was the Armenian one), something Congress was doing about I think a condemnation of it (which was a little late), the Greek genocide I knew of after having to sit through My Big Fat Greek Wedding cause I got dragged to watch the movie with the rest of the family. The movie had several mentions of one of the chars hating Turks (won't spoil the movie if you want to see it), anyways it perked my curiousity so I did some checking and yeah the Ottomans did try to engage in genocidal behavior towards the Greeks.

The Assyrian one might actually be new information for me, I think I heard about it before but it isn't something I recalled off the top of my head. However considering the attempted slaughter of the Greeks and Armenians, it is really unsurprising given the track record.

I have seen My Big Fat Geek Wedding, so no fear of spoilers here.
I also studied a buttload of different history courses, though as I said, I was a Roman period guy. If truth be told, most of the history I got in college was American, including general American history, Civil War and Reconstruction, Old West, and others. I also studied War and Society, and Modern History of Germany just to name a few.
I have heard about the Armenian genocide, but that of the Greeks and Assyrians is new to me. Though it doesn't surprise me.

-Bill, otherwise known as Kraichgauer

Modern day Arabs are more friendly to the Turks now....the fact that the Turks basically backed up their fellow Muslims against Israel/Turkey becoming more 'islamic' has helped that too.

If asked about it, most Turkish people will get defensive and take a pro-Ottoman side.

They will point out that Turks were also forced to leave what became modern Greece in the 1920s, when you mention that the huge Greek population in what became modern Turkey was forced to flee. Greeks had lived in Asia Minor for thousands of years. Most of the Greek cities mentioned by Paul in the New Testament are in what is now Turkey. What is now Istanbul used to be the center of Greek Orthodox culture.

That's more of "being oppressed by the Ottoman Turks and religious aspects of that" (as most Balkan countries' issues with the Turks) combined with "ethnic cleansing during and after WWI (the Greeks did the same thing to the Turks - but the definition was very religious - given "Greeks" who could speak only Turkish....but were christian were sent to Greece. Talk to Ataturk about that.

Note the ethnic categories were fluid and groups of greeks and turks who were transfered told each other about their lands and tips on settling/living there.



Those Greeks were "turkified" in the early era of the Ottoman Empire (whel Seljuk Turks were "moving in" ), as opposed to "LOL GENOCIDE"

EDIT: I forgot



Also, the modern Armenian state was built when Dashnak (Armenian nationalists) pretty much ethnically cleansed that area of Azerbaijiani (Turks)