Ottoman Empire

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Greek Monastery Holds 25K Ancient Ottoman Manuscripts

They're now being studied for the first time

(Newser) - Deep inside the medieval fortified Pantokrator Monastery in the Mount Athos monastic Orthodox Christian community, researchers are for the first time tapping a virtually unknown treasure—thousands of Ottoman-era manuscripts that include the oldest of their kind in the world. The libraries of the self-governed community, established more than 1,...

Jubilation, Dismay at Status Change of Turkish Landmark

Muslims thrilled Hagia Sophia to be reconverted to a mosque; Orthodox Christians, not so much

(Newser) - Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday reconverted Istanbul’s sixth-century Hagia Sophia into a mosque and declared it open to Muslim worship, hours after a court annulled a 1934 decision that had turned it into a museum. The decision to reconvert Hagia Sophia—a former cathedral that was turned...

Historian: Tomb of Suleiman the Magnificent Found

Suleiman the Magnificent died during 1566 siege

(Newser) - The remains of the tomb of Suleiman the Magnificent, who died in 1566 while his troops were besieging the fortress of Szigetvar in southern Hungary, have "in all likelihood" been found, a Hungarian historian says. Norbert Pap says the tomb is believed to have been built over the spot...

100 Years Later, Armenia Remembers Mass Killings

But certain countries—notably Turkey and the US—still won't call it 'genocide'

(Newser) - Turkey may not recognize the killings of 1.5 million Armenians as genocide , but other world leaders do and are paying tribute to the 100th anniversary of the massacre today, the BBC reports. "We will never forget the tragedies that your people have endured," French President Francois Hollande...

Turkish Troops Enter Syria to Evacuate Tomb

Operation shifted ancient remains of Ottoman leader

(Newser) - Hundreds of Turkish troops backed by tanks took part in an overnight operation into neighboring Syria to evacuate dozens of besieged soldiers guarding an Ottoman tomb and remove the remains amid fears the shrine was threatened by ISIS militants. The mission to the tomb of the grandfather of the founder...

Turkey, Armenia Move Toward Diplomatic Ties

Talks won't touch WWI-era massacre at root of ill feelings, however

(Newser) - Armenia and Turkey, bitter foes for a century, took a step toward reconciliation today by announcing they would launch final talks aimed at establishing diplomatic ties. But they won't discuss the deepest source of their enmity: the World War I-era massacres of Armenians under Ottoman rule. The sides say they...

Over Bush Objections, House Panel OKs Armenia Bill

Resolution calls Turkey killings 'genocide'

(Newser) - A House committee today approved a resolution calling World War I-era killings of Armenians by the Turkish government "genocide," despite warnings from the White House and an intense lobbying effort by Turkey. The resolution is largely symbolic, the New York Times reported, but its passage by the full...

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