Middle East

Armenian Christian women pray at St. Giragos Church in southeastern Turkey. The restored church, reopened in 2011, is the largest Armenian church in the Middle East.

World News

Invisible For Generations, 'Hidden Armenians' Emerge In Turkey

2:56pm April 25, 2015

by Peter Kenyon

Many Armenian Christians were slaughtered by the Ottomans a century ago, but some survivors were taken in by Muslim families. A growing number are now reclaiming their Armenian heritage.

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Arts

'Save Us, Save Us': A Poem For The Migrants Lost At Sea

12:36pm April 25, 2015

We asked poet Craig Morgan Teicher to find a poem to illuminate a recent news event. He says the capsized boat in the Mediterranean Sea made him think of Derek Mahon's "A Disused Shed in Co. Wexford."

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Allied troops at the ANZAC Cove in the Gallipoli peninsula, during World War I. Britain, France, Australia and New Zealand fought for nine months but could not defeat the Ottomans. Overall, a half-million were killed or wounded.

World News

Remembering Gallipoli, A WWI Battle That Shaped Today's Middle East

11:14pm April 24, 2015

by Peter Kenyon

The clash at Gallipoli was one of the most memorable fights of World War I — and one of the most consequential. Its reverberations are still felt to this day in the chaotic Middle East.

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World News

Keith Murdoch, Father Of Media Baron, Disclosed Disaster At Gallipoli

6:55pm April 24, 2015

NPR's Robert Siegel interviews Australian journalist Peter FitzSimons, author of Gallipoli, about how Keith Murdoch defied military censors and got the word out about how badly the battle was going.

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One of the first homes going up on land bought and sold as part of a Canadian-Palestinian investment firm's effort to properly register plots. Much land in the West Bank is not registered and has no title deed, creating problems for economic development.

World News

Clearing The Tangled Path For Land Ownership In The West Bank

6:55pm April 24, 2015

by Emily Harris

Palestinians often buy and sell land without title deeds, or proof of ownership. That's because most of the land doesn't have them. It's a problem dating back generations.

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Syrian children listen to a teacher during a lesson in a temporary classroom in Suruc refugee camp on March 25 in Suruc, Turkey. The camp is the largest of its kind in Turkey with a population of about 35,000 Syrians who have fled the ongoing civil war in

World News

Turkish Educator Pledges $10M To Set Up Universities For Syrian Refugees

6:21pm April 24, 2015

by Deborah Amos

The war has put dreams of college on hold for some 40,000 Syrian refugees in Turkey. Enver Yucel hopes to create a higher ed system to meet their needs, with coursework in English, Arabic and Turkish.

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The King Jacob, a Portuguese-flagged cargo vessel, was the first ship to arrive near the migrant boat that sank off the Libyan coast over the weekend. The boat had been carrying more than 800 people.

World News

Merchant Ships Called On To Aid Migrants In Mediterranean Feel The Strain

6:13pm April 24, 2015

by Jackie Northam

Commercial ships have rescued tens of thousands of migrants trying to cross by boat to Europe from Africa and the Middle East. But the vessels and their crews aren't equipped to handle these missions.

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Mohammed Ali Malek is seen at Catania's tribunal, on Friday. Italian prosecutors blamed the captain of a grossly overloaded fishing boat for a collision that capsized and sank his vessel off Libya, drowning hundreds of migrants.

World News

Alleged Skipper Of Migrant Boat Appears In Italian Court

1:21pm April 24, 2015

by Scott Neuman

The 27-year-old man faces homicide and human trafficking charges. He says he was only a passenger, but survivors from the disaster that killed at least 700 are likely to testify that he was captain.

World News

Europe Grapples With How To Deal With Influx Of Migrants

12:27pm April 24, 2015

Thousands cross the Mediterranean hoping to escape civil instability or economic hardship. Renee Montagne talks to Joel Millman of the International Organization for Migration about Europe's response.

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World News

Aid Workers Hear Migrants' Accounts Of Shipwrecks

12:27pm April 24, 2015

The charity Save the Children has been hearing from migrants who have survived the dangerous journey to Europe from across the Mediterranean. Text messages come in every day about boats in distress.

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