| Its constant wars with Russia led to the eventual fall of the Ottoman Empire and the Russian Empire fell at the same time. Exposure to and lack of incorporation of western ideologies of religious tolerance into their constitutional institutions led to the many genocidal massacres of minorities in both countries. Today Turkey and Russia are still struggling to incorporate these western ideologies. Turkey is faced with its hostile neighbors, Russia, Armenia, the Kurds. The sick man of Europe could commit suicide if faced with the reality of its past. Somehow it must live with the past and go on to a tolerant future; but it may not. |
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