Quote:
Originally Posted by Flames Fan, Ph.D.
Looks like those Ottoman's had it figured out before the Brits messed it up... again.
I wonder what that area would look like if Ottoman rule had persisted, with their general passivity / apathy to internal ethnic groups (provided all taxes were paid and you remembered who was boss). It definitely wouldn't be engineered as it is now, but I'm still curious what the outcome would be.
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Not really. The Ottomans were extremely brutal towarads their populace. It was basically a Turkish elite ruling a large group of minorities under their control by extreme force. The Turks had also started various genocidal campaigns prior to leaving: Armenian, Kurdish, Assyrian, Greek, etc...
Things have been bad in the middle east recently, but they were downright horrific at the end of Ottoman rule.
When the Turkish dictators were removed various Arab powers were vying for control. The Brits cut a deal with the Hashemites and Saudis. It avoided a massive war, but, also, conveniently enough stabalized access to emerging oil resources.