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Middle East: Regions
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The Middle East is a region that has been of prayerful concern for the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) for more than a century and a half. Over the years, educators, theological teachers, medical teams, rural health workers, agricultural experts, engineers and other specialists have been sent as missionaries by the Presbyterian Church to Syria, Lebanon, Egypt, Morocco, Palestine, Israel, Iran, Iraq, other Gulf States and Afghanistan. [Read more]
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"The Middle East has been on everyone's radar screen for a long time, but often for the wrong reasons. For most readers of the Western press, coverage of the Middle East region is perceived as an arena for conflict, wars, religious extremism and terrorism, and coverage is overshadowed by this," said Dr. Raphaeli. "But there are many positive stories of economic development and hope here. The MEMRI Economic Blog will shed light on these stories and the entrepreneurial spirit that is alive and well in this critically important region of the world," he continued.
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The Middle East has in periods housed some of the most advanced cultures of its time, like the Ancient Egyptian culture, the Muslim Caliphate, and the early stages of the Ottoman empire. Today the region is characterized by strong political tensions, like the issue of Palestine/Israel, the issue of Kurdistan, the issue of rights to water resources, as well as a number of smaller, yet important issues, like Syrian presence in Lebanon, border disagreements between Syria and Turkey, between Egypt and Sudan, between Saudi Arabia and Yemen, the civil rights of Shi'i minorities in Iraq and Bahrain and the security of Christians in Egypt.
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The Middle East lies at the juncture of Eurasia and Africa and of the Mediterranean Sea and the Indian Ocean. It is the birthplace and spiritual center of the Orthodox Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Yezidi, and in Iran, Mithraism, Zoroastrianism, Manichaeism, and the Bahá'í Faith. Throughout its history the Middle East has been a major center of world affairs; a strategically, economically, politically, culturally, and religiously sensitive area. The earliest civilizations, Mesopotamia and Egypt, originated in the Fertile Crescent region of the ancient Near East, as well as the civilizations of the Levant, Persia, and Arabia, including the Persian Empire and Arab Empire.
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Middle Eastern politicshave beenin a whirl the past week, with Turkey's elections acting as the centriguge. The Middle East's main protagonists and Western power brokers found common ground to congratulate Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan on the victory of his "Islamist" party, though few in the region are likely to follow Turkey's democratic example. For Erdogan, the nature of his success means that he will have to rule through consensus, and the "Islamists" won't have things their own way. - M K Bhadrakumar (Jul 27, '07)
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While Middle East mainly contains areas with low relief, portions of Turkey, Iran, and Yemen include mountainous terrain. The Anatolian Plateau is sandwiched between the Pontus Mountains and Taurus Mountains in Turkey. Mount Ararat in Turkey rises to 5,165 meters, and the tallest in the region, Mount Damavand, located in Iran's Elburz Mountains rises to 5,610 meters.[17] The Zagros Mountains are located in Iran, in areas along its border with Iraq. The Central Plateau of Iran is divided into two drainage basins. The northern basin is Dasht-e Kavir (Great Salt Desert), and Dasht-e-Lut is the southern basin.
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