Arabtoday - Tag

World War I

Morocco railway has fastest journey time in Arab world

Tangiers - Arab Today

French President Emmanuel Macron arrived in Morocco on Thursday to take part in the inauguration of a high-speed railway line that boasts the fastest journey times in Arab world. The French leader, who was invited by King Mohammed VI, will attend a grand ceremony at Tangiers' newly renovated train station, with heavy security measures put in place. The service betweenRead more

World faces continued crises as it observes World War I centenary

Abdul Rahman Al-Rashid

Around half a million Arabs fought in World War I which ended 100 years ago. Arabs fought with both camps. Arab soldiers fought and died from Sudan to the Levant and Morocco. Some were transported by ships to Europe to serve the combating armies. The Ottoman Turks used around 300,000 Arabs in their armies to fight with Germany, Austria, HungaryRead more

Vienna marks 100 years since artistic heyday

Vienna - Arab Today

Vienna is marking 100 years since the death of a string of luminaries from its fin-de-siecle glory days with an avalanche of exhibitions of modernist art, design and architecture that still inspire and shock today. The year 1918 did not only mark defeat in World War I and the end of the Austro-Hungarian empire but also saw artists Gustav Klimt,Read more

Germany loans Lithuania 'birth certificate'

Vilnius - Arab Today

Germany loaned Lithuania its long-lost declaration of independence on Wednesday as the Baltic nation prepares to mark one hundred years since it restored statehood after World War I. The 1918 document, which was unearthed in a Berlin archive last year by a Lithuanian professor, will stay in the country for five years under a bilateral agreement. "I want to thankRead more

Turkey rallies rivals, friends to oppose Kurdish state

Istanbul - AFP

Turkey, which staunchly opposes Kurdish statehood, is far from alone in its rejection of an independence referendum in northern Iraq but it is unclear if Ankara is prepared to risk concrete reprisals. Ankara's displeasure over the planned September 25 referendum is shared not only by the government in Baghdad but also by its sometimes prickly neighbour Iran, not to mentionRead more

France's Macron invites Trump to national day parade

Paris - Arab Today

France's new President Emmanuel Macron invited US President Donald Trump on Tuesday to attend the country's national day parade next month, his office said, adding that the US leader promised to examine the feasibility. Macron, who has made clear his differences with Trump notably on climate change, invited Trump and his wife Melania to attend the July 14 parade whichRead more

Pope Francis describes mass killing of Armenians under Ottoman rule as 'genocide'

Yerevan - Arab Today

Pope Francis has described the mass killing of Armenians under Ottoman Turkish rule in World War I as “genocide” during a visit to Yerevan, Russia Today reported. It comes despite reports that he would instead use the word "martyrdom" when referring to the deaths. The Friday remark is the second time the Pope has referred to the killings as genocide,Read more

Germany adopts Armenian 'genocide' resolution

Berlin - Arab Today

German lawmakers passed a resolution Thursday recognising the World War I massacre of Armenians by Ottoman forces as genocide, defying Turkey's warnings that the vote could hurt ties. Only one MP voted against and another abstained, as parliament approved overwhelmingly by a show of hands the resolution titled "Remembrance and commemoration of the genocide of Armenians and other Christian minoritiesRead more

Turkey: Germany should not call Armenian killings Genocide

Ankara - Arab Today

Turkey has criticized plans by Germany's parliament to recognize the World War I killings of Armenians as genocide, ABC News reported on Monday. The killings of 1.5 million Armenians by Ottoman Turks are widely viewed by historians as the first genocide of the 20th century. Turkey denies that the deaths constituted genocide, insists that the toll was inflated and saysRead more

Hollande, Merkel mark centenary of Battle of Verdun

Verdun - Arab Today

French President Francois Hollande and German Chancellor Angela Merkel stood shoulder to shoulder Sunday to mark the centenary of Verdun, one of the bloodiest battles of World War I. The battle in northeast France was the longest of World War I, lasting 300 days, and claimed more than 300,000 lives before France emerged victorious. “The name Verdun is a symbolRead more