President Obama being shown around Sultan Ahmet "Blue" Mosque in Instanbul

[Turborama]

Run time: 01:45 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DNJdAbJFd8o   Posted on YouTube: April 07, 2009 By YouTube Member: Views on YouTube: 0   Posted on DU: April 07, 2009 By DU Member: Turborama Views on DU: 1000

 
It's nice that it's got no commentary and is so peaceful.

I wonder what the winguts' reaction would be if he was wearing their traditional clothes as a sign of respect...

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AP Accompanied by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, he toured the Hagia Sophia museum and the Blue Mosque.

The museum — first a basilica, then a mosque, now a Byzantine architectural wonder — dates to 537 and is a shrine to the art, religion and culture of this city of 20 million once known as Constantinople.

Obama strolled slowly through the massive interior of the stone basilica-turned-mosque-turned-musem, gazing at Christian-themed frescos interspersed with giant suspended disks with Arabic writing.

With a guide and Erdogan, Obama smiled and nodded often, keeping his hands clasped in front of him. The nearby Blue or Sultan Ahmet Mosque is famed for its massive dome, minarets and thousands of hand-painted blue tiles.

At the Blue Mosque, just across a square and manicured gardens from Hagia Sophia, the president padded, shoeless like his entire entourage in accordance with religious custom, across the carpeted mosque interior. All around were intricate stained-glass windows and a series of domes, thick columns and walls entirely covered in blue, red and white tile mosaic. Again, he appeared to speak little, as he was schooled in what he was seeing by a guide. He spent about 40 minutes at both place.

From: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iOmBrSJce9WwmkDD2o9EU8KT0RxAD97DHDD00

[izquierdista]

1. A well planned trip

Obama was smart to make a visit to secular Turkey. Perhaps it was his plan all along to downplay religion and lead people in a more secular direction. Acknowledge religion as being there, but say little about it and let people draw their own conclusions.

[iandhr]

2. We know what Fox and the Freepers will say

[jwirr]

3. He promised the Arab world respect and this was the beginning. I

thought the actions of the woman at the door said it all - respect for President Obama. *ss never showed the people of those countries any respect - he just knelt down to the leaders - or kissed them - or held hands with them.