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“and under the Ottomans!”

Yes I forgot, they have had a hard history throughout time.

Exactly!
That's why you see “Stockholm Syndrome” behavior in eastern Christians trapped behind the koran curtain. During the bad old days of European colonialism there. The European powers (Back when Europe had balls!) often would take up their cause and force Ottoman officials to treat these “Ottoman subjects” with a little more fairness then what was normally done. Of course in times of turmoil like the end of WWI the European powers would lose the ability to intervene effectively and you have the Ottomans reverting back to their normal behavior, ergo the Armenian massacre and others. It's all coming back again. Remember their are more Coptic Christians in Chicago & Detroit then in Egypt.