Ada Kaleh, an Ottoman Atlantis on the Danube - Fascinating History

[Selene]

With the exponential interest in all things Islamic, we get a gem.

Theses two (exclaves) reveal how global religions and conquests create a history that is greater than fiction.

So you thought Turkey's lightning-speed relocation of the Tomb of Suleyman Shah in Syria was the weirdest map story you heard this week? Wait until you hear about Turkey's other exclave: Ada Kaleh - the Ottoman Empire's last gasp, on an island since swallowed up by the Danube.

In the night of 22 to 23 February, a Turkish Army task force went 25 miles deep into Syria to evacuate a tiny, Turkish-controlled plot of land on the left bank of the Euphrates. The focus of their attention was the safe removal of the Tomb of Suleyman Shah and the 40 Turkish soldiers guarding it. Anything else left behind was put beyond use with explosives.

Ankara felt its exclave was threatened by the approaching front line between Islamic State and the Kurds, whose offensive radiating from Kobane seems poised to chase IS across the river. The Tomb has now temporarily been relocated to a place literally a stone's throw south of the border: still inside Syria, but easier to keep an eye on. It's not the first time the Tomb has moved, and along with it Turkey's territorial claim to the surrounding area. In 1973, the exclave shifted 50 miles north from its original location to avoid the rising waters of Lake Assad (see also #649).

http://bigthink.com/strange-maps/ada-kaleh-an-ottoman-atlantis-on-the-danube