the story of those who

8/18/2019 The Story of Those Who

1/15

303820138S

Baskin

ORAN

*

•

NTRODUCT

ON

Historical

Context

of the

1923

Exchange

of

Populations

The compulsory

exchange of

populations of

1923

between

Greece

and Turkey1

is a component

part

of the

Lausanne

Peace

Conference that

took

place

at the

end of the

Turkish

war of

independence

(1919

-

22

),

itself

a

result of

the All

ied

-

supported

Greek

occupation

at

the

end

of

the

World War I

.

The

Convention

and Protocol

on

the

Exchange of

Greek and Turkish Populations

2 , as

Professor of international relations

at

the School of

Political

Science,

Ankara

University

.

oran

@

politics.ankara

.

edu

.

tr

This

will

be

abbreviated in this paper as The Exchange

.

This

title wi

ll

be

abbreviated

in this

paper

as

The

Convention

.

Here

,

Iwould like to make

a

note

on the

terminology I'll use while

treating

the

subject

matter

of this

paper,

the

respective

etablis resulting from

Art

.

2 of

the

Convention

:

Ar . 2/

a

of

the

Convention

used the term

Greeks

t express

the

etablis of

Istanbul

(

and

of the two isl

ands

eventually

) because

no

other alternative

exists in

western

languages

. Instead of this

term

,

"

Rums

"

wil

l

be

preferred

to denote the

[

almost exclusively

]

Orthodox

population

of

Byzantine

descent of the Ottoman Empire

and Turkey

,

speaking

a dialect

of

Greek language

.

(Since 1820s

,

Rum is used inTurkish

for

any

Hel

len living

outside

of

Greece

and who is not

a

citizen of that country).

This

will

be

done

,

firstly

,

to

differentiate

the "Rum

"

from the

Greek

(in Turkish: Yunani

i

,

from Ionian

),

a

citizen

of

Greece.

Secondly

and more

importantly

,

his

preference

is made because this minority

denotes

itself

not

as Yunanii

but

"

Rum

(

Romios

Romioi

,

from

[

eastern

]

Rome

)

because

,

although it strongly

feels

that

Greece

is its

kin

-state

,

it believes

it

directly descends from Romano

-

Byzantine Constantinopol

is (also

se e

Alexis

Alexandris

,

The

Greek

Minority of

Istanbul

and Greek

-

Turkish

Relations,

1918

-

1974,

second

edition

,

Athens, Centre for Asia

Minor

Studies

,

1992

,

p

. 17).

Preference

of

"

Rum

"

instead

of

"

Rum

Orthodox

relies

not

on the

fact that the

said

article

2

/

a does

not mention Orthodox

,

but on the fact

that

, although

there

exists Catholic or Protestant

Rums

also

-this

handful minority

in

the

minority

will not

be

taken into

consideration

here

-

"

Rum

"

has

always

been synonymous

with

"

Rum

Orthodox

.

On the

other hand

, Ar

.

2

/

b

of

the

Convention used the expression

Muslims

to

express

the

Western Thrace

(

WT

)

etablis

,

because

at

the time of

the

Exchange

ethnicity

meant far

less

than

the

concept

of religion

or

confession

, and probably because the Allies and also

Greece

wanted

all

the Musl

ims

beside the Turks to

leave

Greece

[

hence,

this

expression

in

Ar

. 1

];

just

as

Turkey

wanted

all

the

Muslims

beside the Turks

to stay

in WT

). But in

this

paper

the expression

Turks/

Turkish

will be

preferred

to

Muslims

,

always

for the

same

reasoning

.

Firstly

,

in

the

Balkans especially

,

Turk/Turkish

has

always

been (and

,

to

a

certain degree

,

still

is

)

synonymous

with

Muslim

probably because

Turks

were

the

founders and the main element of

the

Ottoman

Empire

, and a fo

/or

/,

of its

Millet

System which considered

all

Musl

ims

as one single

community.

(

The Empire

itself was usual

ly

marked

Turkey

/

Turquie

in

numerous

maps drawn

by

the Europeans

of

the

period.The

French

expression

se

faire

Turc"

[to

make oneself

a

Turk

]

means:

To

become Muslim. The Arabs

and

Palestinians

who immigrated

to

Chile at

the

beginning

of

the

century

are

still called

"

Turkos

" ) .

Secondly

and

more

importantly , this

preference

is made because

this

minority

of

110

.000

-odd souls now (

composed,

beside some

70

.

000

ethnic

Turks

,

of

some 35.000 Muslims of

Pomak

ethnic origin

and

of

some

5 .000

Muslims

of

Roman

ethnic

origin

), although being profoundly

religious

,

eels

very

strongly

about

denoting itself

THE STORY

OF

THOSE WHO STAYED

(

Lessons

to

be drawn from

the

application of

Articles

1

and especially

2

of

the 1923 Exchange

)


2/15

2

it is

officially

called in

French

/

English,

is

one

of the

eighteen

instruments

done

at

the

Lausanne

Conference

on

Near

Eastern

Questions,

1922

-

23

.

Sixteen

of these

instruments

including

the

all

-

important

Lausanne

Peace

Treaty

itself

were

signed

at

the end of

the

Conference

on

24 July

1923

.

The

remaining

two

were

done

on

30

January

1923

,

about

two

months

and ten

days

after

the

start

of the

Conference and about

six months

earl

ier than

the

other

sixteen

.

The

subject matters

of

these

two

instruments

,

the

Convention

itself

and

the

Turkish

-

Greek

Agreement

on

the Extradition

of

Civil

Hostages

and

on the

Exchange

of War

Prisoners

,

had

nothing

to

do

with

the

peace

treaty

but

had

t

be

dealt

with

at the

earliest

possible

3

.

In

other

words

,

the

Convention

was

a

prerequisite

of the

Peace

Treaty

as

shown

by

its

early

signature.

The

Convention

and

especially its

compulsory

nature

have

a

particular

importance

in

the

particular

conjuncture

of 1990s.

But for

th

i

s

historical

experience

to

shed

some l

ight

on

today

'

s minority,

exchange

,

and refugee

issues

,

a

question

ought to

be

settled

beforehand

:

Who

wanted the Exchange

,

who

wanted

it

to be compulsory

,

and

why?

1

)

To

start with,

the Exchange

and

its

compulsory

nature

were

proposed

by

the

Allies ,

especially

England

.

Lord

Curzon

thought

the

Exchange

should be

compulsory

because,

he

said

,

it

would

otherwise

take

months

to

implement

the

agreement

,

the

exchanged

Turks

should

start

ti

lling

Thrace at

the

earliest,

Greece

had

to

make place

for

the ever

-

coming

refugees

, and

it

would

also

be easier

to

compensate

the

exchanged

people

for

the property

they

would

be

leaving

behind

5

.

The

real

reason

behind all

this

,

however

, was the

fact

that

the

Allies

thought

a

radical

solution

to

the question

of

minorit

i

es

would

sensibly

alleviate

their

job

in

the

new

world

order

.

2

)

The second

element

that

desired

the

Exchange

was Greece

,

above

al

l

becau

se

she

needed a

lot of

space to

settle

the

Asia Minor

refugees

(

one

million

-

odd

people

,

one

fourth

of

Greece

'

s population

at

that

time

) that

fled

Turkey

along with

the

withdrawing

Greek

armies

.

As for

the

compulsory

nature

of

the

Exchange,

Greek

Prime

Minister

Veniselos

declared

that

it should

be voluntary

but

added

he was

ready

to

discuss

the

issue

anyway

,

as

Turkish

and

fully

considers Turkey

its kin

-state

.

The

reasons for

this

behaviour

will

be

treated

in

footnote

31.

As expressed

by

Mr

. Montagna

,

President

of

the

Sub

-

Commission

on

Minorities

(

and

on

the Exchange

)

on

10

January

1923.

(

Professor

Seha

L

. Meray

,

integral

Turkish

translation

in

eight

volumes of

the

Lausanne

Peace

Conference

,

Minutes

and

Documents,

Series 1

,

Volume

1

,

Book

1

,

p

.

321

. From here

on

,

references

will

be

made

to

this

Turkish

translation

as

Meray

,

Lausanne

,

but

dates

of sessions and

numbers of

minutes

taken

will be

also

given

to enable

the

non Turkish

-speaking reader

to

follow in

other

language

editions

).

After discussing

the

territorial

questions

and the

Straits

,

the Conference

convened

on

1 December

1922

to

discuss an

exchange

of

war

prisoners

.

But Lord

Curzon

, British

Foreign

Minister

and

President

of the

Conference

announced

that

Dr

.

Nansen,

the

renowned

High

Commissar

on

Refugees of

the Le^^ue of

Nations

, would

be

reading

'

s

report

on

the

exchange

of Greek

and

Turkish

populations

,

an

item

that

did no t

figure

on

the

agenda

.

According

t

Dr. Nansen,

the

question

was

of

real

importance

for

peace

and

economic

stability

in

Near

East,

as

wel

l as

for

peace

in

Europe.

He had

been

invited

by

the

representatives

of

four

Principal

Allied

and Associated Powers

in

Istanbul to

prepare

a

treaty for the

exchange

of

minorities

to

be

implemented

immediately

without

waiting

for the

peace

treaty. He

had already

obtained

the

official

approval

of

the

Greek

Government

,

and

talks

were

more

or less

on

the

way

with the

Ankara

Government

which

declared

t

him

at

least

four

times

that

it

took a

positive

stand

on the

exchange

issue

(1 December

1922,

Minutes

no

.

8

, Meray, Lausanne

,

pp

.

115

-

116).

5

1

December

1922

,

Meray,

Lausanne

,

p

.

123

.


3/15

3

compulsory

or voluntary

. What

really

mattered

for him was

the

exclusion

of Istanbul

Rum

population (

about

110

.

000

in the

area

to be finally

designated

as non-

exchangeable

)

from

compulsory

exchange

. Because

,

he

said

, the number

of

Rum

refugees

would

be so

tremendously

augmented

that

Greece

would

see

herself

in

the obligation

to ask

the

USA

to

increase

her

emigration

quota

6

.

Of course,

Veniselos had

another

, probably

a more

important

reason

for this

:

As

the

champion

of

Greek irredentism

{"

Megali

Idea ", the national

idea

),

he had

long

been

feeding

the

Greek public

opinion with the

idea

that

ionia

(western

Turkey

)

would

become

Greek

.

Now

it

would

be

very

difficult to

have

them

digest

the

exchange

of

Istanbul

Rums

because

this

would

unequivocally mean

the

eradication

of the Megali

Idea

even from

Istanbul,

The

Second

Rome

,

the

seat of

the

Holy Phanar

Rum

Orthodox

Patriarchate

7

. What

'

s more

,

the latter institution

would

most probably

have

to

move

to

Mount Athos

(

Greece

)

and

this

would inevitably

mean

a

tremendous

friction

between

two rival

institution0

,

the

autocephalous

Church

of Greece

and

the

Patriarchate

,

Ecumenical

and

"

Pr imus

inter

Pares".

As

for the

acceptation

of

the

exclusion

from

the Exchange

of

a

substantial

number

of

Turks

right at the Turkish

border

,

it

was

a price

Veniselos

had

to pay

to

ensure

the all

-

important

stay of the Istanbul

Rum

s

and

of

the

Patriarchate

.

3) The third

element

that desired

, and very

much8, a

compulsory

exchange

was

Turkey

.

Ismet Pasha

,

the Turkish

head

-

delegate

, said that

in

case

of such

an exchange

, it

should

include all

the

Rums

of Turkey

,

Istanbul

and Izmir

comprised9

. On

the

other hand

, he

wanted

the

Turks of

Western

Thrace

(

WT)

be excluded

from

the exchange

.

The

reasons

behind

Ismet

Pasha

'

s asking

that all the

Rums

should

leave

were

manifold

:

Firstly

, Christian

minorities

had

always been no

.

1 excuse

for the

Principal

Powers

to

interfere

with the

domestic

affairs

of the

Ottomans

.

Secondly

, the

peace

treaty

ahead

would

be

including

a

section

of Protection

of Minorities

and

getting rid

of

as many Rums

(the most

important

non

-

Muslim

minority

) as possible

would

minimise

the

possible

interfering

effect

of

these

plus

rights

.

Thirdly

,

the memories

of the

Rum minority

'

s

and

of

the

Patriarchate

'

s collaboration

with the

occupying

Greek

armies

were only

too

vivid

, an d

the Kemal

ists were

eager to

destroy

once

and

for

all

any

hope

that the

Greek irredentism

might

still have,

since

the

time

seemed

now

ripe

.

On the other

hand

, there

was

one

unspoken

reason

behind

the Turkish

desire for

a

complete

and

compulsory

exchange

: Like

practically

all

the

states

(

especially

,

the new

states) of Eastern

Europe

and

the

Balkans

of the

time

, Turkey

was

ready

to

embark on a

full

-

scale

nation

-

building

process and

her non

-Musl

im

minorities

were

considered

a

real

stumbling bloc in

this endeavour

.

As to the reason

why Ismet

Pasha wanted

WT

to

be excluded from

the

Exchange

, the

idem

In

the

later stages

of

the

Conference

, Veniselos

seemed

to

try t withdraw

from the idea

of

a

compulsory

exchange,

but

this

was

no

more realistic

and probably

was

a

diplomatic

move

only. Dr

.

Riza

Nur

,

the

i urkish

delegate

at

the

special

corhmittee

(later,

Sub

-

commission on

Minorities

,

again

later

,

on

the Exchange),

in

the

memoirs

he wrote in

1928 and left in

manuscript to the

British

Museum

to

be

disclosed

in 1960, explains

this

by the probability

that the Greek

government

at that time

was

against

the

Exchange

(

Veniselos

was

not

amember

of the government

during

the

Lausanne

Conference

). See

Dr.

Riza

Nur

,

Hayat

ve Hatiratim

(

My

Life

and Memoirs

),

vol

.

Il

l

,

Istanbul

,

Altindag Yayinevi,

1967

,

p

. 1113.

The

compulsory exchange

proposal of

the Allies

has

been a most pleasant

surprise for

Dr

.

Riza

Nur

who

writes

:

...

Iwas

astonished

.

I

had

been

wondering all long

how

in

the

world I

could

propose them

such

a

thing

that

was

unheard

of

in

history;

it

came

all

by

itself.

It

was

like

a

present from

Heaven

(p. 1040).

9

1 December

1922, Meray

,

Lausanne

,

p

.

121.


4/15

4

Turkish

delegation

put

i

t this

way

:The

hird

point of

our National

Pact

10 asks

for

a

plebiscite

in

this

piece of

territory

where

the Turks

are in

majority

.

Its

fate has

not

been

decided

upon

ye t

.

On

the

other

hand

, beside

this

rational

reason

,

it seemed

that

Turkey

was

asking, on

this

Greek

territory

contiguous

to

the

Turkish

border

,

a

symmetry

to

the

Istanbul

Rums

excluded from

the

Exchange

11

,

since

the

latter

'

s stay

was

openly

inevitable

now

.

Legal

/

Socio

-

Political

Aspects

and

Consequences

of

the

Exchange

The

Convention

was

composed

of

nineteen

articles

and

one

protocol

, but

it had

two main

articles

to

speak

of:

1

) By its

Ar

.

1,

the

Convention

set

the rule

as

compulsory

exchange

and defined

those

who

would be

asked

to

leave

definitely

: From

Turkey

,

Turkish

nationals

of

Rum

Orthodox

religion12

,

and

from Greece,

Greek

nationals

of Muslim

religion.

As

a

consequence

of

this

article

,

355

.

635

Muslims left

Greece

for Turkey

and

189

.

916

Rum Orthodox

left Turkey for

Greece13

.

But

as

mentioned

above

,

Greece

had

to

host a

total

of

1

.

200.

000

refugees

because

,

as

mentioned

above

,

she

had

already

received

some

one

mil

lion

refugees

that had

fled

Turkey

upon

the

defeat

of

Greek

armies

in August

1922

{"

Mikrasiatiki

Katastroff

'Y 4

.

2

)

By

its

Ar

.

2, the

Convention

set

the

exception

and

defined

those

who

would

be

permitted

to stay

, called

"

etabl is

" :

In

Turkey

,

Rums

of Istanbul15

settled

in

the

Istanbul

prefecture

prior

to

30

October

1918,

and

in

Greece

,

Muslim

population

ofWT .

As

a consequence

of

this Ar .

2, around

130

.

000 Turks

stayed

in

WT

(

Greece

)

and

around

the

same

number of

Rums in

Istanbul

.

Six months

later

,

Ar

.

14

,

para

.

2

of

the

Lausanne

Peace

Treaty

excluded

from

the

Exchange

the

populations

[

substantially

composed

of Rums

]

of the

islands

of

Gok^eada

[

or Imroz

, in Greek:

Imbroz

]

and

of

Bozcaada

[

in

Greek:

Tenedos

]

when

the

said

Treaty

ceded

to Turkey

these

two

islands

at

the

mouth of

the Dardanelles

for

security

reasons.

In

1920

about

9000 Rums

were livi

ng

on the

two

islands

16

.

Ar . 1

created

emigrants

.

These people

were

asked

to leave

practical

ly

with what

they

could

carry.

In

their

respective

kin

-

states they

would

receive

property

equ

ivalent

to what

they

left

behind

.

These

emigrants

suffered

a

lot

for a

good number

of reasons

:

A

tremendous

amount

of

unforeseen problems

came

out during the

implementation of the Convention

and these

70

National

Pact (

Misaki

Mill

)

was a

declaration

adopted

by

the

last Ottoman

parliament

(

Meclisi

Mebusan

)

on

28 January 1920

as

to the

minimum

requirements

for

a

just

and

durable

peace

. It

was in

a way

considered

the

holy aim

of

the

Kemalists.

11

Ismet

Pasha also

profited

from

the

fact

that

the exclusion

of

WT from the

Exchange

was

proposed

by

Lord

Curzon at

the very

outset

.

See 1

December 1922

,

Meray

,

Lausanne ,

p

.

124.

12

Therefore,

the

Exchange

did

not

include Catholic

or

Protestant

Rums

although

the

Turkish delegate

preferred

the

expression

"

R

u

ms of

Turkish

citizenship

so that

the

Greek

irredentism

disappears from

Turkey

(16

January

1923

afternoon

session

,

Minutes

no

.

4

,

Meray, Lausanne

,

Series 1

,

Volume

1, Book

2

,

p

.

312

).

13

C.A .

Macartney

,

National

States

and

National

Minorities,

London

,

Oxford

University

Press

,

1934

,

p

.

446

.

14

According

to

Ar

.

3

,

those

who

had

lef

the

exchangeable

territories pror to 18 October

1912 were

to

be

considered

in

the

scope

of

Ar . 1

(

exchangeables

).

15

Therefore

, in

contradistinction with

A

.

1

,

all

the

Rums

of Istanbul

(

not

only Orthodox

Rums

)

were

declared

non

-exchangeables etablis).

16

Alexis

Alexandris, Imbros

and

Tenedos

:

A

Study in

Turkish

Attitudes Toward

Two

Ethnic Greek

Island

Communities Since 1923

,

Journal

of

the

Hellenic

Diaspora

,

Vol

.

VII,

No.

1

,

Spring

1990,

p

. 27.


5/15

5

were

not

solved unti

l

almost

eight

years

later

. These

people

had

to

leave

everything

behind,

from

their

homelands

to

neighbours

and

to memories

.

Some

of

them

did not

even

understand

the

language

of

their

new

country

17

. Both

parties

were

considered

strangers

by their

new

compatriots

for

a

very

long

time

18

.

On

the other

hand

,

the

innumerable

problems

that

such

a

radical

exchange inevitably

raised

continued

to

poison

Turco

-

Greek

relations

well

unti

l the

1930

Ankara

Agreement

definitely

settled

problems

of property

rights

of

th

e

^

exchangeables

and

these

relations

became

normal

(

and

even

friendly

) after

this

date

\

pnl

^

Ar

.

2 created

national

minorities

. These

people

were

allowed

to

stay

and

when

the

peace

treaty

was

made

, they

were

given

minority

rights

formulated

in

the

Protection

of

Minorities

section

: For

the

Rums

as

non

-

Muslims it

was

Art

.

37

through

44

(

basical

ly

the

same rights

as

in

the

Polish

Minorities

Treaty

of

1919

), and

for

the

Turks

Ar

.

45

establishing

a

reciprocity

(

Rights

given

to

Turkey

'

s non

-

Muslim

minority

will

be

recognised

by

Greece

to

her

Muslim

minority )

19.

But

most

of

these rights

stayed

on

paper

as

will be

fully

tod

ahead

. As a

consequence

,

the

experience

of

those

who

were

allowed

to

stay proved

to be

even

more

difficult

than

those

who

had

to

leave

.

Although

those

who

had to

leave

by

Ar

.

1had

suffered

a lot

,

heir

problems

were

more

or

^

y

less

confined

to

one

generation

.

These

problems

considerably

diminished,

if

not

faded ^

away

,

as

the 1923

emigrants

got

adapted

to

their

new

countries.

But

in

the final

analysis

, ^ ,

the experience

of

those

who

were

allowed to

stay

has

proved to

be

more

difficult

for a

-̂

v

^

.

.•

-

—

—

o

a

w

^^

umber or

reasons

:

^

Firstly

, since

70

-

odd years

they

have

never been considered

by

their

host

-

states as

their

own

people

and

they

have

always

been

forced

to

live

a

separate

life

, sometimes

in

harassment

.

Secondly,

this

two

-

sided

negative

attitude never

diminished

J

sy

the

passing of

time.

©ure


6/15

6

the

contrary

,

the

respective

lives

of the

two etabl is

communities

were

made

even

more

difficult

after

the

1960s

,

when

another human

issue

came

to

poison

the

Greco

-

Turkish

relations

/

Cyprus

question

.

Thirdly

,

and

more importantly

for the

subject

matter

of

our

Conference

here

,

these

tw o

etabl is

communities

created

by

Ar

. 2

were forced

, with

an

interval

of half

a

century,

to

share

the fate

of those

who

had

to

leave

by

Ar

. 1

: They

had

to

emigrate

to

their

respective

kin

-

states;

some of them

even

became

refugees

and stateless

persons

As

a matter

of

fact

,

the Rum

minority

of

Istanbul,

with

a

very

low

rate

of

population

growth

for

being city

dwellers,

has practically

withered

away by

diminishing

from

110.000-odd

souls

to around

2500 in

our day

,

and the

Rum population

of the two

islands to

around

500

souls

20

.

The

Turkish

minority of

Greece,

with

a

very

high

rate

of population

growth

for

being

rural people

,

s now lower than

the

120

.

000

-

odd

people

in

1923;an

estimated

300

-

4no

.

QOO

of

them21 left Greece

since 1923

.

In

this

respect

,

the

story

of

those

who were

allowed

to stay

has

a

lot

more to

teach us

than

the

story

of

those

who had

to leave

.

To show

this,

I'll

now

try

to

take

a

look

at

the

situation

of

the

two

respective

minorities

in

the

context

of Greco

-

Turkish

relations

as

far as

their

rights

under

international

instruments

already

mentioned

are

concerned22

:

II

THE

TWO

MINORITIES

AND GREEK

-

TURKISH

RELATIONS

It

'

s

a fact that

the issue

of respective

minorities

somehow

influenced

the

bilateral

relations

in

the

course

of history

. But

,

ever

since

the

Convention

began to be

implemented,

these

relations have

influenced

the

lives

of

these two

minorities

on

an

incomparably

greater

scale

.

Roughly

three

periods

can be

detected

in

this

respect

:

1

)

The initial

violations

: Emptying

the

strategic

territories

of

their

etablis

d

923

-

1930

):

Violations

started as

soon as

the

Convention

began

to be

implemented

.

First

of

all, both

sides

tried

to

get

rid

of the

etabl is

consti

tuting

a

majority

on strategic

territory

:

In

Greece the

Evros

province

at

the

frontier

was emptied of

the

Turks

,

and

this

people

who

formed the majority

in

WT

in

1922

(

129

.

120 Turks against

33

.910

Greeks

)

and

who held

20

Helsinki

Watch

[

Lois

Whitman],

Denying

Human

Rights

and Ethnic

Identity

The

Greeks

of

Turkey

USA,

March 1992,

p. 29

.

21

An

August 1990

report

of

the

Helsinki

Watch estimated that

,

even with

a

population

growth

rate

of 2

per

cent

(

which

is too

low

),

the

numerical

size

of

the

WT

minority

today

ought to

be

around

500

.000

.

(

Helsin

k

i

Watch

[

Lois

Whitman],

Destroying

Ethnic

Identity

The

Turks

of Greece

USA

,

October

1990

,

p

.2).

22

Being

rather

an expert on

-

Western

Thracian

Turks

,

I

'

ll first

look

at the

problems

from their

angle

and

then

try

to

make

a

summary

the

other

side

of

the

coin

as

written

mostly

by Alexis

Alexandris,

the indisputable

expert

on the Rum minority

inTurkey

,

in

his already

mentioned

book

The Greek... )

and

article (

Imbroz

and

Tenedos

... ). The p

l

ighl

^

ofthe

Rums

of

Turkey

can

be

followed

mainly

from

Alexandris

'

works

(

see

footnotes

2and

16), from

the

Helsinki Watch

Report

on

The

Greeks

of

Turkey (

footnote 20),

and also

from the

yearly

Human

Rights

Reports

of

the

US

Department

of

State

,

Section

Turkey

.

The plight

s

of the Turks

of Greece

can

be

followed

mainly

from

my

book

in

Turkish

(

footnote 19

), from the Helsinki

Watch

Report

on

The

Turks

of

Greece

(

footnote

21

),

and

also

from

the

yearly Human

Rights Reports

of

the

US Department

of

State

,

Section Greece.


7/15

7

84

per cent

of

the lands

in

this

territory 23

became

a

numerical

minority in

their own

lands

.

This

happened

because the

Rum

refugees

from

Eastern

Thrace

,

crossing

the

Maritza

river

in

the

autumn

of

1922

,

freely

seized

property

and

livestock

of the WT

etablis

living

on

the

territory adjacent

to the

Turkish

border

,

and

security forces

did

not stop

them

At the

end

,

Turks

had

to

abandon

everything

and

take refuge in

Turkey24

,

a

year after

(

1924

)

the

number

of Greeks

became 189

.000

25

.

Also

,

a

law

was

made in

1920

(

law

1920

/

1920

) to meet the

requirement

of

the

1913

Athens

Treaty

(see

footnote 19) as to

the

election

of

the

Muft

and

Head

-

Mufti

by

the Turkish

community,

but as

it

was

never

implemented

,

the commun

ity

was never

able

to elect

its

religious leaders

.

In

Turkey

,

the

special self

-

administration

privi

leges

brought

to

the inhabitants

of the

two

islands

near

the mouth of

the

Dardanel

les

by

Ar

.

14

of the

peace

treaty

were

never

applied

;

even

their

right to education

in

their

mother

language

medium

was

denied

in

1927

(

l a w 1

151

)26

.

2

}

The rapprochement

period

(

1930-1954

):

The

etablis

question

and other

bi

lateral

problems were

settled

in 1930

. Also

with

the help

of

common

fears (first

, the

Italian

Mare Nostrum

policy of

Mussolini

in

pre

-

war

period

of

1930s

,

and

then,

the Stalinist

policy of

the Soviets in

the post

-

war period of

1940s

and

the

early

50s),

Greece

and

Turkey

were

engaged

in

friendly

relations

.

This

rapprochement

atmosphere

was also reflected

to

the

two etablis

communities

and

al

leviated

their

problems. A

Culture

Agreement

in

1951

permitted

an

exchange

of

school

teachers for

minority

schools

and decided to

purify

textbooks

from wrong information

In

Greece

,

the

minority

schools

were official

ly called

Turkish

instead

of

Musl

im

for

the

first

time in 1954

(The Papagos

Law

,

3065/1954

).

n Turkey

, the

Rum

minority

'

s

golden

age

started

with

the

coming

in

1930

of

Greek

citizens

to live

and

work

with

residence

permits

27

. The

two

countries

became the

best

partners in

the

Balkans. In

the

50s

the

teaching

of Greek

was

began again

on the

tw o

islands

.

Under

American

influence

the

bilateral

relations prospered

, which

also

caused

a

23

23

November

1922

,

Minutes

no

3

,

Meray

, Lausanne

,

Series

1

,

Volume

1

,

Book 1,

pp

41

,

42

,

54

,

61

24

Alexandris,

The Greek

..., p 120

-121.

This

fact,

also

acknowledged

in

between l

ines

by Veniselos

at the

Conference

(see

1

December 1922,

Meray

, Lausanne

p

122

),

happened

because

the

Greek Minister

of

Agriculture

Anastas Bakkalbasi

revoked

an

order of

eviction

of

some

60.000 of

Rum refugees

from

the homes

of the

Turks,

as

he wrote

at

page

2

of

an

election pamphlet

he published

to

be

re-

elected

in

1950

(

see Trakya

[newspaper

in

Turkish

publ

ished

by O .N

Fettahoglu

from

1932 to

1964

in

Xhanti

/

lskece], 24

May 1954)

25

A

A Pallis

, Racial

Migrations in

the

Balkans

p

327 i n

Dimitn

Pentzopoulos

, The Balkan

Exchange

of

Minorities

and Its

Impact Upon Greece

Pans

,

La

Hague

,

Mouton

et

Co

,

1964

-^

p

136

'

2

26

Here

I

'

m

not mentioning

in the

text the

pressures of 1926

on

the

Rum

Orthodox Patriarchate

to

renounce

to the

first paragraph

of

Ar

42

(

personal

and

family

status) of the peace

treaty because

this did

not concern

the

Rums

only,

but all non

-

reiigious

minorities;

but this should also

be added

to

their

plights

(At

that

date the

Swiss

civil code was

adopted

,

which

made

civil marriage

compulsory

. Non

-Musl

im

minorities

were

' -ned

to

comply

with the law

and have

civil

marriage

executed first

,

the

rel

i

gious

ceremony

later

The

Jewish

and

Armenian

communities

complied,

but the

Rums were

persuaded

much later

See

Alexandris

, The

Greek

...,

p136

onwards

)

27

At

the time,

there was

over

-

employment

(

need fo

specialised handicrafts

)

in

Turkey

in some

sectors

because

of

the vacuum left

by

the

departed

non

-

Muslims

.

One of three agreements

signed in

1930

provided

for free

-

circulation

between

the

two

countries

and

under-employed Greeks were

able

to

come

and settle

in

Turkey

,

in

Istanbul

particularly

.


8/15

8

revival

of

the

Patriarchate .

On

the other

hand, the

core

of the

problems

for the

respective

etab l i s communities

remained

untouched

.

In

Greece

,

the

Forbidden

Zone

declared

in

1953

against the

communist infiltration

from

Bulgaria

and encompassing

1

/

8

of WT

was

in

fact

used,

together with

the

mi

l

itary

RestrictedZone

running

paral

lel

in

its

south, to

keep separate

the Pomaks in

the

northern

mountains

from the

Turks

in

the south

.

(

This

practice

still

continues

to

our day) Complaints

about

land

problems sti

l

l

prevalent

today begin

in

May 1952

at

the col

lections

of

Trakya

newspaper mentioned

above.

In Turkey

, it was the

heyday of

Turkish

secular

nationalism

and

this

reflected

on the

Rum

community

particularly

as

the

Turkish

Orthodox

movement

of

Papa

Eftim,

a

Karaman i i

Rum

Orthodox

priest

.

This

movement

which

was

never

recognised

by

world churches

pressurised

the most

important

Rum institution

in

Turkey

,

the

Patriarchate28 .

3)

The

point of

no

return

:

The

Cyprus

imbroglio

begins

(1955

onwards

)

Grievances

of

the

Turkish

Minority

The Cyprus

question29

was

taken

by

Greece

to

the

United

Nations

in 1954

and

since

then

an era

of disaster

for

both communities

began

.

On

6-

7 September

1955

street

demonstrations

protesting the Cyprus

affair

soon

degenerated

into

vandalism

devastating

the

Rum

properties

in

Izmir and

particularly

Istanbul

, taking lives

as

well30

.

Assassination

of Cypriot

Turks

in

Christmas

1963

by

Cypriot

Rums

also

caused another

Turkish

reaction in

1964

that

turned

into

a

real

debacle for

the

Istanbul

Rum

community

:

As

a reaction

to these

events ,

the

Turkish Government

,

in

search of

a

retaliation

against

Greece

, cancelled the

working

and

residence

permits of

some

13

.

000

Greek

citi

zens

who

had

come

as

a

result

of

1930

agreements

.

These

Greeks

had

to

return

home ,

and

with

them

also

left

,

with

the

passing

of

time

,

the

core

of the

Rums

because they

had

intermarried

extensively

with

them

and because

Cyprus

issue did

not seem

terminable

.

Istanbul

was almost

emptied

of its

historical Rum

community

. Also in

1964

education

in

Greek

medium

was

again

forbidden

on

the

two islands

and i

n

1965 many

Rum properties

28

For

the story

of

this

movement not created

or supported, but

much

tolerated

by

the Turkish

government

see

Alexandria,

The

Greeks

...,

p

.

149

onwards

.

The

reason for

not

mentioning

the Citizen,

Speak

Turkish

campaigns

,

the

Turkification

of commerce

of

the 30s and the

Wealth

Tax

of 1942 in the

text

above is

that

these

were

nationalist

applications of

the

period intended

against

all

non-Muslim

minorities

,

not

th e_ Rum

j

.

community

in

particular

.

For instance, the

economic national

ism

of the

Kemal

ists

used the

notorious

Wealth

Tax

(Varlik

Vergisi

to break the

quasi

-monopoly that

the

non

-

Muslim

bourgeoisie

enjoyed

over

economy

.

In

real

ity

a

badly

needed

extraordinary tax in

the

miserable

war

years

,

it

turned,

in the pro

-

fascist

atmosphere

of

the

period

,

ino

a

shameful

discriminatory

application

against

non

-

Muslim

minorities.

It

goes

without

saying

that

these

events

should be

considered among

the plightŝ

of

the

Rum

minority

.

29

The

island

,

the population

of which

was

1/5 Turkish and

4/5 Rum

Cypriot,

was

then

attached

to Great

Britain

,

Greece

and

Cypriot

Rums

were

then

asking

for

Enosis,

union with

Greece

.

30

This

shameful

incident

damaging

other

non

-

Muslim minorities

was

initially

organised by the

government

to

prove

that

it

enjoyed the

support of

the public

opinion while

the

London

Conference

went

on

.

But

, with

th e

lumpens

participating and

the police

tolerating

,

it turned

into a real

plunder.

Prime

Minister

of

the t ime

Menderes

was

tried after the coup

d'

Etat

of 1960

and

the

Turks were

able

to learn

that

the

Ataturk

House

bombing in

Salonica

that triggered

the

whole thing

was a

plot

of the Turkish

secret

police

.


9/15

9

were

expropriated

t

build

an

open

agricultural

prison

,

as a

result

of

which

th

is

minority

also

took

refuge

in

Greece.

This

1964

incident

was

not

the

beginning

of a

debacle

for

the

Rums

on

ly ,

because

i.i

e

two

minorities

were

the

two

faces

of

the

same

coin

.

The

plights

of

the

WT

Turks became

much

heavier

,

because

there

was

no more

reciprocity

to

make Greece behave

.

The coup

d

'

Etat

of

the

Colonels

in

1967

made

things

worse

.

Education

The

school

board

elections

were no

more

permitted

All

the

signs

that

had the

word

Turkish

on

them

were

forbidden

.

The

Papagos

Law

was

repealed

by

the

decree

1109/

1972

and

the

Turkish

schools

were

again

called Muslim

Schools

By

law

695

/

1977

,

the

graduates

of

the

Saloniki

Special

Academy

of

Pedagogy

, a

teacher

school

set

up in

1966

to

educate

Pomak

youngsters

to

turn

Turkish

schools

into

Greek

-

medium

schools,

were

appointed

by

priority

and

this

caused

interminable

school

boycotts

of

the

Pomak

students

especially

31

Starting

from

1984

the

lycee

students

had

to

pass

their

exams

in

Greek

language

even

for

Turkish

-

medium

courses

,

and

there

were

no

graduates

from

Komotini

after

1985

.

On

the

other hand

, teachers and books

that should

be

arriving

from

Turkey

according

to

the

1968

Cultural

Protocol

were

not

permitted

to

enter

Greece

.

As a

result

,

the

youngsters

(

who

,

unlike

their

counterparts

in

Istanbul

, do

not

have

the

alternative

to

go

to

American

,

British

,

German

etc

.

/ycees

) try

to go

to

Turkey

for secondary

and

higher

educati

on

. A

great

majority

of

these

never

come

back

,

precisely

because

university

diplomas

obtained

in

Turkey

are

not

recognised

by

the

official

organisation

(

Dikatsa

)

Social

organisation

.

The

religious

leaders

(

Mufti

)

of

the

community

ought

to

be

elected

by

Muslim

according

to

the

2345

/

1920

law

.

It

was

never

applied

and

when

it

was

repealed

in

December

1990 the

new

decree

(no

.

182

)

provided

for

a

muft

appointed

by the

Minister

of

National

Education

and

of

Religious

Affairs

.

The

community

calls

this

muft

The

Muft

of

the

Christ

ians

and

describes

this

as

a

severe

blow

to

religious

freedoms

.

In

Greece

, the

State

is

not

involved

at

all

in the

election

process

of

Orthodox

clergymen

On

the

other

hand,

Musl

im

pious

foundations

(

Wakfs

)

that

form

the

economic

and

social

backbone

of

the

community

are

,

since

the

presidential

decree

of

January

1991

,

under

strict

administration

of

the

provincial

governors

As

for

the

organisational

structure

of

civil

society

,

he

three

associations

of

the

minority

dating

back

to

1927

,

1929

, and

1936

respectively

were

closed

down

in

November

1987 on

tS

p h

31

The

Pomaks

in

WT

are

well

known

to be

more

Turkish than

the

Turks

and the Romans

more

Turkish

than

the

Pomaks

The

reasons

for this

subjective

identity

are

multifold

1

)

The

Greel

Tadministration

calls

the

Pomaks

Grandsons

of

A

l

exander

the

Great

Islamicised

by

force

.

This

creates

a

great

reaction

among

this

very

religious

commun

i

ty

, 2

)

The

Pomaks

are

mountain

people

,

hardly

making

a

living

When

people

fighting

with

such

difcules

encounters

a

continuous

ideological

bombing

,

his

ideology

may

produce

adverse

effects

When

the

Greek

government

calls

them

with

names

they

don

'

t

use

f

themselves

, this

negative

function

of

ideology

enters

into

circuit

and

creates

a

reaction

against

the

same

government

,

3

)

When

the

government

insistently

uses

Muslim

instead

of

Turkish

,

choosing

the

lesser

of

the

two

evils , it

inadvertently

unites the

minority

, instead

of

dividing

it

into

three

parts

,4

)

Because

Religion

always

supports

the

National

Identity when

the

notion

They

/The

Others

is

represented

by

a

different

religion

,

Islam

in

Greece

is

definitely

the

bac

kbone

of

Turkishness

,

5

)

As

I

already

stated

above (

see

footnote

2

),

Turk

is

identical

with

Muslim

in

the Near

East

generally

,

and

in

the

Balkans

particularly

, 6)

For

a

multitude

of

reasons

,

being

a

Turk

is

definitely

more

prestigious

than

being

a

Pomak

, or a

f

/

on

,

a fl

oman

Turks

are

the

heirs

of

the

Ottoman

Empire

,

they are

the

richest

element

of

the

minority

,

hey

form

thi

T

maJonty

(

70 000

/

110

.

000) of the

WT

minor

i

ty

,

they have

a

kin-

state

and

the two

other

elements

(

Pomaks

and

Romans

)

don

'

t

,

and

what

'

s

more

,

Turkey

is

the

only

State

that

is

actively

concerned

with the

problems

of

the

WT

minority

,

and

final

ly

7

)

Because

the

minority

is

incomparably

lesswealthy

than

the

Greek

majonty

, three

very

important

identities

are

j

uxtaposed

h

e

re

Muslim

(

religious

identity

),

Turkish

(

ethnic/

national

identity

), and

the

needy

(

class

identity

)

We

know

that

any

two of

these identities

suffice

to

form a

highly

explosive

situation

if

juxtaposed

with

each

other

,

let

alone

all

three

together


10/15

10

the grounds that they

the word Turkish

in their

titles

could

only refer

to

citizens

of

Turkey,

and its

use

to

describe

Greek

Moslems

endangered

public order

. A

large

demonstration

took

place in

Komotini

participated mainly

by

Pomaks

coming

from

the Forbidden

Zone

in

the

north

.

Fundamental

rights

and

freedoms

:

While

in

the

past

there

was only pol

ice oppression

,

the

authorities have

increased their pressure

in

parallel

with

the growth of Turkishness among

the minority,

and mass

attacks

on

life

and property

have

started

to occur

. On 29 January

1990

several mobs

damaged Muslim workplaces following the broadcasting of

an

erroneous

piece

of

news

on the

local radio and 50

people

including

the acting

mufti

and

aMuslim

MP

were also

injured

. Police did

not

intervene. Simi

lar mob

attacks

occurred in

August

1991

and

again

in July

1998, again without

effective

pol

ice

intervention.

The right to

petition

, the freedom

to

elect and be

elected

,

and

the right

to a

fair trial have

also ceasedt exist

for the

community

. When Sadik

Ahmet

(he died

in

a

controversial car

accident), an MD,

prepared a text entitled Grievances

and

Requests of theTurkish

-

Muslim

Minority Living

in

Western Thrace

and

collected

13

.

000 signatures

for it

,

he

was

sentenced to

thirty

months in

prison and

fined 100.000 drachmas. In addition, he

and

Ibrahim Sherif

(

an MP) were each

sentenced to

eighteen

months in

prison

and were

deprived of

their

political rights for

three

years

. The

charges

were

openly

or

.

indir

e

ctly

inciting citizens

to

violence or creating

rifts

among the populationat

the

expense of social

peace

by

using

the

word

Turkish

in

their

campaign literature

.

There

were rather tragi

-

comic scenes in

the

courtroom

,

where the

judges

shouted

at

one

Christian witness

:

You

are

making

political propaganda

,

and

the prosecutor

shouted

at

Dr. S

.

Ahmet

:

Look what

the

audience thinks

of

you

. Your end wil l

be like Ceausescu

'

s

.

When

in the elections of

Apri

l

1990

Dr

. Ahmet

became an

independent

MP,

the electoral

system

was amended in

November

1990

to

bring

a 3

%

minimum

vote

requirement

for independent candidates

as

wel

l ,

making the

election

of

an independent

Musl

im

impossible

.

Under

Ar

.

19of

the

Greek law

on citizenship (3370

/1955) Western

Thracian Turks

(

whose

uncertain numbers range

from hundreds

to

thousands

)

lost

their citizenship without

a

hearing or an effective

right

of appeal, and became

stateless persons. This racist provision

which stated that a

person

of non

-

Greek

ethnic origin

going abroad without the intention

of

returning

may

be

deprived of citizenship was

referred

to

by

the US State

Department

in

the fol

lowing

terms: [In Greece

]

exile is

unconstitutional and does not occur, except in

the form of an administrative decree on the loss

of citizenship

by

non

-

ethnic Greek

?

This

article

which

put Greece

in an

indefensible

position was

denounced

in

1991 by

Prime

Minister

Mitsotakis

as the

product

of

another

era

;

it was

only repealed in

July

1998

under

,

heavy

pressure from European

Union

.

Nothing

as yet

has

been

heard

about the

status

of

'

stateless persons it

created from

1955 to

1998.

Ar . 19 was

also

used

in conjunction with another

method inhibiting

the freedom of

movement

of

the

WT

minority. As

of

1985

the

police began

crossing

out

the printed

mention

including return

from

the

passports

of Muslims

,

mostly il

l

iterates, going on a

visit

to Turkey.

These

people

were then denied entry upon

return

to

Greece and were deprived

of citizenship under

Ar

.

19

.

Restriction of

the

freedom of movement is of

course

a

continuous practice

at

home

because

of

the Forbidden Zone

mentioned

above

.

The minority

is

discriminated

against

in

the

delivery of

housing

repair

l

icences

(

al

leviated

since

a

year

or

two

), tractor driving

licences

(

vital

for peasants

),

and for opening of

businesses

.

The

economic

sphere

:

The WT

minority is 70

%

peasant. It

held 84

%

of

the

lands in WT

in

1922

;

it

now has

between

20

-

40

%

of

them

only.

This

stems

from the

following four

practices

of

the

Greek

administration

:

Firstly,

the

Orthodox

population is

encouraged to

buy


11/15

11

Muslim lands

by

soft

loans

given

by

the State

for

this

purpose

only. Secondly

,

laws

are

systematically

applied

in

a discriminatory

way

. Fertile lands

of the

minority

are expropriated

for

political

motives

(

building

of prisons

,

universities

,

etc

.).

Land consol

idation

(anadasmos

}

works against

them. Thirdly

, possession

documents

and

title

deeds

are

not recognised

.

Fourthly

,

since

1965

law

1366/1938

is used

to

thwart

the

minority

from

purchasing

new

property

.

According

to this

law encompassingalmost

half the

Greek territory

,

purchase

and

sale

of real estate and even

the use

of possession

rights

are

subject

to

special

l

icence

in

the coastal areas

,

rontiers

,

and the

islands

.

Christians

have no

problems,

but

Muslims

do.

However

,

this

problem

has been

al

leviated

since

a year

or

two

now

, again

under

heavy

pressure

of

the

European

Union,

after

a

British citizen

had

problems

buying land

on a

coastal

area

(

see European

Court

of

Justice

decision

dated 30.

05

.

1989).

Overal l

evaluation

:

The

Greek

administration

seems

to

have

a

double

target in

WT

: To

assimi late

the

Muslim

minority

of

Pomak

origin

, and

to

obtain the

emigration

of

the Musl

im

minority of Turkish

origin

.

As a consequence

of

these

pressures

and

violations

,

the

WT

minority has

always been

inclined

to

immigrate

to

Turkey

. Some

of

its members went

to

work

in

Germany

,

where

they set up

active

associationsto tell

European publ

ic

opinion on

violations

in

WT

.

As

it

has already

been

stated

above

, some

400.

000

people

are

estimated

to have

left

WT

since

1923

.

Some

of

these

are

stateless

persons

as

a

result

of

Ar . 19

.

On

the

other

hand,

four

facts

are

keeping

the

numerical

si

ze

of

this

minority

more

or less the

same

:

Firstly

,

Greece

is economically

much better

place to live

than

Turkey

. Secondly

, Turkey

has

been

shaken

with

anarchy

since the

end

of

1960s

and

with

terrorism

since 1984

.

Thirdly, this is

mainly

a

community

of

peasants

and peasants

do

not

easi ly leave

their

lands

.

Fourthly

,

and

most

importantly

,

WT

minority

'

s

rate of population

growth is

as

high as

2

,8

% (

Greece

'

s

average

is close

to zero

).

Grievances

of

the Rum

Minority

Education

:

The

Rums of

Turkey

have

had

the same

problems

in the

field

of education

:

Books

, teachers

, school

administration

,

repair

of school

buildings

, etc

.

However

,

there

is

one difference with

the situation

in

WT

.

There has

been no

denial

of

their

"

Rum

"

identity

32

.

School

signs

that read

"

Rum

Minority

School

were

kept

in

place

,

with

one

exception that

I

know

of

:

The sign

at

the

entrance of

the Istanbul

Rum

Phanar

Lycee

that

read

in Greek

letters

The

Great

School

of

Our

Race

was put

down

in

retaliation of

the

broken

marble

sign in Arabic

letters

on the 114

year

-

old

Xhanti

Clock

Tower

in

May

1970 .

Social

organisation

:

In

this

sphere,

the Rums

of

Turkey

have

general

ly had

the same

kinds

of

problems

:

Although

the

Patriarch

is elected

by

his fellow

clergymen

,

the

Turkish

administration

,

according

to

custom

based on

Rum

Patrikl i6i

Nizamati

(

Rules

Concerning

the

Rum

Patriarchate

)

of

1862

,

has

always

interferedwith

the

election

list

prepared

by the

32

Lois

Whitman

in

The

Greeks

of Turkey

is wrong in looking for

a parallelism

in

this

respect

. As

has

already

been stated

above

(see

footnote

2),

the

term

"

Rum

"

is

the denotation given by

the

Istanbul

minority

to

themselves

since

time immemorial

:

It comes

from

Romios

,

Romioi

,

that

means

from

[

eastern

] Rome

.

They

never

called

themselves

Yunanii

(

Greek,

citizen of

Greece

),

a

term

born after

Greece emerged

fo o ' ng

the

1821

revolution. In

this respect,

it would

be

interesting

to know

that

even the Ottoman Sultans

started to

call

themselves

"

Sultani

Iklimi

Rum

"

(

Sultan of

the

Rum Lands

)

after the

conquest

of

Constantinople

in 1453

, ust

as the Kurds

cal

led the Turkish

soldiers

at

least after

1639

(

the

date

after

which

Kurdistan

entered

under

Ottoman rule

)

"

Rum

Asker f

{

Rum

soldiers

), always

for

the

same

reason

.


12/15

12

clergymen by

crossing

out

some

names

,

except

for the last

election where

no name was

crossed

out.

Rum

pious

foundations

have

encountered

the

pressure of the

administration.

The

Turkish

administration

has

declared that all

donations made to

communal institutions

of

the

non

-

Muslim

minorities are

the

property

of

the

government

.

The

Haiki School of

Theology

was

closed by

a

Constitutional Court

decree

in

1971 that

nationalised

private

institutions

of higher

learning

,

making

it

impossible to train

the Orthodox clergy

in Turkey.

The

Patriarchate

itself is

getting

extinct

.

Other

violations

concerning

fundamental

or economic

rights

have

steadily occurred

. There

has

been

harassment

by the police

,

interference

with the

election of board members,

etc

.

Overal

l

evaluation: As

a

consequence

of these

pressures and

violations

, the Rum

minority

of Istanbul

and of the

two islands has

immigrated

to

Greece

.

This

people

who

live

around

Fal

iron

and

Nea

Smirni in

Athens still keep

their

Turkish citizenship,

but their

grand children

became

Greek citizens

, speaking no

more

Turkish

.

The

Rum

minority

of Turkey

is almost

extinct,

numbering no

more

than

2500

, mostly

senior

citizens.

On the

other hand,

since

the Turkish minority

in

WT faced with

the

very

same

problems

managed

to keep

its

numerical strength

,

there

should be

other reasons for

this extinction

as

wel l .

Firstly

,

because

a

lot

of

young

Rums who

didn'

t

want

to serve in the

Turkish army (where

they

were

not made

officers

)

left after

Greek citizens

were expelled in

1964, this

community

'

s

marriage

opportunities

have

become

increasingly

difficult .

Secondly

, the Rum

minority had

for

several

centuries

lived

as

more or

less wealthy

city dwellers. Unl

ike

the

peasants

of WT

they

are not

dependent

on

land and what 's

more,

their

horizons

are

not

as

l

imited.

Thanks

to

commercial

l

inks

long

maintained with

Europe, and

especial

ly

after

the

Greek

membership

process started

after 1975,

the

Rums

began leaving for

Greece

(

per capita income

four

times that

of

Turkey

at

the

time

)

when the

pressures intensified

because of the

Cyprus

events

. It has of

course

been

very painful, but they

transferred what

capital they

had

to

Athens and re

-

organised

their

business

there. This is what

a

Japanese

researcher

refers to by the

term

footloose

Greek

merchant 33 .

Thirdly, beside

the pol

ice

harassment

,

the Rums,

an upper

-

middle and

middle class

community

,

were

very much

disturbed

by the

anarchic

atmosphere of

Turkey.

Fourthly

, as

city

people they

had a very

low

rate of

population

growth.

Some of these

criteria

do

not

apply

to

the Rum

inhabitants

of the

two

islands

. For this

rather

rural society psychological

atmosphere

created by

the quasi

extinction of

Istanbul

Rums seems to have

been effective

,

beside

the

expropriations

of

their

lands

.

Ill

LESSONS TO BE

DRAWN

FROM THE

1923

EXPERIENCE

The end of the

Soviet

experience

opened

a

new

era in

international politics

in the 1990s.

This

might

as

wel

l

be

called the

opening

of

Pandora '

s

Box, because

the plights of

minorities

and

the sufferings of

refugees,

which

were

considered things

of the distant

past

in

Europe, came once

more and

even

more

strongly on

the international

agenda.

For this

renewed

problem of

Europe

and

elsewhere

,

can we

draw any

lessons

from

the

most

radical solution

found to

this

problem

so

far

;

i

.e

.,

the

compulsory

exchange

of

populations of

1923

between Greece and

Turkey?

t

33

Iwao

Kamozawa

,

Ethnic Minority

in

Regionalization

,

The

Case of

Turks in

Western

Thrace

,

Population

Mobility in

the

Mediterranean

World ,

Tokyo

, Mediterranean

Studies

Research Group at

Hitotsubashi

'

University

,

1982

,

p

.

129.


13/15

13

After 75

years

,

I

think

it

would

be at least

tempting

to review the

Convention

and

its

implementation

from

this particular

angle, because

I believe

there

are

important

paral

lelisms

between

the post

-

WW

I

situation

and

the post

-

Cold War

era

1

)

Both

eras were/

are transitory

periods

of striking

importance

for the

nation

-

state

:

In the

first

,

the

keynote

was

transition

from Empire

to

Nation

,

in

the

second it

'

s

transition

from

Nation

to Globalisation34

.

2

)

Both eras

l

ived/

live

through two

contradictory

main

trends

at

a time

:

a) Winds

of nationalism:

In

the

first era it

was , on the one

hand

,

the

continuation

of the

irredentist

pol

icy

of

aGreece hat had bui

lt

her national

identity

by

using

the

Ottoman

image in

the

1820s

, and

on

the

other hand

,

a Turkey trying

t

build

her

own

by

using

the

Greek

threat

exactly

a

century later

35

.

In

the

second era

,

on

the

one

hand,

it

'

s

the

continuation

of

the irredenti