the story of those who
TRANSCRIPT
-
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
)
-
8/18/2019 The Story of Those Who
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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
.
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8/18/2019 The Story of Those Who
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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.
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8/18/2019 The Story of Those Who
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.
-
8/18/2019 The Story of Those Who
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
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8/18/2019 The Story of Those Who
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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.
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8/18/2019 The Story of Those Who
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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
.
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8/18/2019 The Story of Those Who
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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
.
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8/18/2019 The Story of Those Who
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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
-
8/18/2019 The Story of Those Who
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
-
8/18/2019 The Story of Those Who
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
.
-
8/18/2019 The Story of Those Who
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.
-
8/18/2019 The Story of Those Who
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