Greek imbrians’ perception of Turks: Intercommunal relations on Imbros island

Abstract

In In 1923, the Greek Orthodox Christian communities of Imbros (Gökçeada) and Tenedos (Bozcaada) islands, along with Istanbul, were designated as exceptions to the Convention of the Compulsory Exchange of Populations between Turkey and Greece (30 January 1923) - a component of the Treaty of Lausanne (24 July 1923). These residents thus joined the nascent Turkish republic in 1923. Whereas 6, 900 Greeks lived on Imbros at the time of the treaty, that number had fallen below 300 by the turn of the millennium. During the Cyprus conflict between Greece and Turkey between 1963 and 1974, the Turkish state expropriated the Greeks’ lands, established an ‘Open Agricultural Prison’ (Tarim Açik Cezaevi) in the island’s village of Sihunidi (Dereköy), and closed the island’s Greek minority schools, which were operating in accordance with the Treaty of Lausanne. During this period, Greeks began to leave their homeland island, the Turkish state meanwhile established five new villages, where it settled Turkish Muslims and ethnically non-Turkish Muslims. Based on firsthand data gathered from oral history interviews, this paper examines Greek islanders’ perceptions of the Turkish state and the island’s Turkish residents. In these perceptions, a split emerges between the negativity with which Greek interviewees view the Turkish state versus their not necessarily negative view of ordinary Turks. © 2021 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.