Country: Turkey

Group: Greeks

Date: October 12 2022

Team: Ash Pessaran (lead), Alicia Hernandez, Anusha Natarajan, Amanda Nelson, Amaya Tanhueco, Heather Varsalona

Content Warnings: Genocide, Massacre, Rape, Forced Conversion, Execution

Approximate Time Period: 1914-1923

            There are between 4,000-5,000 Greeks (Rum Orthodox Christians) living in Turkey (Minority Rights Group, 2018). During a 1923 population exchange deal, Turkey and Greece “exchanged” their respective Rum (Greek) and Turkish minorities, continuing Turkey’s effort to drive non-Muslims out of Anatolia (Minority Rights Group, 2018).

            There is evidence of lethal violence and discrimination against the Greek people in Turkey. During the aftermath of World War I, the Ottoman Empire government and the Turkish National movement began a violent campaign against the Greek population in Turkey. This campaign consisted of massacres, rape, forced deportation, execution, and subsequently a mass genocide of the Greek population of the Ottoman Empire (Greek Genocide Resource Center, n.d.). The burning of many Greek villages occurred as well as their churches, many with people still inside. This was an organized plan to eliminate indigenous Greek populations in Turkey. The Ottoman empire feared that the Greek-speaking Christian population would leave them vulnerable to their enemies (Chrysopoulos, 2022). The nationalist Turks also sought to create a modern nation without the presence of powerful ethnic and religious minorities such as the Greeks (Chrysopoulos, 2022). An estimation of the victim toll of this genocide is between 1-1.5 million (Greek Genocide Resource Center, n.d.).

            The Greek people in Turkey are still facing discrimination due to their given identity of being part of the “Lausanne treaty” minorities, meaning that they do not have entire religious freedom. However, there is little evided ro af lethal violence.

4. Data Quality (3/ 3)

Very credible and plentiful sources showing evidence of lethal violence.

Sources

  1. Eligur (2020). The 1964 expulsion of Greek citizens from Turkey: Economic and demographic turkification under ethnocultural nationalism. Taylor & Francis. Retrieved September 27, 2022, from https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/21520844.2020.1830606?journalCode=ujme20
  2. Newsroom. (2021, March 16). Remembering forced migrations: The 1964 expulsion of greeks from Istanbul. eKathimerini.com. Retrieved September 27, 2022, from https://www.ekathimerini.com/society/1157214/remembering-forced-migrations-the-1964-expulsion-of-greeks-from-istanbul/
  3. Minority Rights Group. (2021, February 6). Rum orthodox Christians. Retrieved September 27, 2022, from https://minorityrights.org/minorities/rum-orthodox-christians/
  4. Greek Genocide Resource Center. (n.d.). General overview. Greek Genocide Resource Center. Retrieved October 12, 2022, from https://www.greek-genocide.net/index.php/overview
  5. Chrysopoulos, P. (2022, May 19). The greek genocide and extermination of Pontic greeks. GreekReporter.com. Retrieved October 12, 2022, from https://greekreporter.com/2022/05/19/greek-genocide-pontus-asia-minor/