This book provides a comparative study of government policies and ideologies of two states towards minority populations living within their borders.

This book provides a solid and critical historical examination of the endorsement, development and course of Greek nationalism among the lay/clerical leadership of the Greek Orthodox minority of Istanbul during the last phase of the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire and the first years of the newly established Republic of Turkey. The focus is on the political role played by the ethnocentric communal elite, who actively championed the Greek nationalist plan of the Megali Idea (Great Idea). Based on a comparative investigation and synthesis of a wide array of Greek and British archival sources the book engages with the various stages of Constantinopolitan Greek elite nationalism in Turkey and partly in Greece, and examines its manifestations, its level of success and its consequences on the minority during the crucial period of 1918–1930. The main argument is that the internal dynamics, the policies and the responses of this powerful communal elite vis-à-vis other communal factions as well as Greek irredentism and Turkish nation-building conditioned to a significant degree the construction of specific representations and perceptions of the group’s collective identity and determined the status of the Greeks of Istanbul as a national minority in Turkey until nowadays. Providing a thorough analysis of elite politics during and in the aftermath of the Greek-Turkish War and assessing the application of the minority clauses of the Treaty of Lausanne (July 1923), the volume is a key resource for students and academics interested in nationalism and minorities, modern Greek history, Ottoman and Turkish history as well as for policy makers and specialists working in the diplomatic field, the Greek and Turkish public service, international institutions and non-governmental organizations.

Pt. 1. Empire and nation-state. A history and geography of Turkish nationalism / Caglar Keyder ; The formation of the state in Greece, 1830-1914 / Kostas P. Kostis ; Greek bull in the china shop of Ottoman 'grand illusion' : Greece in the making of modern Turkey / Faruk Birtek ; Nation and people : the placticity of a relationship / Padelis E. Lekas ; 'Do not think of the Greeks as agricultural labourers' : Ottoman responses to the Greek War of Independence / Hakan Erdem -- pt. 2. Nation and civil society. Civil society and citizenship in post-war Greece / Nicos Mouzelis and George Pagoulatos ; Women's challenge to citizenship in Turkey / Yesim Arat ; Between duties and rights : gender and citizenship in Greece, 1864-1952 / Efi Avdela ; Citizenship in context : rethinking women's relationship to the law in Turkey / Dicle Kogacioglu ; Greek and Turkish students' views on history, the nation and democracy / Thalia Dragonas, Busra Ersanli, and Anna Frangoudaki ; Speculative thoughts on nations and nationalism with special reference to Turkey and Greece / Ilkay Sunar.

As was the case in many other countries, it was only in the early years of this century that Greek and Turkish labour historians began to systematically look beyond national borders to investigate their intricately interrelated histories. The studies in Working in Greece and Turkey provide an overdue exploration of labour history on both sides of the Aegean, before as well as after the fall of the Ottoman Empire. Deploying the approaches of global labour history as a framework, this volume presents transnational, transcontinental, and diachronic comparisons that illuminate the shared history of Greece and Turkey.

Drawing from a wide range of archival and secondary Greek, Bulgarian, Ottoman, and Turkish sources, Islam and Nationalism in Modern Greece, 1821-1940 explores the way in which the Muslim populations of Greece were ruled by state authorities from the time of Greece's political emancipation from the Ottoman Empire in the 1820s until the country's entrance into the Second World War, in October 1940. The book examines how state rule influenced the development of the Muslim population's collective identity as a minority and affected Muslim relations with the Greek authorities and Orthodox Christians. Greece was the first country in the Balkans to become an independent state and a pioneer in experimenting with minority issues. Greece's ruling framework and many state administrative measures and patterns would serve as templates in other Christian Orthodox Balkan states with Muslim minorities (Bulgaria, Romania, Serbia, Cyprus). Muslim religious officials were empowered with authority which they did not have in Ottoman times, and aspects of the Islamic law (Sharia) were incorporated into the state legal system to be used for Muslim family and property affairs. Religion remained a defining element in the political, social, and cultural life of the post-Ottoman Balkans; Stefanos Katsikas explores the role religious nationalism and public institutions have played in the development and preservation of religious and ethnic identity. Religion remains a key element of individual and collective identity but only as long as there are strong institutions and the political framework to support and maintain religious diversity.

Tracing the emergence of minorities and their institutions from the late nineteenth century to the eve of the Second World War, this book provides a comparative study of government policies and ideologies of two states towards minority populations living within their borders. Making extensive use of new archival material, this volume transcends the tendency to compare the Greek-Orthodox in Turkey and the Muslims in Greece separately and, through a comparison of the policies of the host states and the operation of the political, religious and social institutions of minorities, demonstrates common patterns and discrepancies between the two countries that have previously received little attention. A collaboration between Greek and Turkish scholars with broad ranging research interests, this book benefits from an international and balanced perspective, and will be an indispensable aid to students and scholars alike.

An exploration of the contemporary influence of the Ottoman Empire on the wider world, as the author uncovers the new Ottoman legacy across Europe and the Middle East. Alev Scott’s odyssey began when she looked beyond Turkey’s borders for contemporary traces of the Ottoman Empire. Their 800 years of rule ended a century ago—and yet, travelling through twelve countries from Kosovo to Greece to Palestine, she uncovers a legacy that’s vital and relevant; where medieval ethnic diversity meets twenty-first century nationalism—and displaced people seek new identities. It's a story of surprises. An acolyte of Erdogan in Christian-majority Serbia confirms the wide-reaching appeal of his authoritarian leadership. A Druze warlord explains the secretive religious faction in the heart of the Middle East. The palimpsest-like streets of Jerusalem's Old Town hint at the Ottoman co-existence of Muslims and Jews. And in Turkish Cyprus, Alev Scott rediscovers a childhood home. In every community, history is present as a dynamic force. Faced by questions of exile, diaspora and collective memory, Alev Scott searches for answers from the cafes of Beirut to the refugee camps of Lesbos. She uncovers in Erdogan's nouveau-Ottoman Turkey a version of the nostalgic utopias sold to disillusioned voters in Europe and America. And yet—as she relates with compassion, insight, and humor—diversity is the enduring, endangered heart of this fascinating region.