The Pomaks of Rodopi

School of Journalism and Mass Communications Faculty of Economic and Political Sciences The Pomaks of Rodopi: The Influence of Local Media on Pomak Identity and Social Integration BY Triantafyllos Gkiouzelidis A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF DIGITAL MEDIA, COMMUNICATION AND JOURNALISM Specialization: Risk Communication and Crisis Journalism Supervisor: Prof. Gregory Paschalidis Thessaloniki, May 2018 Abstract In the north-eastern part of Greece, bordering with Turkey and Bulgaria, is the historic region of Thrace, an area that in the post-Lausanne Peace Treaty period, has regularly found itself embroiled in the diplomatic tensions between the three neighboring countries. The special characteristic of Thrace is the co-existence of Christian and the Muslim populations. The Muslim minority of Thrace is approximately 100.000 strong, consisting of three distinct ethnic groups, the Turkish origin Muslims, the Pomaks and the Roma. They have been living together for almost a century, even though they speak different languages, they believe in different Gods, they get educated in parallel systems and they see each other as the “other”, a “stranger”, or even a “potential enemy”. This problematic situation derives from the fact that both the Christian majority and the Muslim minority, consider this place as their homeland and they see each other as invaders. In our study, we examine how the Pomaks are represented in the local media over a four-year period. The major problem investigated is on how the Greek local media deal with the Pomak problem, and more specifically, the origins and ethnicity of the Pomaks. The existing literature has mainly examined the Pomaks living in the city of Xanthi, and only a handful of papers have attempted to investigate the social context of the Pomaks in the border region of Rodopi. Our aim is to shed light on the media’s role in the mutual perceptions of the Christian and Muslim populations of the Rodopi region. Keywords: Pomaks, Thrace, Rodopi, minority, media influence, media framing. ii CONTENTS Abstract .......................................................................................................................................ii INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................................... 1 Chapter 1 .................................................................................................................................... 3 The Pomak issue ......................................................................................................................... 3 1.1 Definition of “Minority” .................................................................................................. 3 1.2 The composition of the muslim minority ......................................................................... 3 1.3 Historical background of the Pomaks .............................................................................. 7 1.4 The Pomaks of Rodopi ..................................................................................................... 8 1.5 The Pomak issue ............................................................................................................. 10 Chapter 2 .................................................................................................................................. 15 The Mass Media ....................................................................................................................... 15 2.1 Agenda setting, Priming, Framing ................................................................................ 15 2.2 The effects of mass media ............................................................................................. 19 Chapter 3 .................................................................................................................................. 23 Treatment and perceptions of the Pomaks ............................................................................... 23 3.1 Treatment of the Pomaks by the Greek state ................................................................. 23 3.2 Attitudes of the society of Rodopi towards the Pomaks ................................................ 25 Research design ........................................................................................................................ 27 4.1 Research Questions ....................................................................................................... 27 4.2 Sample ............................................................................................................................ 28 4.3 Method .......................................................................................................................... 31 Chapter 5 .................................................................................................................................. 33 Findings .................................................................................................................................... 33 5.1 Ethnicity, national consciousness and language ............................................................ 33 5.2 Origin from Greece or Turkey? ...................................................................................... 37 iii 5.3 Health campaigns and media negativity ......................................................................... 39 5.4. Politics ........................................................................................................................... 42 Chapter 6 .................................................................................................................................. 46 Discussion ................................................................................................................................ 46 Chapter 7 .................................................................................................................................. 53 Conclusions .............................................................................................................................. 53 REFERENCES ......................................................................................................................... 55 APPENDICES .......................................................................................................................... 61 Α. Map with Pomak villages of Rodopi. .............................................................................. 61 B. Reference Used in the analysis of the articles ................................................................. 64 C. Local media links and rankings ....................................................................................... 67 iv INTRODUCTION Thrace, the north-eastern part of Greece, has experienced a series of diplomatic tensions between the three bordering countries, Greece, Turkey and Bulgaria. The main source of conflict has been the existence of the minority, which consists of three ethnic groups, the Pomaks, the Roma and the Turks. In spite of their striking differences, they have been living together for centuries, as both Christians and Muslims consider Thrace to be their homeland (Kandler, 2007). However, the term “minority” implies a kind of inferiority to the rest of the population that constitutes the dominant power (The Law Library of Congress - LLC, 2012). In the case of the minority of Thrace, however, the dominant power seems to be dual, the Greek state and the Turkish Government, which has persistently been involved in the lives of the members of the minority, or in general minority issues, based on the idea that the minority is wholly Turkish. The Greek state, on the other hand, has changed its minority policies, as a consequence of the political and social changes it experienced over time. A minority possesses distinct ethnic, linguistic and religious characteristics, which the members of the minority try to preserve (LLC, 2012). In the case of Pomaks, their distinct features were either been ignored or underestimated, while efforts to homogenize them with the Turks have been rather successful. For years, the Pomaks have lived with a fluid or uncertain identity, while they also presented multiple identities depending on the context (Askouni, 2006; Kokkas, 2008b). The local media served as political tools, controlled by either Greek or Turkish elite. The Turkish-speaking media have promoted the idea of unity among all minority members, while the Greek state has neglected the Pomaks, who have been struggling to shape their identity. Their origin has been disputed at different periods of time, as there are different theories and perspectives of the issue (Askouni, 2006; Leved, 2015; Malkidis, 2006; Troumpeta, 2001). This gave rise to the Pomak issue, which can be determined by the historical events, rather than legislation (LLC, 2012). The consequences are been experienced by the Pomaks, who have to deal with the inequality in economic and educational opportunities, insufficient social consistency, social exclusion and communication gaps (Katsimigas, 2006). Under the different political circumstances, the Greek state’s common practice has been to treat the Pomaks as part of the Muslim minority, without considering their ethnic differentiation (Askouni, 2006). Similarly, Turkey worked hard in integrating all populations into a unified Turkish minority, sometimes by illicit means

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