Perceptions of the Greeks About the Turks After the Turkish-Greek Rapprochement
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View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by Istanbul Bilgi University Library Open Access CONTACT WITH THE ‘OTHER’: PERCEPTIONS OF THE GREEKS ABOUT THE TURKS AFTER THE TURKISH-GREEK RAPPROCHEMENT CHRYSANTHI PARASCHAKI 106605005 ISTANBUL BILGI UNIVERSITY SOCIAL SCIENCES INSTITUTE INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS MASTER’S PROGRAMME THESIS SUPERVISOR: ASST. PROF. DR. ILAY ROMAIN ÖRS 2008 CONTACT WITH THE ‘OTHER’: PERCEPTIONS OF THE GREEKS ABOUT THE TURKS AFTER THE TURKISH-GREEK RAPPROCHEMENT A dissertation submitted to the Social Sciences Institute of Istanbul Bilgi University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of International Relations Master’s Programme By CHRYSANTHI PARASCHAKI 106605005 ISTANBUL BILGI UNIVERSITY SOCIAL SCIENCES INSTITUTE INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS MASTER’S PROGRAMME THESIS SUPERVISOR: ASST. PROF. DR. ILAY ROMAIN ÖRS 2 Contact with the ‘Other’: Perceptions of the Greeks about the Turks after the Turkish- Greek Rapprochement ‘Öteki’ ile Temas: Türk-Yunan Yakınla şmasından sonra Yunanların Türklere ait Algılamaları Chrysanthi Paraschaki 106605005 Asst. Prof. Dr. İlay Romain Örs :………………………………………….. Asst. Prof. Dr. Harry Z. Tzimitras :………………………………………….. Asst. Prof. Dr. Serhat Güvenç :………………………………………….. Date of Approval: 18/09/2008 Total Page Number: 112 Anahtar Kelimeler (Türkçe) Anahtar Kelimeler ( İngilizce) 1) Türk-Yunan İli şkileri 1) Turkish-Greek Relations 2) Türk-Yunan Yakınla şması 2) Turkish-Greek Rapprochement 3) Ulusal Stereotipler 3) National Stereotypes 4) Temas Hipotezi 4) Contact Hypothesis 5) Ortak Kültürel Miras 5) Common Cultural Heritage 3 Özet Milli in şa prosedürü sonucunda, Yunanlar Türkler hakkında bazı stereotipler olu şturdular. Yunan tarihi, e ğitimi ve medyasında, Türkler olumsuz bir biçimde veya ‘Öteki’ olarak sunuluyor. Fakat 1999’dan itibaren Türk-Yunan İli şkilerinde yeni bir dönem ba şladı. Hem devlet hem de sivil toplum düzeyinde iki taraf arasında temaslar arttı. Ege’nin her iki tarafından gelen insanlar birbirleriyle tanı şmaya ba şladı. Türkler hakkında Yunanlar’ın aklına iyice yerle şmi ş olumsuz algılamalar yer almaya devam etti ği halde, iki halkın ortak insancılı ğına ve unsurlarını vurgulanmı ş olan temaslarını, etkile şimlerini ve de algılamalarını; ku şkulanma ve itiraz etme gücü varmı ş gibi görünüyor. Bu sürecin sonucunda, bazı Yunanlar, milliyetçi önyargılarını a şmaya ba şladılar. Abstract As a result of nation-building process, Greeks have formed certain stereotypes about the Turks. In Greek history, education and media, the Turks are presented as the significant negative ‘other’. However after 1999, there is a new era in Greek-Turkish Relations. Contacts between the two parts increased in governmental as well as societal level. People from both sides of the Aegean got to know each other. Even though well- established negative perceptions about the Turks persist in the minds of the Greeks, it seems that contacts and interactions which are based on the common humanity of the two people and make their commonalities come to the forth, have the potential to challenge and question these perceptions. As a result of this process, some Greeks start to move beyond nationalistic stereotypes. 4 Acknowledgements First of all I would like to thank my supervisor İlay Romain Örs for her useful remarks and the inspiration she provided me with throughout this master program. I am grateful to John C. Alexander for all that he taught me, to Vassilis Gounaris for giving me the opportunity to participate in this master program and to Harry Z. Tzimitras for helping me adjust to its requirements. I should also thank Efe Öztürkmen for his valuable help and support. Last but not least, I would like to thank my family for supporting me and believing in me. 5 Contents Özet - Abstract………………………………………………………………….. 4 Acknowledgements…………………………………………………………….. 5 Contents………………………………………………………………………… 6 Introduction……………………………………………………………………. 7 Chapter 1: A Historical Overview of Greek-Turkish Relations……………..... 15 a. Ottoman Empire……………………………………………………….. 16 b. The formation of the Greek state……………………………………….. 18 c. The Lausanne Treaty and the Exchange of Populations……………….. 20 d. After the Lausanne Treaty: Greek-Turkish Relations until 1955………. 21 e. The Cyprus Problem……………………………………………………. 23 f. The Minority issue……………………………………………………… 26 g. The Aegean disputes……………………………………………………. 32 h. The Imia / Kardak Crisis………………………………………………... 36 i. The Öcalan Crisis………………………………………………………. 37 Chapter 2: We and the Other: How the Greeks think about the Turks historically……………………………………………………………………… 38 Chapter 3: The Turkish-Greek Rapprochement from 1999 until today……........ 47 Chapter 4: How the Greeks think about the Turks after the rapprochement: Persistence of Stereotypes and Change………………………………………… 54 Chapter 5: Contact with the ‘Other’: Factors that may change perceptions of Greeks toward the Turks……………………………………………………….. 61 a. Education……………………………………………………………….. 68 b. Tourism…………………………………………………………………. 75 c. NGOs…………………………………………………………………… 80 d. Arts and Media………………………………………………………….. 86 e. Economic Relations…………………………………………………….. 94 Conclusion……………………………………………………………………… 98 Bibliography……………………………………………………………………. 103 6 Introduction The aim of this thesis is to examine how the well-established stereotypes the Greeks have about the Turks are starting to change after the Turkish-Greek Rapprochement in 1999. In that sense, I try to understand how contacts and face-to-face experiences with the ‘other’ 1 transform national perceptions and generalizations into regular and personal opinions about the ‘other’ It is widely accepted that national stereotypes and perceptions play an important role in the way a nation, here the Greeks, understand themselves and the others. Through a process of nation construction and education, the Turk emerged as the predominant other of the Greek. 2 However after the catastrophic earthquakes in 1999, a Greek-Turkish Rapprochement 3 was a reality coupled with an increase in contacts between the two people and an interest to meet the other. These increased contacts might challenge the negative image of the Turks in the minds of the Greeks and might give way to a more differentiated view of the other. Concerning nationalism and national identity formation, here I follow the modernist approaches on the matter. Modernist approaches maintain that nationalism and nation are the result of modernity, that is to say, of recent economic, political or social transformations. In that sense, nations are not preexistent entities but the product of nation-building in the states that were formed after the French Revolution. 4 1 The national ‘other’ or others are neighboring nations perceived as enemies of the Greek ‘self’. I will discuss this matter in the 2nd chapter. 2 For more information see the 2nd chapter. 3 I will elaborate the use of this term below. 4 For a detailed description of modernists’ theories and their critics see Özkırımlı, Umut, 2000, Theories of Nationalism: A Critical Introduction , London: Macmillan Press, pp. 85-166. 7 Particularly, I concentrate on the use of the ‘other 5’ in order to speak about the self which is evident in the case of Greek nationalism. And this particular ‘other’ is mostly the ‘Turk’, though other ‘others’ have existed historically such as the Bulgarians 6. As Millas observes both the Greeks and Turks fought their ‘War of Independence’ against each other and both of them created their nation-states as a consequence of this victory. 7 It comes as no surprise that both Greece and Turkey have become the ‘Other’ of each other. The analysis made in this thesis is based on nation- building imposed by the state through national education and historiography 8 and its reproduction in the everyday life of the citizens. Concerning the state of Greek-Turkish relations after 1999 there are three terms which are used interchangeably to describe it. The term ‘rapprochement’ comes from the French verb ‘rapprocher’ which means ‘to bring together’ and it is used in international relations in order to describe the establishment of good relations between two countries. Another term often used is the French word ‘détente’, which means relaxing or easing. In international politics it is used to describe the relation of previously hostile states which engage in diplomatic talks in order to reduce tensions. There is also the term ‘friendship’ used for countries which have no difference whatsoever and enjoy friendly relations at all levels. In this thesis, I prefer to use the term ‘rapprochement’ because it better describes the status of Turkish-Greek Relations after 1999. The term ‘détente’ could also be eligible but in Greek-Turkish relations there 5 For the use of the other as opposed to the self see Michael Billig’s ideas in ibid., pp. 200-201. 6 See Achlis, Nikos, 1983, Oi Geitonikoi mas Laoi, Boulgaroi kai Tourkoi, sta Scholika Vivlia Istorias Gymnasiou kai Lukeiou, (Our Neighboring People, Bulgarians and Turks, in History Schoolbooks), Thessaloniki: Ekdotikos Oikos Afon Kuriakidi 7 Millas, Hercules, 2002, The Imagined ‘Other’ as national identity , Ankara: CSDP, p. 55. 8 For the role of education and historiography see Millas, Hercules, 2005, Eikones Ellinon kai Tourkon: Scholika vivlia, Istoriographia, Logotechnia kai Ethnika Stereotypa, (Images of Greeks and Turks: Schoolbooks, Historiography, Literature, and National Stereotypes), Athens: Alexandreia and Frangoudaki, Anna and Thalia Dragona, 1997, ‘Ti einai I patrida