Turkey’s homogenization process began in the late 19th century in the Ottoman Empire, where the very concept of a nation was previously perceived as dangerous. Yet Turkishness was, in a sense, reinvented and reshaped. The homogenization process reached its climax after the formation of the Turkish Republic.
Religious belonging became the principal criterion of being Turkish. As Muslim identity was considered to be a vital condition of Turkishness, Turkification of non-ethnical or non-Turkish- speaking Muslims was thought to be achievable. However, other ancient, Christian inhabitants of Anatolia, some even solely Turkish-speaking, were not included in the national paradigm.
Homogenization was accomplished through three deliberate, carefully planned and interconnected policies: ethnic cleansing, assimilation and folklorization. Cleansing targeted non-Muslims while non- Turkish Muslims were successfully assimilated, with the exception of the Kurds. Remaining differences were reduced to tourist attractions such as dialect and cuisine, and thus folklorized.
The two most important years in the process of ethnic cleansing were 1915 and 1923, when two of the most ancient populations of Anatolia, the Armenians and the Rum, were removed from their native lands. What little remained after destruction was systematically subjected to assimilation. The idea of creating a homogeneous nation was so vigorous that non-Muslims, however few in number, could not be tolerated.
New developments in international politics in the 1950s presented Turkey with another pretext to justify the policy of ethnic cleansing. When Cyprus, then under British rule, became important in the international political scene, Turkey started to target the Rum on its territory. Especially those who lived in Istanbul, Imbros (Gökçeada) and Bozcaada (Tenedos) were regarded not as citizens, but rather hostages. The September 6-7, 1955 Pogrom, further substantiated Rum’s fragile stance and resulted in a complete loss of confidence in their neighbors, their country, and their city. But contrary to popular belief, this is not when their mass migration started.
The actual mass migration took place in 1964. The Turkish government, unable to interfere in Cyprus, took it out on the Rum in Istanbul. The "Agreement of establishment, commerce and navigation" signed in 1930 between Greece and Turkey was unilaterally annulled and the Rum who were citizens of Greece were asked to leave immediately. But Rum of Greek nationality (the établis) and those of Turkish nationality having been completely interrelated, some 30 000 more Rum followed the 12 000 that were originally deported. Thus the Rum, the most ancient population of Istanbul, were for the most part removed from their city. From this perceptive, 1964 may be seen as the last link in a long chain of homogenization starting with the Young Turk governments of the 20th century. From then on, Rum in Imbros and Bozcaada were forced to emigrate as well, many neighborhoods and villages in Istanbul and in Anatolia were given new names, and history books were revised. That ended up removing systematically all traces of Rum, as well as Armenians, Jews, Kurds Syriacs and others.
It was not until the 1990s that the cosmopolitan and diverse history of Turkey and Istanbul was once again remembered in the country and especially in the city. After the end of the bipolar world, the initial reaction of Turkish democrats was to approach the subject from a nostalgic point of view. However, that eventually became a real confrontation with country's past taboos. The forced migration of Armenians and the genocide in 1915, the forced population exchange in 1923, the Wealth Tax in 1942 and the Istanbul Pogrom of September 6-7, 1955 were the most prevalent topics tackled. Even so, some issues are yet to be sufficiently analyzed academically. Deportation of Jews from Thrace of 1934, forcibly Islamized Armenians, and the deportation of Rum in 1964 are those ones.
This conference is organized by Istanbul Bilgi University, the Babil Association, and the Ecumenical Federation of Constantinopolitans within the framework of the commemorations of the 50th anniversary of the deportation of Istanbul Rum by the Turkish government. It aims to bring to light academic studies conducted on the process leading to the fateful decision in 1964, the context in which the decision was taken and its repercussions. It is also our hope to encourage future research on the subject through this gathering.
- The conference is based on an interdisciplinary perspective. It will be open to researchers working on the 1964 decision, its background and its aftermath in such fields as history, economic history, art history, sociology, political science, and demography.
- The conference will take place at Istanbul Bilgi University on October 31- November 1, 2014.
- Working languages are English, Greek and Turkish.
- Presentation time is limited to 20 minutes in order to leave enough time for a Q&A session.
- Travel and accommodation expenses of participants coming from out of Istanbul may be paid if the affiliated institution of the participant is unable to do so.
- All researchers wishing to take part in the conference are kindly requested to send a 250-word abstract of their presentation in addition to a resume by June 1, 2014 to: 1964@bilgi.edu.tr
Organizing Committee:
Samim Akgönül, Cengiz Aktar, Elçin Macar, İlay Romain Örs
Scientific Committee:
Samim Akgönül, Ayhan Aktar, Cengiz Aktar, Stavros Anestidis, Elçin Macar, Vangelis Kechriotis, İlay Romain Örs