A history of survival : the Turkish-Muslim minority in rural western thrace

Abstract

This study explores the survival strategies of the Turkish Muslim minority rurals in Greece from the Balkan Wars (1913) until to day. It scrutinizes how the minority has survived squeezed in be tween Greece and Turkey in the historical course of the cheq uered bilateral relations. Focusing on the rural community in different geographies (highland, middle-line and lowland vil lages) of Greek Thrace, it elucidates how the rurals devised their strategies of survival in certain historical ruptures by focusing on their narrations about how they remember the past and how their past experiences influenced their survival strategies. Social hierarchies within the rural community, intercommunal rela tions with the local Greek Orthodox, interactions between the minority institutions and the elite, and their historical bonds with Turkey are explored to find out their impact on the rurals’ survival strategies and the social changes and continuities within the rural community.