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Muslim minority of Greece
The Muslim minority of Greece is the only explicitly recognized minority in Greece. It numbered 97,605 (0.91% of the population) according to the 1991 census, and unofficial estimates ranged up to 140,000 people or 1.24% of the total population, according to the United States Department of State.
Like other parts of the southern Balkans that experienced centuries of Ottoman rule, the Muslim minority of mainly Western Thrace in Northern Greece consists of several ethnic groups, some being Turkish speaking and some Bulgarian-speaking Pomaks, while others descend from Ottoman-era Greek converts to Islam and also Muslim Romas. While the legal status of the Muslim minority in Greece is enshrined in international law, namely the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne, which also governs the status of the "Greek inhabitants of Constantinople" (the only group of the indigenous Greek population in Turkey that was exempt from forced expulsion under the Convention Concerning the Exchange of Greek and Turkish Populations, along with that of the islands of Imbros and Tenedos under Article 14 of the Treaty), precise definitions pertaining thereto and scope of applicability thereof remain contested between the two countries.
During the Ottoman period, some Muslims settled in Western Thrace, marking the birth of the Muslim minority of Greece. During the Balkan wars and the First World War, Western Thrace, along with the rest of Northern Greece, became part of Greece and the Muslim minority remained in Western Thrace, numbering approximately 86,000 people, and consisting of three ethnic groups: the Turks (here usually referred to as Western Thrace Turks), the Pomaks (Muslim Slavs who speak Bulgarian), and the Muslim Roma. These communities as are distinct from the Ottoman-era Greek Muslims, like the Vallahades, and have their own languages and cultures. Following the Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922), in 1923 the Treaty of Lausanne was signed by Turkey, on the one side, and the Kingdom of Greece and other parties, on the other side, that provides for the status, protection, and rights of the minority.
Under the provisions of the Treaty of Lausanne, the "Moslem inhabitants of Western Thrace", also referred to as "Greek nationals of the Moslem religion established in Greek territory", and the "Greek inhabitants of Constantinople", also referred to as "Turkish nationals of the Greek Orthodox religion established in Turkish territory", were exempt from the 1923 population exchange between Greece and Turkey, when 1.3 million Anatolian Greeks or Pontic Greeks and Caucasus Greeks were required to leave Turkey, and the 400,000 Muslims outside of Thrace, the whole Turks in Greece, Cretan Turks, Cham Albanians and the Romanian speaking Muslim Megleno-Romanians (known as Karadjovalides (Turkish: Karacaovalılar) and Muslim Roma-Groups like the Sepečides Romani, were required to leave Greece, including the Muslim Greek speaking Vallahades of western Greek Macedonia. All the Greek Orthodox Christians of Turkey, also included the Turkish speaking Karamanlides would be resettled in Greece apart from the Greeks of Istanbul (Constantinople), Imbros (Gökçeada) and Tenedos (Bozcaada), and all Turks of Greece would be resettled in Turkey apart from the Muslims of Greek Thrace.
The official Greek text of the Treaty of Lausanne refers to "muslim minorities" in article 45 However, unofficial texts of the Greek State refer to one Muslim minority. According to the Greek government, Turkish speakers form approximately 50% of the minority, Pomaks 35% and Muslim Roma 15%.
The exchanged populations were not homogenous; the Christians resettled in Greece included not only Greek speakers, but also Laz speakers, Arabic speakers and even Turkish speakers. Similarly, the Muslims resettled in Turkey included not only Turkish speakers, but also Albanians, Bulgarians, Megleno-Romanians and also Greeks like the Vallahades from western Greek Macedonia (see also Greek Muslims). This was in correspondence with the Millet system of the Ottoman Empire, where religious and national allegiance coincided, and thus Greece and Turkey were considered the parent state of each group respectively.
Today, most of the Muslim minority in Greece resides in Western Thrace, where they make up 28.88% of the population. Muslims form the largest group in the Rhodope regional unit (54.77%) and sizable percentages in the Xanthi (42.19%) and Evros regional units (6.65%). Additionally, nearly 3,500 Turks remain on the island of Rhodes and 2,000 on the island of Kos, as the islands were part of the Italian Dodecanese when the population exchange between Turkey and Greece happened (and so were not included in it). In contrast to the steady number of Greece's Muslim minority since 1923, Turkey's Greek minority has shrunk considerably due to oppression and violence orchestrated by the Turkish state in particular the 1955 Istanbul pogrom.
The minority enjoys full equality with the Greek majority, and prohibition against discrimination and freedom of religion are provided for in Article 5 and Article 13 of the Greek constitution. In Thrace today there are 3 muftis, approximately 270 imams and approximately 300 mosques.
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Muslim minority of Greece
The Muslim minority of Greece is the only explicitly recognized minority in Greece. It numbered 97,605 (0.91% of the population) according to the 1991 census, and unofficial estimates ranged up to 140,000 people or 1.24% of the total population, according to the United States Department of State.
Like other parts of the southern Balkans that experienced centuries of Ottoman rule, the Muslim minority of mainly Western Thrace in Northern Greece consists of several ethnic groups, some being Turkish speaking and some Bulgarian-speaking Pomaks, while others descend from Ottoman-era Greek converts to Islam and also Muslim Romas. While the legal status of the Muslim minority in Greece is enshrined in international law, namely the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne, which also governs the status of the "Greek inhabitants of Constantinople" (the only group of the indigenous Greek population in Turkey that was exempt from forced expulsion under the Convention Concerning the Exchange of Greek and Turkish Populations, along with that of the islands of Imbros and Tenedos under Article 14 of the Treaty), precise definitions pertaining thereto and scope of applicability thereof remain contested between the two countries.
During the Ottoman period, some Muslims settled in Western Thrace, marking the birth of the Muslim minority of Greece. During the Balkan wars and the First World War, Western Thrace, along with the rest of Northern Greece, became part of Greece and the Muslim minority remained in Western Thrace, numbering approximately 86,000 people, and consisting of three ethnic groups: the Turks (here usually referred to as Western Thrace Turks), the Pomaks (Muslim Slavs who speak Bulgarian), and the Muslim Roma. These communities as are distinct from the Ottoman-era Greek Muslims, like the Vallahades, and have their own languages and cultures. Following the Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922), in 1923 the Treaty of Lausanne was signed by Turkey, on the one side, and the Kingdom of Greece and other parties, on the other side, that provides for the status, protection, and rights of the minority.
Under the provisions of the Treaty of Lausanne, the "Moslem inhabitants of Western Thrace", also referred to as "Greek nationals of the Moslem religion established in Greek territory", and the "Greek inhabitants of Constantinople", also referred to as "Turkish nationals of the Greek Orthodox religion established in Turkish territory", were exempt from the 1923 population exchange between Greece and Turkey, when 1.3 million Anatolian Greeks or Pontic Greeks and Caucasus Greeks were required to leave Turkey, and the 400,000 Muslims outside of Thrace, the whole Turks in Greece, Cretan Turks, Cham Albanians and the Romanian speaking Muslim Megleno-Romanians (known as Karadjovalides (Turkish: Karacaovalılar) and Muslim Roma-Groups like the Sepečides Romani, were required to leave Greece, including the Muslim Greek speaking Vallahades of western Greek Macedonia. All the Greek Orthodox Christians of Turkey, also included the Turkish speaking Karamanlides would be resettled in Greece apart from the Greeks of Istanbul (Constantinople), Imbros (Gökçeada) and Tenedos (Bozcaada), and all Turks of Greece would be resettled in Turkey apart from the Muslims of Greek Thrace.
The official Greek text of the Treaty of Lausanne refers to "muslim minorities" in article 45 However, unofficial texts of the Greek State refer to one Muslim minority. According to the Greek government, Turkish speakers form approximately 50% of the minority, Pomaks 35% and Muslim Roma 15%.
The exchanged populations were not homogenous; the Christians resettled in Greece included not only Greek speakers, but also Laz speakers, Arabic speakers and even Turkish speakers. Similarly, the Muslims resettled in Turkey included not only Turkish speakers, but also Albanians, Bulgarians, Megleno-Romanians and also Greeks like the Vallahades from western Greek Macedonia (see also Greek Muslims). This was in correspondence with the Millet system of the Ottoman Empire, where religious and national allegiance coincided, and thus Greece and Turkey were considered the parent state of each group respectively.
Today, most of the Muslim minority in Greece resides in Western Thrace, where they make up 28.88% of the population. Muslims form the largest group in the Rhodope regional unit (54.77%) and sizable percentages in the Xanthi (42.19%) and Evros regional units (6.65%). Additionally, nearly 3,500 Turks remain on the island of Rhodes and 2,000 on the island of Kos, as the islands were part of the Italian Dodecanese when the population exchange between Turkey and Greece happened (and so were not included in it). In contrast to the steady number of Greece's Muslim minority since 1923, Turkey's Greek minority has shrunk considerably due to oppression and violence orchestrated by the Turkish state in particular the 1955 Istanbul pogrom.
The minority enjoys full equality with the Greek majority, and prohibition against discrimination and freedom of religion are provided for in Article 5 and Article 13 of the Greek constitution. In Thrace today there are 3 muftis, approximately 270 imams and approximately 300 mosques.