The Greek Orthodox minority in Turkey faces the threat of disappearance

[duluxe]

https://nordicmonitor.com/2024/03/t...-in-turkey-faces-the-threat-of-disappearance/

The Greek Orthodox minority in Turkey is on the brink of extinction, with the community’s population dwindling to just 1,500 people, primarily comprising elderly individuals. This stark decline contrasts sharply with a century ago when the community numbered 1.4 million.

The decline can be attributed to a combination of factors such as forced repatriation, asset seizures, sustained pressure, crackdowns, unfair discrimination, profiling, relentless negative campaigning and decades-long tensions between Ankara and Athens.

The alarm bell for the dire situation of the rapidly shrinking Greek Orthodox minority was sounded in a document circulated in January at the United Nations.

“This enormous population erosion happened because subsequent governances of Turkey throughout the 1923-2003 period, pursued a systematic policy of severe discriminatory measures to force the expatriation of the members of the [Greek orthodox] minority,” the document said.

The document, prepared by the Ecumenical Federation of Constantinopolitans, a nongovernmental organization with special consultative status at the UN Economic and Social Council, reveals the serious challenges facing the Greek Orthodox community in Turkey.

The US State Department’s 2022 Report on International Religious Freedom estimated that fewer than 2,500 Greek Orthodox Christians reside in Turkey. Whatever the actual number may be, the pattern is clear: The Greek Orthodox community is shrinking rapidly in predominantly Muslim Turkey and may soon face extinction.

The most severe blow to the Greek Orthodox minority occurred during a population exchange in 1923 as part of the Lausanne Treaty, which resulted in the exchange of approximately 1.2 million Christian Orthodox individuals from Turkey for nearly 400,000 Muslims from Greece.

According to the agreement, individuals residing in Istanbul and the Aegean Sea islands of Gökçeada (Imbros) and Bozcaada (Tenedos) were exempted from the forced exchange. Their numbers totaled 135,000 at the time.

However, successive Turkish governments’ open and secret pressures on the remaining minority, at times amounting to violence and forced labor, further took a toll on the Greek Orthodox minority, slashing their numbers to merely 1,500 people as of today, according to the document.