Christians, Muslims, and Jews: Turkey and the management of refugees from Greece during World War II

Approximately 70,000 people were displaced from Greece to Turkey and the Middle East during World War II. Following a presentation of the geography, statistics, and timeframe of the displacement, and Turkey’s interwar demographic policies, the article studies Turkey’s management of this refugee move...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:New perspectives on Turkey 2024-05, Vol.70, p.107-125
Main Author: Lamprou, Alexandros
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Christians
Citizenship
Differentiation
Diplomatic & consular services
Emigration
Ethnic identity
Famine
Geography
Immigration
Jewish people
Management
Muslims
Population
Population policy
Refugees
Statistics
World War II
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Summary:Approximately 70,000 people were displaced from Greece to Turkey and the Middle East during World War II. Following a presentation of the geography, statistics, and timeframe of the displacement, and Turkey’s interwar demographic policies, the article studies Turkey’s management of this refugee movement. Based on Greek, Turkish, and British archival material, the article argues that Turkish wartime refugee policy took shape in the intersection of two occasionally contradictory attributes. On the one hand, there were the state’s demographic desiderata and policies that differentiated incoming refugees on account of their ethnic and religious identities. On the other, Turkey’s reaction was necessarily conditioned by the military, political, and diplomatic conjuncture of the war. It was this conditionality that explains the inconsistences and shifts in refugee management and its rationale during the war, for instance, the differentiation in the treatment of Jewish and Christian refugees, but also in the management of Greek Muslims in 1941–1942 and in 1944–1945.
ISSN:0896-6346
1305-3299
DOI:10.1017/npt.2023.30