Abstract:

In this study, the concepts of nation and nationalism were tried to be explained in a theoretical framework, the origins, development and principles of Greek nationalism were examined, the effect of Greek nationalism on the Western Thrace problem was understood and analyzed. Nationalism and nation state ideology that occurred with the 1789 French Revolution spread to Ottoman Empire, has different nations and religious societies in its structure, and Greeks, one of the these societies, left from Ottoman Empire in 1830 and became independent. Although the basis of Greek nationalism is thought to be rooted in the French Revolution, it creates an ideal in historical background based on the ancient Greek. As a matter of fact, the basis of Greek nationalism in the process of nationalization was based on Ancient Greece and Hellenistic, and Greek nationalism was built on the foundations of language, religion and ethnicity in the framework of Megali Idea. This nationalism encoded society with “us” and “other” formula, Western Thrace Muslim and Turkish Minority whose rights were guaranteed with Lausanne Peace Treaty were considered as “other” from past to present. As a political reflection of Greek nationalism, this minority is faced with a number of assimilation policies and rights violations since the Treaty to today.

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