Abstract:

Especially from the 19th Century to the Republican period, ex- Ottoman territories have witnessed various population movements and kinds of migrations, one of which is the Obligatory Population Exchange that played an important role to shape the social structure in modern Turkey. This treaty signed on 30th January, 1923 by both Turkish and Greek delegations during the Lausanne Negotiations, is the greatest one as a kind of migration that Turkey and Greece have ever experienced just in a little time in history and due to this agreement, hundred thousands of people had to leave their country behind where they were born and grown up and thanks to it, both countries were more homogenized on a national basis. Even though the adaptation process of 1923 immigrants to their new environments is coming to an end, there are some problems in exact and proper identification of “the population exchange” and its immigrants that are “exchangees” as two - historical- concepts. For instance “exchangees” are not a homogenous group in terms of culture, ethnicity, linguistic, daily life, etc. In this study, the concepts of “population exchange”, “immigrant”, “refugee” and “exchangee” are trying to be explored, and “late-discovered exchangee identity” is evaluated.

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