Greece’s Western Thrace policy contradicts its past, historian reveals with official document

Greece does not officially recognize the Turkish minority in Western Thrace as “Turkish” in state documents. Despite the provisions of the Lausanne Treaty, the state classifies this community as “Hellenic Muslims,” effectively rendering their ethnic identity invisible at the legal level.

Associate Professor Esra Özsüer, a historian, brought a striking contradiction to light by sharing an official 1984 publication on X (formerly Twitter) that contains the phrase “Western Thrace Turks.” The document shows that the Greek state once formally used the term “Turk,” undermining the historical basis of today’s denial policy.

“In Greece, as is well known, the word ‘Muslim’ is used legally instead of ‘Turk’ to define the Turks of Western Thrace. However, I found an interesting detail in an official history book from 1984’ Özsüer noted. The book states that ‘Greeks of Istanbul’ and ‘Turks of Western Thrace’ were excluded from the 1923 population exchange”. 

Experts argue that the current terminology amounts to an assimilation policy. By prioritizing “Muslim” in official discourse, the state systematically blurs ethnic identity. This practice is said to contradict minority rights provisions of the European Convention on Human Rights.

About Esra Özsüer
Özsüer is a faculty member at Istanbul University’s Institute of Turkic Studies. She earned her PhD at the Department of Political Science and History at Panteion University in Athens. Specializing in identity, Turkish–Greek political history, Islamophobia, the Turkish War of Independence, and population exchanges, she is the author of Turkokratia – The Image of the Turk in Europe and Megalí Idea. She has conducted extensive research in Greece and plays an active role in international academic circles.