The Greek population of Istanbul, which was rather forced to leave Turkey because of the sociopolitical situation, is now asking for its citizenship rights΄ restoration, daily Sunday΄s Zaman reported. Greeks in Istanbul, known as Rums (Turkey΄s Greeks), are finally given the chance to actually voice their demands thanks to recent improvements relating the minorities΄ rights.
Talks have been carried out with government officials through the Istanbul Rums Universal Federation, established in 2005. The federation, after sending a letter to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan addressing their problems and demands, also sent a written statement to the Foreign Ministry and the Ministry of EU Affairs in September, 2012.
The federation΄s head, Nikolaos Uzunoglu, presented a number of suggestions, among which were granting quick Turkish citizenship to people who would like to return, giving them orientation classes in order to help them open up small businesses and learn Turkish.
In the beginning of March, Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc highlighted to his government members the importance of improving the lives of minorities in Turkey by expanding their rights, while calling minorities to return to Turkey.
According to Sunday΄s Zaman΄s, Uzunoglu also underlined that it is highly important for young Greeks to return to Turkey in order to keep their culture alive.
via Istanbul΄s Greeks want citizenship back- Capital.gr.
The peaceful atmosphere between Turkey and Greece is a major factor in Greeks choosing to seek employment in Turkey, according to Assistant Professor Dimitris Triantaphyllou who came to Istanbul from Athens last year
Homeless people sit at tables during a New Year’s meal in Athens Jan 1. Greek jobseekers are looking for work in cities like Istanbul. This happens during hard times, like the emigration process after the World War II, says Triantaphyllou. REUTERS photo
Turkey – especially Istanbul – stands out as a popular destination for Greeks seeking jobs abroad as Greece suffers a major economic crisis.
In spite of accusations of “betrayal” by ultra-nationalist Greeks, rapprochement between Turkey and Greece is resulting in increased political, economic and social benefits for both sides, Assistant Professor Dimitris Triantaphyllou, Director of the Center for International and European Studies (CIES) at Kadir Has University, told the Daily News.
Some 1.2 million people, nearly 10 percent of the population, emigrated from Greece last year, according to recently published statistics in the World Bank’s “The Migration and Remittances Factbook 2011.”
Triantaphyllou, who came from Athens to Istanbul more than a year ago before Greece was hit hard by the economic crisis, said not only single, educated, young people were leaving Greece, but even some families had begun to emigrate.
“This happens during hard times, like the emigration process after the Second World War,” he said.
According to Triantaphyllou the peaceful atmosphere between the neighboring countries, for which he gave credit to late İsmail Cem and Georgios Papandreou, is a major factor in Greeks’ preference of coming to Turkey.
Psychologist Odysseas Voutsinas moved from Athens to Istanbul last month. Voutsinas was born in Istanbul in 1964 and studied at the Özel Fener Rum Erkek Lisesi before moving to Athens with his family. In the 1960s Turkish-Greek relations were strained over the Cyprus issue, so many Greeks left the country because of the high tension.
Voutsinas studied social services and psychology in the University of Athens and worked in Greece for 30 years, but he said that he always had the idea of “returning” on his mind.
‘Hard to leave, hard to come back’
Last year he decided to come back. “It was hard to leave Turkey, but it was hard to come back too. The crisis in Greece was maybe a chance for the ones who wanted to come back to Istanbul.”
Voutsinas said the patriarchate and the Greek community welcomed the newcomers just like the locals did.
Fouli Koti, 25, came to Istanbul three months ago from Thessaloniki. “I am afraid that the Greek economy is going to get worse. My friends also do not have hope for the near future. They want to leave as well,” she said.
Koti was working as a manager for a Vodafone franchise store in Thessaloniki. She said that one year ago there were more than 30 stores, but only two remain open in the city. She decided to come to Turkey after a call from her childhood friend Apostolos, who had been living in Istanbul for one year. Koti moved to Istanbul and began working in the customer service department of an international oil company.
“I wanted to take a risk and have a ‘Turkey adventure,’ but I must say I am disappointed in some ways,” she said. “I was living in one of the most popular districts in Thessaloniki and I was paying 340 euros for a big house of my own. Now I live in the central European side of Istanbul and pay the same amount for a small room in a shared house.”
January/09/2012
via LABOR – Jobseekers from Greece try chances in Istanbul.
Greeks in Istanbul welcomed Erdogan’s decision to return confiscated property to minorities, with tears of joy in their eyes.
As the representative of minority institutions under the General Directorate for Foundations and member of the Greek minority of Istanbul, Lakis Vingas, stated to Newsit; “yesterday was a historic day. Mr. Erdogan’s determination is one of a leader, as the issue was solved by a government decision and did not go through general assembly. This is evidence to Mr. Erdogan’s consistency in the progress of issues, faced by minorities here for many decades. We neither received a gift, nor compensation; we simply took back what belonged to us. This is justice and what we have been waiting for. We are now in the third phase of the return of minority properties and are very satisfied.
From now on, we should be mindful not only for the return of property, but also for the proper management and future course of the entire property. For us, for example, the return of the Galata School is very important. In addition, a large property we own in the Kantyli community, some Monasteries and other properties and of course cemeteries”.
Mr. Lakis Vingas represents the council for Armenian, Syrian – Chaldean and Greek foundations in Istanbul. As he stated himself, minorities in the past were afraid to even enter the threshold of the General Directorate, but now, thanks to the effort for harmonization with EU law, things are changing. Lastly, he added that, particular attention should be paid to the future of minority foundations in Turkey.
via Greeks in Istanbul Cry Tears of Joy for the Return of their Properties | Greek Reporter Europe.
Efe Kerem Sozeri, a 26-year-old Turk currently pursuing a PhD in political science in Amsterdam, is one of a group of young people who helped save Apoyevmatini, a Greek community newspaper in Istanbul.
Mihail Vasiliadis was astounded at the interest shown by young Turks to help save the Greek community newspaper Apoyevmatini, which has been in his family since 1925 and came very near to closure this summer.
Sozeri led a campaign to raise awareness about the struggling 87-year-old daily and helped raise support and subscriptions through social networking websites.
A month into the campaign, the group was not only able to raise funds for the newspaper, which has seen advertising and sales plunge due to the Greek financial crisis, but they also raised its profile among intellectuals and other young Turks interested in building bridges with the small Greek community that still remains in Istanbul.
“Mihail is a hero,” said Sozeri of Apoyevmatini’s owner and sole employee Mihail Vasiliadis. “I know how hard it is to be a Greek living in Istanbul, and especially one trying to publish a newspaper.”
The Greek newspaper has been in circulation since 1925. Mihail Vasiliadis and his son, Minas, took over the management of the newspaper in 2002, and until recently printed 600 issues daily (down from 30,000 in its heyday), which are delivered by seven distributors to both the eastern and the western sides of the sprawling metropolis. Apoyevmatini is also sent by e-mail in PDF format to 1,000 readers, while there are others who like to telephone the office to get their daily updates of news.
“The newspaper is a window onto the community,” Haris Theodorelis-Rigas, a PhD candidate at the University of the Bosporus — where Sozeri also did his undergraduate degree — told Kathimerini. “It provides a link between Greeks who live here, as well as a platform for dialogue on issues that concern the community.”
Apoyevmatini has always been tossed about in the storms of history, seeing its circulation dwindle along with the population of Greeks in Turkey. Yet the owners were determined to keep it going and one even went asso far as to sell his own private property in order to do so.
The Greek financial crisis, however, almost dealt Apoyevmatini the fatal blow.
“From January 2011, when almost all of our ads from Greece disappeared,” explained Vasiliadis, “it seemed there was no way out and I had decided to publish the paper until its birthday, on July 12.”
Sozeri heard about Apoyevmatini’s troubles during a conference in June, when Vasiliadis announced that he would be closing it down in a few weeks’ time.
“I felt sad and also a sense of responsibility for future generations,” Sozeri told Kathimerini. “I know about the persecution suffered by the Greek community and I feel the weight of all these events on my shoulders. I also recognize the cultural contribution of the Greeks,” he said. “Furthermore,” Sozeri added, “as a Turk living abroad, I can see the problems faced by minorities, as well as the importance of them having their own newspaper.”
After hearing Vasiliadis speak, the young Turk initially sent a slew of e-mails to his professors and friends in an effort to drum up some support for Apoyevmatini, later taking his campaign to social networking websites and reaching out to journalists around the world.
“All of the Turkish media had a story about us,” said Vasiliadis. “But we were also contacted by international media, such as Agence France-Presse, Al Jazeera, Deutsche Welle and ZDF, which spread the news.”
Within a few days of the launch of the campaign, Apoyevmatini had 300 new subscribers, some of whom do not even read Greek. In honor of these new subscribers, the July 12 paper circulated for the first time in its history with a title in Turkish.
via ekathimerini.com | A young Turk helps save a Greek community newspaper.
The Greek language newspaper “Apoyevmatini” is one of the oldest newspapers in Turkey. After 86 years in circulation, the Greek paper is now facing closure due to the financial problems which were aggravated by the economic crisis in Greece. Mr. Mihalis Vasiliadis, editor-in-chief of the newspaper, mentions some of the problems the Greek press faces in Istanbul.
“Apoyevmatini” was published for the first time on July 12, 1925. It is a four-page Greek language daily newspaper with news concerning Greece, Turkey and the world. Mr. Vasiliadis took charge in 2002 and continues to publish it by himself, with the help of his son, Minas, working 18 hours per day.
During his career he has faced lawsuits in Turkey, since he was accused of Greek propaganda. After 1975, when he went to Greece, he published the newspaper “Eptalofos” and was accused of not being “aggressive” enough against the Turks. In the end, however, he was found innocent on all accounts.
Unfortunately, the problems of the Greek community in Istanbul and the economic crisis have a negative effect on the newspaper. The Greek population is continuously diminishing, because of the non favorable conditions in Turkey. In 1964, the Greek community numbered 90,000 people. However, after the strict economic measures and the persecutions by the Turks, the number was dramatically decreased and today there are only 610 Greek families, in other words, 2000 people. The number is too small to support a newspaper.
“Due to the crisis Greek companies and foundations cannot support the newspaper financially by advertising and the funds for cultural issues have been reduced and are not used to support the newspapers” explains Mr. Vasiliadis. The other Greek language newspaper which is in circulation in Turkey, “IHO”, faces similar problems.
The Greek state is indifferent. A progressive group of Turks showed their interest about the situation and wanting to help, they became subscribers.
Mr. Vasiliadis emphasizes the importance of the newspaper for the Greek community of Istanbul as it is closely linked with the hardship that people have faced over the years. In fact, the newspaper archives have been studied by scholars.
It would be terrible for readers if the paper gets shut down, as they would lose all hopes for the future of their community, which is gradually disappearing.
via Historic Greek Newspaper in Istanbul Faces Closure | Greek Reporter Europe.
Development might seem remarkable considering that Greece and Turkey have been rivals and almost on the brink of war at various times
Crowded streets in Istanbul (File Photo)
With the Greek economy deep in recession, some Greeks are now looking to neighboring Turkey – in particular Istanbul – for the chance of a better life. A remarkable development considering the relations between the two have been marked by alternating periods of mutual hostility and reconciliation ever since Greece won it independence from the Ottoman Empire in 1821.
Eleni Varmazi is drinking a coffee in a cafe, taking a rest from her job teaching at one of Istanbul’s numerous private universities. Varmazi is one of a growing number of Greeks who has found work in Istanbul.
“I applied in the UK, in Ireland , in Brussels in the European Union, in Cyprus for many positions, and here also. I am very happy with my jobs with my students , I was looking forward to teaching Turkish students and everything is going great on this level. It is even more convenient than trying to find a job in London or in Berlin. It’s closer you can go back for weekends. I know two or three people who have moved here and found a job here, and I am sure their a lot more,” she said.
Varmazi’s story might seem remarkable considering that Greece and Turkey have been rivals and almost on the brink of war at various times. But Varmazi’s story is no longer that unusual.
Ionis Grigoriadis is an expert on international relations at Bilkent University. I met him in Fener, the ancient Greek quarter of Istanbul, where he has bought a house. Grigoriadis says the fact that a growing number of Greeks are coming to Istanbul is proof that relations between the two countries are improving.
“We are no where close to the very difficult circumstances of the late 90’s where the two countries came to the brink of war. Students from Greece come to Istanbul to learn Turkish. In the last year a very popular TV series from Turkey attracted a very high rating in Greek TV, which shows that the very low resolution view of Turkey is changing. That people understand Turkey is many things of course there are dark sides like in many countries. So things are moving to a more balanced approach,” he said.
At the opening of an exhibition celebrating Greek architecture in Istanbul, a first for the city, Greek not Turkish is the prevailing language. Laki Vingas is a senior member of the city’s Greek community. He says the community was on the verge of collapsing but believes its now turned the corner.
“They had a target time until their children were graduating from the high school and then the whole family was leaving. That’s why from 100,000 people we are now left 3,000 people. Everybody used to say not their identity, not to mention their Greek Orthodox of Turkey, so they were trying to hide their name, their religion their identity. Where as now they are saying this openly. Unfortunately it was very bad century , the 20th century. So we feel the 21 century is a turning point for us,” he said.
At Istanbul’s Zografen Greek High school, an English teacher is preparing her class for their final exams. There are only four pupils. The large high school has less than 100 pupils. But where in the past, upon graduating, pupils would leave for Greece, now pupils want to stay – like Natasa.
“I want to become a translator at university in Turkey , because I was born here, I am living here. I love Istanbul. I have friends here and to left for them. I want my future here,” she said.
There are no official figures on how many Greeks are working in Istanbul, but the numbers are believed to be small and growing. Along with the ongoing economic turmoil in Greece and Turkey’s burgeoning economy, analysts believe Istanbul will be a destination for an increasing numbers of Greeks. After all, the name “Istanbul”, stems from the Greek word for “I go to the city”.
via VOA | Increasing Number of Greeks Flee to Turkey For a Better Life | Europe | English.
