Historical legacies, modern conflicts: state consolidation and religious pluralism in Greece and Turkey

Abstract

Through a comparative study of state consolidation processes and the acceptance of religious tolerance in Greece and Turkey, this piece shows that there is often a direct link between strategies of state building, the creation of state identities, and contemporary acceptance of pluralistic norms regarding religious tolerance. Tracing early examples through to the present, the paper demonstrates that state elites privileged religious categories over potential alternatives in the state consolidation process. I argue that, as a result, religious identity markers have assumed a privileged and almost ‘untouchable’ position in both the Greek and Turkish national narratives, making issues of religious tolerance and pluralism sensitive focal points in contemporary debates over Europeanizing reforms and religion-state relations in times of crisis.

Keywords:

• Greece
• Turkey
• religion
• state-building
• pluralism
• tolerance
• minorities

Notes

1. These lists are by no means exhaustive. To my knowledge, there is no single source that consistently and reliably lists the minority groups living in the region at the turn of the twentieth century. I have culled this data on some of the largest groups from a vast number of secondary sources.

2. Memorandum from I. Kokotakis in Dirrahio to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 31 May 1923. Istorikon Archeion Yporgeiou Exoterikon [Greek Foreign Ministry Archives] (From now on referred to as A.Y.E), 1924, A/5, ρ. 5382 reprinted in Ελληνίσμoς της Βόρϵιoυ Ήπϵιρoυ και Ελληνoαλβανικές Σχέσϵις [The Greeks of Northern Epirus and Greek-Albanian Relations] Vol. 3. The Onasis Foundation: Athens, 1997: 91.

3. Memorandum from I. Kokotakis, Greek Embassy in Tirana to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 15 June 1928, A.Y.E. 1928, A/21/I, ρ. 7208, ibid., 372; Also see Michalopoulos, 311.

4. Memorandum from General Commander of Epirus Petihakis to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 14 April 1925, A.Y.E. 1927–9, A/4/α, ρ. 5854: 210.

5. Unsigned Memorandum, 14 June 1925, A.Y.E., 1925, Γ/68, Χ, ρ. 7691: 224.

6. Memorandum from Colonel Y. Fessopoulos to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, A.Y.E., 1926, B/33, ρ. 6668.

7. The Greek Orthodox Church enjoys special status as a branch of the state and civil service. ‘Church and state are formally bound as there is no constitutional separation between the two’ (Halikiopoulou 2011, 11).

8. Interestingly, Turkey was removed from the ‘worst offenders’ list in 2013, though the actual report lists many of the same problems. The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, ‘Annual Report 2012’ is available at: http://www.uscirf.gov/images/Annual%20Report%20of%20USCIRF%202012(2).pdf. The 2013 report is available at: http://www.uscirf.gov/images/2013%20USCIRF%20Annual%20Report(2).pdf.

9. Interviews were conducted with representatives from the Kurdistan Democratic Party, the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, Goran, and the Kurdistan Islamic Union.