The Muslim Minority in Greek Historiography: A Distorted Story?

Abstract

This article provides a bibliographical review of the major academic works which have been published in or translated into Greek and deal with the life of the Muslim minority of Greece. The article focuses on the methodological approach of these works, the time of their publication and the research fields which they cover or disregard. It argues that Greek academic works on the subject are highly influenced by the climate of Greek–Turkish relations. Most remain silent about Muslim populations who lived in the country prior to 1923 and focus on the Muslims of western Thrace, of whose minority life they give a distorted picture. This has started to change since 1989, but there is still a long way to go until Greek academia overcomes its biased, emotional and politically-influenced modus operandi on the subject and adopts a more dispassionate approach.