![Greece, Turkey and Cyprus](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/ff/Greece%2C_Turkey_and_Cyprus.png)
Hellenoturkism ( el, Ελληνοτουρκισμός, Ellinotourkismós; tr, Helenotürkizm) is a political concept that encompasses two things: a fact of civilization (i.e. the co-habitation and interdependence, since the 11th century A.D.) of the
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
and
Turkish peoples and cultures, and a political ideology based on the above civilizational phenomenon, which aims at establishing a Hellenic-Turkish political ensemble, national and cultural identity.
Most believers in the ideology support differing main principles and points, although generally supported ideas are that, one, both nations and peoples share similar cultures, traditions, histories and also a mixed genetic similarity.
And two, that such a unification would create a new global and regional, military and economic power within the
EU and
NATO
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...
, which would also peacefully resolve ongoing disputes between the Cypriot, Turkish, Greek states and communities such as the
Cyprus problem
The Cyprus problem, also known as the Cyprus dispute, Cyprus issue, Cyprus question or Cyprus conflict, is an ongoing dispute between Greek Cypriots in the south and Turkish Cypriots in the north. Initially, with the occupation of the island b ...
,
Aegean problems, and also Maritime-border disputes in the Mediterranean between all the three nations and unrecognized Northern Cyprus within Cyprus.
From Empire to Confederation
According to
Dimitri Kitsikis, from the time of the
Persian Empire and
Alexander the Great
Alexander III of Macedon ( grc, Ἀλέξανδρος, Alexandros; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip II to ...
, to the collapse of the
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...
in the 20th century A.D., the
Intermediate Region
The Intermediate Region is an established geopolitical model set forth in the 1970s by the Greek historian Dimitri Kitsikis, professor at the University of Ottawa in Canada. According to this model, the Eurasian continent is composed of three reg ...
has been covered by an ecumenical empire that had common civilizational characteristics, despite the fact that it passed into the hands successively of the Persians, to the Greeks, to the Romans, to the Byzantines and, finally, to the Ottomans. This central civilization of the Intermediate Region, existing since the time of Cyrus the Great, bore the characteristics, since the 11th century A.D. and for the last thousand years, of Greek and Turkish cultures. The Ecumenicity of the Empire was Hellenoturkism.
Founding and premise
In the 15th century, a Greek philosopher,
George of Trebizond
George of Trebizond ( el, Γεώργιος Τραπεζούντιος; 1395–1486) was a Byzantine Greek philosopher, scholar, and humanist. Life
He was born on the Greek island of Crete (then a Venetian colony known as the Kingdom of Candia), a ...
, 1395-1484 (the date of his death varies from 1472 to 1486 depending on the sources), who aimed at synthesizing Islam in the form of
Alevism and Christianity in the form of
Greek Orthodoxy
The term Greek Orthodox Church (Greek: Ἑλληνορθόδοξη Ἐκκλησία, ''Ellinorthódoxi Ekklisía'', ) has two meanings. The broader meaning designates "the entire body of Orthodox (Chalcedonian) Christianity, sometimes also call ...
, is considered by some supporters of Hellenoturkism as one of the main thinkers and founders of their ideology. He addressed the new ruler of the Empire,
Fatih, or Mehmed the Conqueror, in a letter of 1466 as the legal emperor of the Romans and of the whole earth, and also as the common emperor of both Romans and Turks.
![Dimitri Kitsikis(commons)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0c/Dimitri_Kitsikis%28commons%29.jpg)
In the 20th century, the ideology of Hellenoturkism was revived by the historian
Dimitri Kitsikis who beginning in 1966, with numerous books, articles and conference papers focussed on the subject, and with political activity in both Greece and Turkey, as an advisor of both Greek President
Konstantinos Karamanlis
Konstantinos G. Karamanlis ( el, Κωνσταντίνος Γ. Καραμανλής, ; 8 March 1907 – 23 April 1998), commonly anglicised to Constantine Karamanlis or just Caramanlis, was a four-time prime minister and twice as the president of ...
and of Turkish President
Turgut Özal
Halil Turgut Özal (; 13 October 192717 April 1993) was a Turkish politician, who served as the 8th President of Turkey from 1989 to 1993. He previously served as the 26th Prime Minister of Turkey from 1983 to 1989 as the leader of the Mothe ...
, strove to establish the basis of a Turkish-Greek Confederation.
According to proponents, a bilingual "Greek Turkish Confederation" (''East Mediterranean Confederation'') between
Greece
Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders ...
,
Turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...
and
Cyprus
Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is ge ...
(with national capitals in
Athens
Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...
,
Ankara
Ankara ( , ; ), historically known as Ancyra and Angora, is the capital of Turkey. Located in the central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5.1 million in its urban center and over 5.7 million in Ankara Province, maki ...
and
Nicosia, and Confederation parliament in
Istanbul
)
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code = 34000 to 34990
, area_code = +90 212 (European side) +90 216 (Asian side)
, registration_plate = 34
, blank_name_sec2 = GeoTLD
, blank_i ...
) would (to an extent) be a reincarnation of the
Byzantine
The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
/
Ottoman Empires; thus filling the political, cultural and economic vacuum left behind by the absence of these two historic superpowers in the East Mediterranean region. It would have the largest economy and military in the area covering the
Balkans
The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the who ...
, the
Middle East
The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Province), East Thrace (Europ ...
, the
East Mediterranean
Eastern Mediterranean is a loose definition of the eastern approximate half, or third, of the Mediterranean Sea, often defined as the countries around the Levantine Sea.
It typically embraces all of that sea's coastal zones, referring to commun ...
, the
Caucasus
The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, mainly comprising Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia (country), Georgia, and parts of Southern Russia. The Caucasus Mountains, including the Greater Caucasus range ...
and
Central Asia
Central Asia, also known as Middle Asia, is a subregion, region of Asia that stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to western China and Mongolia in the east, and from Afghanistan and Iran in the south to Russia in the north. It includes t ...
, and could become a key global
great power
A great power is a sovereign state that is recognized as having the ability and expertise to exert its influence on a global scale. Great powers characteristically possess military and economic strength, as well as diplomatic and soft power in ...
due to its geographic location. During the 2010-2015 Greek financial crisis, the idea resurfaced both in Turkey and Greece.
[See also the many interviews in favor of a Greek-Turkish Union given by Dimitri Kitsikis, in the Turkish Press and the Turkish TV & Radio stations, during 2011]
However today, Hellenoturkism has little support in Turkey or Greece (excluding Cyprus). Although it has significantly grown in recognition, support and popularity as a result of its presentation in digital media and online platforms or forums.
Meanwhile in the recognized Cyprus and unrecognized
North Cyprus
Northern Cyprus ( tr, Kuzey Kıbrıs), officially the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC; tr, Kuzey Kıbrıs Türk Cumhuriyeti, ''KKTC''), is a ''de facto'' state that comprises the northeastern portion of the island of Cyprus. Recog ...
; the ideas of a united Cypriot federation,
Taksim (Turkish unification), and
Enosis (Full Greek unification) are more common.
Notable supporters & supporting works
Personalities
*
Dimitri Kitsikis, political advisor
*
Georgios Papadopoulos
Geórgios Papadopoulos (; el, Γεώργιος Παπαδόπουλος ; 5 May 1919 – 27 June 1999) was a Greeks, Greek military officer and political leader who ruled Greece as a military dictator from 1967 to 1973. He joined the Hellenic ...
, main perpetrator of the Greek Junta in 1967:
According to Yannis Mazis, professor of
Turkology
Turkology (or Turcology or Turkic studies) is a complex of humanities sciences studying languages, history, literature, folklore, culture, and ethnology of people speaking Turkic languages and Turkic peoples in chronological and comparative cont ...
& Euroasian Sciences in
Boğaziçi University
Boğaziçi University ( tr, Boğaziçi Üniversitesi), also known as Bosphorus University, is a major research university in Istanbul, Turkey. Its main campus is located on the European side of the Bosphorus strait. It has six faculties and tw ...
; Papadopulos “saw the possibility of such a confederation as realistic, and possible to come true within the next 40 years at that time”.
Works
* “Türk-Yunan Şiiri” (Turco-Greek poem), or also known as “Olmasın Varsın” (Let it not be that you don’t exist), was a friendship poem between the two nations and peoples written by former prime minister of Turkey,
Bülent Ecevit, during his early years as a writer and poet in London, 1947. The poem has been composed by several musicians.
See also
*
Byzantinism
*
Cypriotism
*
Greece–Turkey relations
Relations between Greece and Turkey began in the 1830s following Greece's formation after its declaration of independence from the Ottoman Empire. Modern relations began when Turkey declared its formation in 1923 following the defeat of the Ott ...
*
Foreign policy of the Recep Tayyip Erdoğan government
The foreign policy of the Recep Tayyip Erdoğan government concerns the policy initiatives made by Turkey towards other states under Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
Background
History
The European Union and NATO are the main fixtures ...
*
Eastern Party in Greece
*
Intermarium
Intermarium ( pl, Międzymorze, ) was a post-World War I geopolitical plan conceived by Józef Piłsudski to unite former Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth lands within a single polity. The plan went through several iterations, some of which antic ...
*
Eurasianism
Eurasianism (russian: евразийство, ''yevraziystvo'') is a political movement in Russia which states that Russian civilization does not belong in the "European" or "Asian" categories but instead to the geopolitical concept of Eurasia, ...
*
Neo-Ottomanism
Neo-Ottomanism ( Turkish: ''Yeni Osmanlıcılık, Neo-Osmanlıcılık'') is an Islamist, irredentist and imperialist Turkish political ideology that, in its broadest sense, advocates to honor the Ottoman past of Turkey and promotes greater polit ...
*
Ottoman Greeks
Ottoman Greeks ( el, Ρωμιοί; tr, Osmanlı Rumları) were ethnic Greeks who lived in the Ottoman Empire (1299–1922), much of which is in modern Turkey. Ottoman Greeks were Greek Orthodox Christians who belonged to the Rum Millet (''Millet ...
*
Greeks in Turkey
*
Greek Muslims
Greek Muslims, also known as Grecophone Muslims, are Muslims of Greek ethnic origin whose adoption of Islam (and often the Turkish language and identity) dates to the period of Ottoman rule in the southern Balkans. They consist primarily of th ...
*
Turco-Mongol
The Turco-Mongol or Turko-Mongol tradition was an ethnocultural synthesis that arose in Asia during the 14th century, among the ruling elites of the Golden Horde and the Chagatai Khanate. The ruling Mongol elites of these Khanates eventuall ...
*
Turco-Persian
The composite Turko-Persian, Turco-Persian
''Turko-Persia in historical perspective'', Cambridge University Press, ...
References
{{reflist
Bibliography
*
Franz Babinger
Franz Babinger (15 January 1891 – 23 June 1967) was a well-known German orientalist and historian of the Ottoman Empire, best known for his biography of the great Ottoman emperor Mehmed II, known as "the Conqueror", originally published as ''Me ...
, ''Mehmed der Eroberer und seine Zeit. Weltenstürmer einer Zeitenwende''. München, 1953.
*
Georges Corm
Georges Corm is a Lebanese economist. He served as minister of finance in the government of Salim Hoss from 1998 to 2000.
He studied at the Institut d'Etudes Politiques de Paris (1958-1961) where he graduated in Public Finance and has also a PhD ...
, ''Le Moyen-Orient'', Paris, Flammarion, 1993.
*На перекрестке цивилизаций: Поль Лемерль, История Византии. Димитрис Кицикис, Османская империя. Весь Мир, 2006 г. -Na perekrestke tsivilizatsiy : Istorija Vizantii- Osmanskaja Imperija (
Paul Lemerle
Paul Lemerle (; 22 April 1903 – 17 July 1989) was a French Byzantinist, born in Paris.
Biography
Lemerle taught at the ''École française d'Athènes'' (1931–1941), at the ''Faculté des Lettres'' of the University of Burgundy at Dijon (1942 ...
-
Dimitri Kitsikis) – Moscow, Ves Mir Editions, 2006.
*
Georgios Metallinos, ''Πολιτικὴ καὶ Θεολογία: Ἰδεολογια καὶ πράξη τοῦ ῥιζοσπάστη πολιτικοῦ Γεωργίου Τυπάλδου-'Ιακωβάτου'', Katerini, Tertios, 1990. (Politics and Theology: Ideology and Practice of the Radical Politician Georgios Typaldos-Iakovatos)
*
Georgios Metallinos, "Ἡ ῥωμαίϊκη πλευρὰ τοῦ ἑλληνοτουρκισμοῦ", ''Tote'', no.45, November–December 1993.
*
Dimitri Kitsikis, ''Türk-Yunan İmparatorluğu. Arabölge gerçeği ışığında Osmanlı Tarihine bakış'' – İstanbul, İletişim Yayınları, 1996. (The Turkish-Greek Empire. An inquiry into Ottoman History through the prism of the Intermediate Region).
*
Dimitri Kitsikis, "Ἡ ἀνατολικὴ παράταξη στἢν Ἑλλάδα", ''Tote'', no. 27, August 1985.
*
Dimitri Kitsikis, ''Ἡ σημασία τοῦ Μπεκτασισμοῦ-'Αλεβισμοῦ γιὰ τὸν Ἑλληνισμό'' -Athens, Hekate, 2006 (The Importance of Bektashism-Alevism for Hellenism)
*Georgios Zoras, ''Γεώργιος ὁ Τραπεζούντιος καὶ αἱ πρὸς ἑλληνοτουρκικὴν συνεννόησιν προσπάθειαι αὐτοῦ'' -Athens, University of Athens, 1954 (George of Trebizond and his Efforts to Bring About a Greek-Turkish Understanding).
*
Konstantinos Amantos, ''Σχέσεις Ἑλλήνων καὶ Τούρκων ἀπὸ τοῦ ἐνδεκάτου αἰῶνος μέχρι τὸ 1821'' - Athens, 1955 (Relations between Greeks and Turks from the 11th Century up to 1821).
*Emmanuel Sivan, ''L'Islam et la Croisade. Idéologie et propagande dans les réactions musulmanes aux croisades'', Paris, Maisonneuve, 1968.
*Ioannis Loukas, "Τεκτονικὲς οἱ ῥίζες τοῦ ἑλληνοτουρκισμοῦ", ''Tote'', no. 42, May–June 1993 (The Freemason Roots of Hellenoturkism).
*Herkül Millas, "Türk-Yunan Birliği ve Kitsikis", ''Toplum ve Bilim'', nos 43-44, Fall 1988 (Turkish-Greek Union and Kitsikis).
*G. Alexandrou, "Ἑλληνοτουρκικὴ Ὁμοσπονδία. Τὰ ἀπόκρυφα σχέδια τοῦ Τουργκοὺτ Ὀζάλ", ''Greek Forum'', vol 17, no.9/195, October 1990 (Greek-Turkish Federation. The Secret Projects of Turgut Özal).
*Christos Ch. Kypraios,''The Ideology of Hellenoturkism: From George of Trebizond to Dimitri Kitsikis'' -Istanbul, Bilgi University, 2015 (MA thesis, 107 pages, with maps and charts).
*Turgay Cin, "Türk-Yunan İmparatorluğu Gerçeği", ss.327-341, Balkan Savaşların 100.yılı, Bağcılar Belediye Başkanlığı, İstanbul, 2012, 694 s.
Political systems
Political theories
Federalism by country
Greece–Turkey relations
Proposed political unions