DOI: https://doi.org/10.36719/2706-6185/54/128-132
Ibrahim Huseynli
Marmara University, Turkish Research Institute
Master's student
https://orcid.org/0009-0004-9345-0760
ibohuseynli.00@gmail.com
Greece’s Toponymic Change Policy After 1912 and
Its Impact on the Turkish Population of Western Thrace
Abstract
After the region was annexed by Greece in 1912, the state launched a systematic policy of renaming settlements in Western Thrace and surrounding areas. By the 1920s, the Hellenization of toponyms had become an official state strategy aimed at removing the Turkish imprint and reshaping collective memory. Pressures on Turkish identity intensified further after the 1970s: in 1972, “Turkish Schools” were renamed “Minority Schools,” and Law No. 1260 prohibited the public and official use of Turkish place names. Following the Greek military occupation of Western Thrace on 20 May 1920, widespread persecution occurred, leading to the short-lived establishment of the Provisional Government of Western Thrace under Peştereli Tevfik Bey on 25 May 1920, which was later abolished under the 1923 Lausanne Treaty. Despite the Population Exchange, more than 300,000 Turks remained in the region, continuing as its largest minority. Between 1915 and 1941, many Turks, as in other Balkan states, were forced to change their religion and ethnic identity. The Land Reform Law No. 3473 (1923) confiscated Turkish lands and distributed them to Greek refugees arriving from Anatolia. All these processes were part of a deliberate effort to weaken Turkish identity and alter the demographic structure of Western Thrace.
Keywords: toponymy, place name change, Western Thrace Turks, population exchange, Turkish identity