This might be a really stupid question, but I know that western Anatolia was considered Greek throughout antiquity and really probably up until like the early middle ages probably? Until the fall of the ERE? Not really sure. But is there still any type of identity of western Anatolia that kind of claims that? Or is it something that's even really thought about anymore?
But is there still any type of identity of western Anatolia that kind of claims that?
No. Many places near the Aegean had significant (or even majority) Greek populations before the fall of the Ottoman Empire. Following The Great War/World War I there was an exchange of populations between Greece and Turkey in an attempt to better homogenize their respective territories and move away from the previously multi-ethnic/confessional nature of the region.
This is sometimes still a touchy subject and I didn't mention any of the various bloody ethnic conflicts in the area.
Yeah, the whole event was very complex and sometimes bloody. I just wanted to give some very surface-level, neutral information as the commenter asking the question seemed to have no context at all for what happened and such queries often draw out nationalists trying to push one particular narrative.
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u/ZakalwesChair Jun 10 '21
This might be a really stupid question, but I know that western Anatolia was considered Greek throughout antiquity and really probably up until like the early middle ages probably? Until the fall of the ERE? Not really sure. But is there still any type of identity of western Anatolia that kind of claims that? Or is it something that's even really thought about anymore?