[36] Modern-day Greeks call their language (Hellenika), meaning Greek, an appellation that replaced the previous term Romeiika in the early 19th century. Eurostat estimations as of January 2008 gave the number of 11,214,992 inhabitants in the Greek peninsula. To qualify for the position a man must graduate from a madrasah, essentially a religious school, and in three districtsXanthi, Komotini and Didymotichionhe is elected by those registered as Muslims. In Silk, Michael & Alexandra Georgakopoulou (eds.). Being seen as a remnant of the former Ottoman Empire and culturally similar to an alien country (Turkey), many Turks do not show interest in the Islamic faith in order not to face discrimination by the Greek state. She went against Greece due to a dispute over inheritance rights with the sisters of the deceased husband. According to the 1991 census, there were 98,000 Muslims in western Thrace, 50% of them of Turkish ethnic origin, with 35% Pomaks and the remaining 15% Roma. [43], Some Grecophone Muslims of Crete composed literature for their community in the Greek language, such as songs, but wrote it in the Arabic alphabet. In Turkey, where most Greek-speaking Muslims live, there are various groups of Grecophone Muslims, some autochthonous, some from parts of present-day Greece and Cyprus who migrated to Turkey under the population exchanges or immigration. The Muslim population in Greece is not homogeneous, since it consists of different ethnic, linguistic and social backgrounds which often overlap. The largest are Plomari, Kalloni, the Gera Villages, Agiassos, Eresos, and Molyvos (the ancient Mythimna). [3] June 28, 2022 How Greece became Turkey: Anatomy of an Unequal Partition - An Indian perspective by Guest Contributor How Turkey is Islamizing its former Christian colonies after an unequal partition while claiming secular character. Greece - United States Department of State [] There are [for example] some Greeks who were taken in the War of Independence. Article 11 of the According to official statistics 46,638 Muslims (most of them being of Turkish origin) from Thrace and the Dodecanese islands lost their citizenships from 1955 to 1998, until the law was non-retroactively abolished in 1998. Turks of Western Thrace - Wikipedia The bill passed by the Greek Parliament and was hailed by the Muslim minority as a historic step. [30], Many Pontic natives were converted to Islam during the first two centuries following the Ottoman conquest of the region. Katsikas, Stefanos (2012). Today, the . However, as with Yunan (Turkish for "Greek") or the English word "Greek," this term 'is associated in Turkey to be with Greece and/or Christianity, and many Pontic Greek Muslims refuse such identification. Because of this outcome, Molla Sali was set to lose three-quarters of the property bestowed to her by her late husband. Minorities in Greece - Wikipedia Greece Muslims by Today's Zaman - Muslim Population K. Tsitselikis. Greek Orthodox 81-90%, Muslim 2%, other 3%, none 4-15%, unspecified 1% (2015 est.) January 30, 2023, marks 100 years since the signing of the Treaty of Lausanne a treaty codifying the compulsory "population exchange" between Greece and Turkey and led to an estimated 1.6 million people being forcibly expelled from their homes. Several decades later in 1843, the English traveler and writer Sir John Gardner Wilkinson described the state of enslaved Greeks who had converted to Islam in Egypt: White Slaves In Egypt there are white slaves and slaves of colour. Cambodia has the highest percentage of Buddhists at 97.9%, followed by Thailand at 94.6% and Burma (Myanmar) with 87.9%. p. 119. With many Turks and Muslim Albanians on islands such as Rhodes and Kos, as well as the hundreds of thousands of immigrants living in Athens, the fact that Athens had no mosque became a matter . The majority of the immigrant Muslim community resides in Athens. 5 facts about the Muslim population in Europe - Pew Research Center p. 1997. [32] Over the years, heavy emigration from the Trabzon region to other parts of Turkey, to places such as Istanbul, Sakarya, Zonguldak, Bursa and Adapazar, has occurred. This action provokes international criticism. 4.7% of People in Greece Are Muslims - GreekReporter.com [22] The Convention of Lausanne in 1923, applied to entire Greece except for the Dodecanese islands. Lesbos - Wikipedia According to the Greek government, the elections by which Mr Aga and Mr erif were appointed were rigged and involved very little participation from the minority. The Muslim (primarily Sunni) minority, which constitutes most of the non-Orthodox sector of the population, is mainly Turkish and concentrated in western Thrki and the Dodecanese. Minorities agreed to annul their previous special status and be subject to the new The Turkish Civil Code. But in recent years, tens of thousands of Muslims have migrated to Greece from Africa, the Middle. Houstonians worry new laws will deter voters who don't recall the hard Their settlements, mosques and walls were torn down after the Byzantine reconquest of Crete in 961 AD. The Vallahades were resettled in western Asia Minor, in such towns as Kumburgaz, Bykekmece, and atalca or in villages like Honaz near Denizli. The non-Hispanic white population of Texas fell below 50% for the first time between 2000 and 2010, when it made up 45% of the total, and continued to decline through 2020 to 41%, according to the . "Blame it on the Turko-Romnioi (, Kappler, Matthias (1996). Today Greek-speaking Muslims numbering about 5-5,500 live on Kos and Rhodes because Dodecanese Islands then governed by Italy were not a part of Greece and therefore they were exempt from the population exchange. Muslims in Greece Young Greeks at the Mosque ( Jean-Lon Grme, oil on canvas, 1865); this oil painting portrays Greek Muslims at prayer in a mosque ). (1954). [40], Today, in various settlements along the Aegean coast, elderly Grecophone Cretan Muslims are still conversant in Cretan Greek. The Nature of the Early Ottoman State, Heath W. Lowry, 2003 SUNY Press, p.153. [3], Finally, 0.5% of places in Greek higher education institutions are reserved for members of the minority. [72], In the Middle Ages, after the Seljuq victory over the Byzantine Emperor Romanus IV, many Byzantine Greeks were taken as slaves to Central Asia. Even though the case was remitted afterward, nothing has changed and Molla Sali's appeal got rejected. [verification needed] Last, the Muslims from Epirus that were of mainly Albanian origin are described as Cham Albanians instead. 14531821. THESSALONIKI, Greece (AP) Ahmet Mete, who was recognized by Turkey but not by Greece as the elected mufti for the Muslim population in the Xanthi region, died Thursday at age 57, his family said. [60] Moreover, Chelebi does not mention at all the 12 so-called Konyar Turkish villages that are mentioned in the 18th-century Menkbnme of Turahan Bey, such as Lygaria, Fallani, Itea, Gonnoi, Krokio and Rodia, which were referenced by Ottoman registrars in the yearly books of 1506, 1521. and 1570. One of the two areas is the principle of equality of the sexes; Islamic laws that deal with divorce and polygamy prove the unequal treatment of the sexes. Despite these differences among this Muslim minority of Greece, they all seem to mostly agree on the important aspects of Islamic law regarding their personal status, which is namely considered to be Hanafi law as it was in the Ottoman Empire. Greece Greek Muslim Population Percentage 2017 1927: 128. Under Greek law, the state has the right to choose the Moslem minority's 2 Muftis. Article 45: Report about Compliance with the Principles of the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities, "New law for the Sharia status in Greece (original: N )", "Myths and Truths about the Muslim Minority (original: )", "Human rights court rules against Greece in Sharia law case", "ECHR condemns Greece over mandatory Sharia Law in Thrace", "Deutsche Welle: ", "PM Tsipras: Draft bill on Sharia law "a historic step for Greece", "Greece's Muslim minority hails change to limit power of sharia law", "Greece limits power of sharia law for its Muslim minority", "Pomak Association of Xanthi: We are not Turks, we are Greek! Greek Muslims, also known as Grecophone Muslims,[1][2][3][4][5][6] 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. "The Turks of Cyprus.". It numbered 97,605 (0.91% of the population) according to the 1991 census, [1] and unofficial estimates ranged up to 140,000 people or 1.24% of the total population, according to the United States Department of State. See Hugh Poulton, 'The Balkans: minorities and states in conflict', Minority Rights Publications, 1991. At that time, people were bound to their millets by their religious affiliations (or their confessional communities), rather than by their ethnic origins. The first and the widespread one states that Sharia law should be applied only to the Muslim community in the Western Thrace region and that other Muslims across Greece (including those on Dodecanese islands) should be under the jurisdiction of the Greek Civil Code, which took effect in 1946. Part 1, Peace Treaty. [23], Pontic Greek (called Romika in the Pontus, not Pontiak as it is in Greece), is spoken by large communities of Pontic Greek Muslim origin, spread out near the southern Black Sea coast. [20], The main minority grievance regards the appointment of muftis. [10] In addition, there are very few Muslim cemeteries forcing some to travel hundreds of kilometres to bury their dead. Successive Greek governments and officials consider the Turkish-speaking Muslims of Western Thrace as part of the Greek Muslim minority and not as a separate Turkish minority. These communities are thought to have abandoned Greek in the course of integration. In the Of valley, which contains the largest cluster of Pontian speakers. "The legal status of Islam in Greece," 44/3 Die Welt des Islams, pp. [11][12] According to the lawyers, this was a big step since, as the minority's issues would be, from now on, judged according to the Greek law instead, which gives same rights to men and women, unlike Sharia. Serbian Academy of Science and Arts. population.com Greece Muslims by Today's Zaman . Greece - United States Department of State Greek Muslims - Wikipedia There are 23 Grecophone Muslim villages in, Twelve Grecophone Muslim villages are also located in the, This page was last edited on 20 August 2023, at 02:11. Islam in Greece Country Outlook - muslimpopulation.com [21], Greek has a specific verb, (tourkevo), meaning "to become a Turk. [41], Cretan Muslims have largely settled on the coastline, stretching from the anakkale to skenderun. [9], For prayers that are required to be performed in congregation, the Thessaloniki Muslim community meets inside apartments, basements, and garages for worship. Treaty of Lausanne. At the end of the first Balkan war in 1913, Greece and Turkey signed the Athens Treaty of Peace. [17], The second case are the Albanian immigrants who have shown a preference for rapid assimilation into Greek culture. [28], Greece and Turkey signed the Convention of Istanbul in 1881, which was the first groundwork for the Islamic religious courts. Estimates of the recognized Muslim minority, which is mostly located in Thrace, range from 98,000 to 140,000 (between 0.9% and 1.2%), while the immigrant Muslim community numbers between 200,000 and 300,000. In Greece the mufti is a civil servant whose basic salary is paid by the Greek government. China has the largest Buddhist population with 254.7 million, followed by Thailand at 66.1 million, Burma ( Myanmar) with 41.44 million, and Japan with 41.38 million. PEW estimates that they will reach 8% by 2030. He says that the peoples of Gastouni speak Uruma, but that they were devout and friendly nonetheless. [33][34], This article is about Islam in Greece in general. Greek-speaking Muslims lived in Thessaly,[57] mostly centered in and around cities such as Larissa, Trikala, Karditsa, Almyros, and Volos. [29], The applicability of Sharia law was restricted in 2018, when a law was passed eliminating the mandatory enforcement of the Sharia Law, and limiting its powers, making it optional, and restricted to cases when all parties accept its jurisprudence. Islam is the state religion in Qatar. [22] There have been many international conventions between Greece and Turkey starting in 1881, which have dealt with the Greek minority in Turkey and the Turkish minority in Greece. According to Lampros Koutsonikas, Muslims in the kaza of Elassona lived in six villages such as Stefanovouno, Lofos, Galanovrysi and Domeniko, as well as the town itself and belonged to the Vallahades group. [3] The Pomak language (which is essentially considered a dialect of Bulgarian), however, is not taught at any level of the education system. In 2018, the elected Mufti of Xanthi was Mr Aga and the government recognized one was Mr Sinikolu; the elected Mufti of Komotini was Mr erif and the government recognized one was Mr Cemali. The country's Muslim population decreased significantly as a result of the 1923 population exchange agreement between Greece and the new Turkish Republic, which also uprooted approximately 1.5 million Greeks from Asia Minor. 15 European Countries With Most Muslims - WorldAtlas Werner, Arnold (2000). The first group are the Turks of the Dodecanese. There are, on the other hand, areas of conflict between the basis of Sharia family law and both Greek and international legal systems. In fact, he specifically states that the Sheikh used the word "" to define men, and he quotes the Vezir as saying, ..[63] British Consul-General John Elijah Blunt observed in the last quarter of the 19th century, "Greek is also generally spoken by the Turkish inhabitants, and appears to be the common language between Turks and Christians.". 2 The Muslim share of Europe's total population has been increasing steadily and will continue to grow in the coming decades. Greece - United States Department of State [36] In Turkey, standard modern Greek is called Yunanca; ancient Greek is called either Eski Yunanca or Greke.[36]. This would have given the opportunity to other members of the family to claim parts of the deceased's property.
Hud Housing Youngstown Ohio, Articles G