Conference
Date: Wednesday, November 20, 2024
Venue: Maraşlı School, Fener, Istanbul

In Memory of Alexis Alexandris

istos publishing and the Hrant Dink Foundation will host a conference titled “The 1964 Expulsions and the Istanbul Greeks on Its 60th Anniversary.”

In Modern Greek, the term “Poli,” meaning “City,” brings to mind Konstantinoupoli, or Istanbul. Today, the primary factor behind the drastic decrease in the Greek population, one of Istanbul’s oldest native communities, is the 1964 expulsion decision. With this decision, Greek nationals residing in Istanbul were expelled within a few weeks, and tens of thousands of Istanbul Greeks, including Turkish citizens, were forced to leave the city where they were born and grew up, a place that formed their identities. The expulsions of 1964 are as significant to the history of Istanbul Greeks as the Turkish-Greek Population Exchange (1923-24), the Wealth Tax (1942-43), and the September 6-7, 1955 pogrom. Even after 60 years, research on the 1964 expulsions remains scarce, and both Turkey and Greece have limited public awareness of this traumatic experience. A conference scheduled for November 20 will address this issue with the participation of witnesses who directly experienced these expulsions.

  • The conference will be in Greek and Turkish.
  • Simultaneous translation between Turkish and Greek will be provided.
  • Please fill out the form to register.

Conference Program:
9:30 Registration
9:45 Welcome Speech: His All Holiness Patriarch Bartholomew
10:00 Opening Speech: İlay Romain Örs
10:30 Panel 1: The 1964 Expulsions: Conceptual Discussions
Chair: Ayhan Aktar
Speakers: Hakan Yücel-Süheyla Yıldız, Ioannis Grigoriadis, Nikos Uzunoğlu, Rıdvan Akar
11:30 Coffee Break
11:45 Film Screening 1 with a Presentation by the Director: Melike Çapan
“We Will Meet Again: The 1964 Memory of Imbros” (2022)
12:45 Lunch Break
13:30 Panel 2: New Directions in the Study of the 1964 Expulsions
Chair: Seçkin Erdi
Speakers: Yorgos Katsanos, George Mavroudis, Elif Kevser Özer, Buket Cengiz
14:45 Coffee Break
15:00 Panel 3: Testimonies and Memories from the 1964 Expulsions
Chair: Manolis Kostidis (Rumvader)
16:30 Coffee Break
16:45 Film Screening 2 with a Presentation by the Director: Tassos Boulmetis
“Politiki Kouzina” (2004)
19:00 Closing

 

Panel 1 has been supported by the Hrant Dink Foundation within the scope of the Minority Rights Academy project funded by the European Union.