Communal Relations in İzmir/Smyrna, 1826-1864: As Seen Through The Prism of Greek-Turkish Relations

This dissertation examines the level of social and cultural interaction between the Greek and Turkish communities of İzmir and the impact of the centralizing Ottoman reforms on the society of İzmir during the age of the Ottoman modernization. It focuses on the years between 1826 and 1864 that marked a turning point in the administrative history of the Ottoman Empire. Analyzing this subject requires understanding the social-cultural and economic dynamics of İzmir that played a crucial role in the formation of the social fabric of the city. Ottoman-Turkish archival material and to some extent Greek newspapers of the time are used as primary sources. The sources discussed in this dissertation demonstrate that the central authority attempted to re-integrate İzmir into its administrative and political structure in accordance with the centralizing or repressive Tanzimat reforms. However, Tanzimat reforms did not disturb the social cohesion of İzmir, which the city produced over the centuries with its local character and some peculiar dynamics. The evidence also indicates that the Empire did not aim to mold social relations in İzmir, instead benefited from city’s already existing social-cultural and economic situation, which was well suited to its modernization program. This study attempts to write a social and cultural history of İzmir, by considering the ethno-religious policies of the Ottoman state in the given period and questioning Ottoman modernity through the prism of the Greek-Turkish communal relations. Much of the conventional Turkish and Greek historiography of the post WWI years has analyzed 19th century İzmir's history in terms of two “conflicting nations.” While Turkish historiography has focused on the ethnic homogeneity of Turks and its history, modern Greek historiography has stressed the suppression of the Ottoman Greeks under the Ottoman rule. Such approaches have engendered the commonly used categories of Greek versus Turkish or Muslim versus non-Muslim. Approaching İzmir as an organic whole, instead of dividing the city according to ethno-religious criterion, this dissertation tries to uncover the dynamics of coexistence and communal relations, which marked the life of the city for centuries, but was brought to an abrupt end as a result of the modern nation state formations.

Department dc:contributor.department

Near and Middle Eastern Civilizations

Year dc:date.issued

2012

Author dc:creator

• Tansug, N. Feryal

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Aksan, Virginia

• İzmir
• Smyrna

Statement dc:rights

• Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.5 Canada

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.5/ca/

Language dc:language.iso

en_ca

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1807/33841

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:utoronto.scholaris.ca:1807/33841