Posted: 16.11.06 10:28. Post subject: Seminar in Istanbul: Economy and Society on Both Shores of the Aegean-Kaza of Gumuldjina

From: "Vangelis Kechriotis" <vangelis.kechriotis@gmail.com>

The series of monthly seminars, Economy and Society on Both Shores of the
Aegean, organized by the Ottoman Bank Museum in collaboration with Alpha
Bank and the History Department of Boрazici University, hosts Paraskevas
Konortas on Friday, November 17, with a presentation in English entitled,
"Collective Identities in the Kaza of Gumuldjina (1870-1913): Demography
and Nationalisms," in which he discusses Thrace and, in particular,
Gumuldjina during the late Ottoman period.

Based on Ottoman, Greek and Bulgarian demographical sources as well as on
other documents relating to them, Konortas will attempt to show in his
lecture, that at least until the Balkan Wars and the Lausanne Treaty, the
vast majority of the population in this area (Muslims, Orthodox,
Exarchists and a few Armenians, Jews and foreigners) had no clear national
identity. "At the time, the kaza of Gumuldjina was inhabited mostly by
Muslims," says Konortas, "but the antagonistical nationalisms (Greek and
Bulgarian) seemed to ignore them, focusing instead on the Orthodox
population and trying to transform them from patriarchist and exarchist to
Greek and Bulgarian respectively."

The monthly seminar series, Economy and Society on Both Shores of the
Aegean, presented free of charge for two years now, will come to an end
with our final guest speaker, Assoc. Prof. Engin Berber, from the
Department of International Relations at Ege University, and his
presentation entitled, "Life under Greek Occupation in Rural Anatolia: The
Foзa Example" scheduled for Friday, December 15.

Paraskevas Konortas

After having studied law in Athens and history in Paris, Paraskevas
Konortas obtained his Ph.D in history from the Paris-I Sorbonne University
in 1985, with a thesis entitled "The Juridical and Political Relationship
between the Orthodox Patriarchate of Constantinople and the Ottoman
Administration (1453-1600)." Aside from his book "Ottoman Considerations
on the Oecumenical Patriarchate (17th Century to the Beginning of the 20th
Century)", he has published a number of articles on various topics
concerning the status of the Orthodox Church and Orthodox people under the
Ottoman administration, as well as on the status of the Moslem minorities
in Greece (1821-1981) and the making of nations in Southeastern Europe
(1850-1923). Paraskevas Konortas currently teaches Ottoman history in the
Department of History and Archaeology at Athens University.
ECONOMY AND SOCIETY ON BOTH SIDES OF THE AEGEAN
"Collective Identities in the Kaza of Gumuldjina (1870-1913): Demography
and Nationalism"
Assoc. Prof. Paraskevas Konortas
Osmanlэ Bankasэ Mьzesi



Date: Friday, November 17, 2006
Time: 5:00 p.m.
Place: The Ottoman Bank Museum
Address: 35-37 Banks (Voyvoda) Street Karakцy
Contact: (212) 334 22 70

*******************************
Vangelis Kechriotis
Assist. Prof. of Balkan History
History Department
Bogazici University
Bebek 34342 Istanbul, Turkey