EXCHANGES: THEY WERE TWICE STRANGERS

EXCHANGES: THEY WERE TWICE STRANGERS

Publisher: Lausanne Exchangees Foundation

Prepared for Publication: Sefer Güvenç

Translation: Sula Aslanoğlu, Tanaş Cimbis, Tutku Vardağlı

Cover Design: Kudret Güvenç

Report Writing: Çimen Turan

Size: 21×29.5 cm

Number of pages: 240

Print: Color

Language: Turkish and Greek

Printing House: GM Printing and Trading Inc.

Print date: September 2015, Istanbul

ISBN:978-605-64296-6-8

On January 30, 1923, a population exchange agreement was signed in Lausanne, Switzerland, between the Turkish Grand National Assembly Government and the Greek Government, which stipulated the obligatory exchange (exchange obligatoire) of “Turkish nationals of the Greek Orthodox religion settled in Turkish territory and Greek nationals of the Muslim religion settled in Greek territory.” With this agreement, which also included those who had left their homelands after October 18, 1912, approximately two million people from both countries were forced to leave the lands of their birth.

Due to the political tensions between Turkey and Greece in the past years, the vast majority of the exchangees passed away without seeing their homeland again. The softening of political relations between the two countries in recent years has increased the desire of the exchangees to visit the homeland of their ancestors. However, due to prejudices, there is hesitation about visiting rural areas and villages, especially those where exchangees settled.

In order to break down prejudices and end timidity, the Lausanne Emigrants Foundation has launched a project called “Emigrants: They Were Foreigners Twice.” Within the scope of the project, 21 Greek citizens who had never visited Türkiye before due to prejudices and timidity and 21 Turkish citizens who had never visited Greece, made a 3-day, 2-night visit to the places their elders had left.

A total of 42 people from both countries were interviewed for an oral history interview before the visit. Both groups were asked the same questions. They were asked about their families' migration stories, the problems they encountered in their new homelands, and their longing for the homelands their ancestors had left behind. A second interview was conducted with these people immediately after their visit. They were asked questions about how they were welcomed in the visited country, what excited them the most during their visit to their ancestors' homeland, what they felt, what the similarities and differences were between the two peoples, and whether their opinions had changed after the visit.

The book includes bilingual Turkish and Greek oral history interviews with 42 people who visited Turkey and Greece before and after their visits. The interviews conducted after the visit are included under the heading of “Impressions.”

During the interviews, old photographs from family albums were scanned and transferred to digital media. A bilingual exhibition of 42 panels, 70×100 cm, was prepared using old photographs from family albums, new photographs taken during the visits, and summaries of interviews before and after the visit. The exhibition panels, prepared in four colors, are included in the book, measuring 21×29.7.

Another important section of the book is the in-depth interview report of the project “Employees: They Were Twice Strangers”. The report is available in three languages: Turkish, Greek and English.

This book, published as part of the “Emigrants: They Were Twice Strangers” project, is the product of a collaborative effort. On behalf of the Lausanne Emigrants Foundation, we would like to express our endless gratitude to everyone who contributed and contributed.