The Muslim minority in Thrace respecting the period 1923-1949

Abstract

This thesis inspects the evolution of the Muslim Turkish minority in Western Thrace the period of 1923-1949. It is constituted by three parts, the first one in respect of the legal texts regarding the minority, the second one in reference to the factors that contributed to the evolution of its identity and the last one with a presentation of a comparison of the minority with the Muslim minority in Bulgaria. Each chapter analyzes a different aspect of the minority’s history with the aim to enlighten some crucial points in order to understand its evolution. The dissertation is oriented to prove that the minority constituted a population that crystallized its structure by interacting into a dynamic environment where national, international, social and historical circumstances impacted its path to history.