Educating the Muslim minority in Western Thrace

Abstract

A large-scale, interdisciplinary Project for Reform in the Education of Muslim Children (PEM) in Western Thrace, Greece, was implemented during the years 1977-2004. Although PEM was a specifically educational project entailing teaching Greek as a second language, development of educational materials, teacher training and academic outcome, it was bound to involve identity issues and directly or indirectly embrace the entire Thracian community. A historical and socio-political background is provided in order for the reader to understand the way power is negotiated between majority and minority and the controversies that characterize educational policy and instructional practices in such a context of ethnic, religious and linguistic diversity.

The Muslim Minority of Western Thrace in Greece: An Internal Positive or an Internal Negative “Other”?

“…Thalia Dragonas and Anna Frangoudaki argue that "the Turkish government, like the Greek for that matter, is supporting a policy of homogenization with regard to ethnic differences within its borders, but wants to protect the ethnic distinctiveness of its minorities outside the country". 100 The Greek -Turkish rapprochement, Ali Adnan Ertekin Menderes' tolerance towards Islamic principles, the creation of the Turkish consulate in Komotini and the nationalistic propaganda through the minority press and associations, and finally the broadcast of Turkish television channels through the satellite dishes which are provided by the Turkish government, led to the promotion of a Turkish consciousness in Western Thrace. "Turkey's patronage actively intensified in the 1980s"; 101 minority's political mobilization against its rights' curtailment and demand for official recognition as a Turkish minority, was strongly reinforced by the Turkish government through moral and financial support in cooperation with the Turkish consulate in Komotini.…”

“…However, as Dragonas and Frangoudaki point out, "this fear is actually not realistic, since urbanization and modernization processes have caused the average minority family to have fewer children, so that it is now gradually approaching Greek national standards". 113 "Numerically", the Muslim minority and generally "the religious minorities in Greece are few and cannot pose any realistic threat to the Greco-Orthodox social order". 114 The Muslim minority although cannot disrupt the religious and cultural order of Greece, it may definitely be perceived as a political threat that supports internal and external tendencies and thus challenges the country's unity.…”

“…"Like any contemporary society, it consists of conflicting social interests, differing readings of modernity and secularization". 108 The supporters of liberalism and non-nationalist elements of the majority population have supported the redefinition of Greek policy towards the minority and the regional economic or political-institutional reforms which have eliminated its economic depression and political exclusion. "They have adopted a pro-European attitude and feel comfortable with the notion of multiple identities".…”

“…46 In 1968, the new Greek -Turkish Cultural Protocol, emphasizing repetitively the principle of reciprocity, "regulated co-operation between the two states with regard to the technical assistance provided for each other's minority education". 47 The same year, the establishment of the Special Pedagogical Academy (EPATH) in Thessaloniki is considered a watershed in the history of minority education. Members of the Muslim minority, exclusively of Pomak origin, were trained for two years as prospective minority teachers on the Turkish curriculum at the EPATH.…”

“…127 "However, the de-intensification in majority -minority relations in the early 1990s and the reforms instigated thereafter opened up novel challenges for the minority". 128 The positive discrimination measure concerning easier access to academic education, the European-funded large-scale educational projects, the production of new educational materials, the teacher training and the pilot project of Turkish language teaching in Greek mainstream secondary schools, acted as an incentive to decrease the relatively high drop-out among minority pupils that leads to social exclusion. Nevertheless, the choice of a Greek public school over a minority school appears as a cultural dilemma for the minority parents.…”