When Greeks and Turks Meet: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on the Relationship since 1923.

• Author: Christofis, Nikos
• Position: Book review

When Greeks and Turks Meet: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on the Relationship since 1923

Edited by Vally Lytra

Ashgate and Centre for Hellenic Studies, King's College London, 2014, 342 pages, 80.00 [pounds sterling], ISBN: 9781472406187.

When Greeks and Turks Meet, a collection of essays compiled under the editorship of Vally Lytra, who pens also the historical and theoretical introductory essay of the volume, is the product of collaboration between the Centre for Hellenic Studies at King's College London and the Turkish Studies programme at SOAS. The volume is a strong, successful move forward in de-mythologizing the dominant historiographical narratives of Greece, Turkey, and Cyprus, whose intertwined histories have led the countries to see each other as natural enemies engaged in a perpetual state of conflict. The fourteen essays in the volume are divided into three parts, and the essays take up varying perspectives ranging from history and international relations to linguistics and literature.

The first part of the book begins with Rene Hirschon's essay, which traces the interactions of history, memory, and emotion in the Greek-Turkish context and shows how this interaction has affected and influenced the relations of the two countries, to be complemented by Olga Demetriou, who adds to the examination of memory and loss, employing the latter concept as a distinct analytical category and opening up the way for further endeavours in the field. The concept of "loss" is masterfully utilized by Demetriou in her account of Greek-Turkish encounters and in particular as regards to Cyprus. Hercules Millas' essay adopts a comparative analysis of history textbooks and literature and seeks to highlight and promote to his students what he refers to as 'self-knowledge.' In the last essay of the first part, Panagiotis Poulos argues in favour of revisiting the shared Ottoman musical heritage of Greece and Turkey within the scope of modernity. Although the Rum musicians of Istanbul may have vanished, Poulos rightly argues that their disappearance was the result of "an outmoded world that both Greeks and Turks strived urgently to change." (p. 99)

The second part of the book presents three essays on Cyprus. In the first essay, JamesKer Lindsay takes up the vantage point of international relations and asks whether "a Cyprus solution still matters." The author states that in order to comprehend and "solve" the issue, all of the relevant actors should agree...