The discovery of new Greeks. The cases of Gagauz in Moldova and "Pontians" in Turkey

This paper constitutes an effort to depict the policies exercised by the Greek State from the 1990s till the mid-2000s vis-à-vis two ethno-linguistic groups: the Turkish-speaking Orthodox Gagauz of Moldova and the Pontic-speaking Muslims of Eastern Black Sea. In addition, an attempt is made to interpret these policies, why and how they were launched, the purposes for which they were exercised and finally what they were aiming at. Our hypothesis is that the issue is not only connected to yet one more Greek-Turkish discord. We noticed that, beyond the dispute there are reasons relevant to the way the Greek nation, the national narrative and public history in Greece are constructed. That is the reason why emphasis is placed on the public discourse developing around these two groups.

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