The Greek War of Independence in Turkish historiography

Abstract

How was the Greek War of Independence or the Greek Revolution narrated in Turkish historical texts? How did the Turkish historians’ approach to the establishment of the Greek State affect Greek–Turkish relations? On the occasion of the bicentenary of the Greek War of Independence, this article reviews the approaches of the Ottoman/Turkish historians to the Greeks, to the establishment of the Greek State and to outbreak the Greek Revolution, and demonstrates to what extent their perceptions have changed from the Ottoman period to the present day. Offering an analysis based on three historical periods (Ottoman rule to the 1920s, the 1930s to the1980s and from the 1990s to the present), the discussion highlights the prevalent approach of Turkish nationalist historiography in the 1970s and 1980s, and the influence on younger generations’ approaches to the Greek War of Independence. This article also tackles the issue of how this prevalent historiographical approach affected the Turkish–Greek relations, and conversely, how the trajectory of Turkish–Greek relations impacted the consolidation of such a narrative.