ECONOMIC AND DEMOGRAPHIC DEVELOPMENT OF THE WESTERN THRACE TURKS IN HISTORICAL PROCESS

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All rights of the Western Thrace Turkish Minority are guaranteed by international treaties. However, in practice several discriminative policies were applied against the minority. In this study, economic discrimination policies will be examined. As a result of housing and property policies Turkish population has decreased from 67% to 33% within the region. Land ownership decreased from 84% to 18 % (approximately). The only source of livelihood for 80% of the Turkish Population is agriculture. This land manipulation has serious results. People in the region were subjected to negative discrimination and lost their lands due to several reasons. This situation created different welfare standards among same citizens in the region who are members of different communities. Additionally, Minority didn’t sufficiently benefit from EU regional funding applications, which provides important contributions to the development of the region. Despite the continuation of political problems, today we can say that economic problems of the Minority, in micro base, are common with the majority Greeks. They are not peculiar to Turkish Minority. But if we look at the Turkish Villages and Turkish Districts in the region; it is obvious that, the state of being more underdeveloped than the Greek inhabited places, which has been created in a century, cannot be eliminated in a decade.

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Greece , Western Thrace Turkish Minority , Economy , Demography.

Journal Of Balkan Research Institute - Trakya University

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Journal Of Balkan Research Institute - Trakya University