'Does it really exist?' Greek-Turkish friendship and the politics of rapprochement. A genealogical approach

14 Mar 2013 (18:00)

This lecture will focus on the multifaceted aspects of an ambiguous collocation that has been a constant denominator of Turkish-Greek relations. Throughout the last century until today,‘Turkish-Greek friendship’ has been appearing as a ‘name’ in constant repetition; a name that has been uttered and reproduced by diverse social groups at both sides of the Aegean sea: from head-of-state elites to civil society groups, from diplomats to artists, from radical leftists to businessmen. Adopting ‘Turkish-Greek friendship’ as a genealogical prism for re-viewing history since 1923, this lecture will examine how repetitions of ‘friendship’ meant—prominently—a change; a change in the meaning invested or the practices held under its name; a change that has been the outcome of a continuous struggle between different and competing visions for peace and reconciliation at the Aegean sea’s shores.