Recent Studies on the September Pogrom in Istanbul 1955

2015/12/14 by Annika Törne · 1 citation
Social Sciences · Arts and Humanities · #Turkey's Politics and Society #Historical and Contemporary Political Dynamics #Balkans: History, Politics, Society

paper · doi:10.1163/1573384x-20150409

openalex publication_date 2015/12/14 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/05/21

Abstract

Drawing on theories of nationalism, two recent books by Dilek Güven and Ülkü Ağır engage with the September Pogrom in Istanbul on the 6th and the 7th of September 1955. To explain the pogrom’s emergence from its historical background both studies discuss the role of Young Turkish ideology, ethnic violence in the course of Turkish nation building, and the development of minority politics throughout the Turkish Republic. On the basis of interviews and archival materials, Dilek Güven meticulously reconstructs the course of events, the actors, their motives and the context. Ülkü Ağır analyses the Turkish press discourse in the pogrom’s preparatory phase focusing on the Greek Orthodox community. Critically discussing the two studies, this article scrutinises current conceptualisations of collective violence in research devoted to post-Genocidal Turkey.

Cited by

• Greece–Turkey relations [wikipedia]

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