Cultural identity in ‘fragile’ communities: Greek orthodox minority media in Turkey

Abstract

The appropriation of community media by ethno-religious minorities raises questions about the relationship between media, ethnicity, identity and citizenship. Scholars consider minority media institutions instrumental for the transmission of memory and traditions and the survival of language and culture against the homogenizing effects of national or global cultures, especially in the case of ‘fragile’ diasporic communities (Dayan 1998).1 This is of particular relevance to Greek community media in Istanbul,2 which constitute the focus of this chapter. The non-Muslim minority communities in Turkey, namely the Armenians, Jews and Istanbul Greeks are the legacy of the Ottoman Empire’s demographic make-up, which has dwindled dramatically over the 20th century. They were administered by one of the oldest system of governance of minorities, known as the millet system3 in the Ottoman Empire (Preece 1997). Due to their historical entitlement to certain cultural rights, these communities boast an uninterrupted and diverse media and publishing tradition since the Ottoman period. Thus, compared with ethnic media practices, which emerged in Europe as a result of contemporary skilled and nonskilled labour migration, the non-Muslim minority media in Turkey have a longer history making them one of the oldest ethnic/minority media examples in Europe.4. © 2014 Vally Lytra.