"The Displacement and Extinction of the Pontic-Greeks. 1915-1923."
Internationale Konferenz
Berlin, Germany
25.-26.2.2016

Over the last years the genocide committed against the Armenian has received more and more scientific and popular attention. Thanks to a growing number of international scientists devoted to the elucidation and reappraisal of the Armenian-Ottoman past the historical processes leading to the extinction of the majority of the Armenian population within the Ottoman Empire have been traced and investigated. However, as recent international research has emphasized, the Armenian genocide by the Young-Turkish government has to be understood as only one chapter of an overall campaign of the Young-Turkish and Kemalist government against the non-Muslim (and later non-Turkish) communities. Besides the Armenians, particularly Greek communities in Asia Minor were affected most in terms of forced migration and atrocities, committed in the interests of specific Young-Turkish and Kemalist visions of the Ottoman space between 1913 and 1923. In this regard, the governmental campaign reached its violent climax in the genocide of the Greek communities in the Pontic area at the shores of the Black Sea. Albeit the killing of the Pontic Greek has become increasingly prominent in Anglo-American historical research, it still continues to be a desideratum within the European field of research.

The aim of the upcoming conference is thus both to raise awareness about what happened to the Pontic-Greek community during the Young-Turkish and Kemalist regimen and to promote the international and interdisciplinary collaboration within this field of research. As the displacement and extinction of the Pontic-Greek community has to be contextualized as part of the complex socio-political relations between Muslim/Turkish hegemony and non-Muslim/non-Turkish communities, the conference intends to bring together the expert knowledge of international scholars working within the fields of the late Ottoman, Young-Turkish and Kemalist period, Greco-Turkish relations and the Greek diaspora.

Multidisciplinary papers are most welcome and should be related to the general issue of the conference. Possible topics include but are not limited to:

- Greek communities in the late Ottoman period
- The Balkan Wars and first exchanges of population
- Young-Turkish nationalism and anti-Greek actions around World War I
- Greek interests in the Balkan and Anatolia (megali idea)
- Kemalist socio-political visions and the Eastern Question
- The Greco-Turkish War 1919-1922
- The Treaty of Lausanne 1923 and the Greco-Turkish exchange of population
- The displacement and extinction of the Pontic-Greeks
- Aftermath, representation and denial of the genocide

Applicants for the conference are requested to send an abstract of no more than 600 words and a short CV indicating their academic affiliation. We welcome scientists from all related disciplines (e.g. history, sociology, political science) working on the topic to apply. The presentation should be limited to 30 minutes. After the presentation there will be time for a 30-minute discussion on the topic of the paper. The conference will be conducted in English and German. The publication of an edited volume based on a major part of the conference papers is planned.

Expenses for travel and accomodation will be covered. Applications should be sent both to idg@ruhr-uni-bochum.de and pontic@ruhr-uni-bochum.de by October 15, 2015. An answer will be given by November1, 2015, and a detailed programme will be published on the conference's website: www.rub.de/pontic