The language situation of Turks in Thessaloniki

In this study, language usage of Turks who living in Thessaloniki, personal and emotional language choices, linguistic attitudes towards Turkish and Greek language were examined with the relationship between gender, age, educational background and identity perception variables.Although the language case studies have been conducted with the native speakers of Turkish in different countries and cities, it was seen that Thessaloniki, the city of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, which is very valuable for us in terms of history and politics, is deprived of these studies. In addition, the studies are generally carried out in regions where the Turks live intensely together. What distinguishes this work from others is the fact that in Thessaloniki which is a cultural mosaic with its cosmopolitan structure since history who is a small number of Turks live and these people continue their social lives in a disconnected way. In this respect, the linguistic situations, language maintenance and cultural orientations of the people in this multicultural city have been the subject of interest. This study is a descriptive research based on survey technique which is one of the quantitative research methods. While the relationships between the measured variables can be examined in the survey studies, the characteristics of the universe and the relations between the variables can also be described. In this study, chi-square tests were used to examine the relationships of variables. The participants of the study consisted of 64 people from different age, gender and profession groups living in Thessaloniki, Greece. The data were collected by using a questionnaire developed by Yağmur which measures the language attitude, language choice, language change and language maintenance of the Turkish minority in different periods and in different geographies. The survey questions the personal characteristics of the participants, self-efficacy in Turkish and other languages, which language they prefer to use in personal and emotional activities and social networks, and their attitudes towards Turkish and other language. After the questions in the survey were directed to the participant group, the data obtained were analyzed by a statistical program and the computerized statistical procedures were applied. The findings of the study indicated that Turkish had a 64% linguistic continuity in Thessaloniki this tells us that even though Turkish continues its maintenance, it poses a threat especially for the younger generation. It was observed that Turkish was the most effective language of communication in the family and the general attitude of the participants was positive towards Turkish. However, it was found that this positive attitude in general decreased in the young Turkish population. Especially in social environments, it is seen that Greek is preferred. Although a positive table can be seen on behalf of Turkish and Turkish identity in general terms, studies should be conducted especially for our young generations for the future of Turkish in the Balkans.