Reflections of the 1923 exchange of populations between Greece and Turkey to Yaşar Kemal, Ahmet Yorulmaz and Saba Altınsay's novels

The 1923 Exchange of Populations between Greece and Turkey as part of the Lausanne Treatywas a significant historical event for the establishment of nation states in both countries. Thisexchange of population was not a simple migration movement between the two countriesconcerned, but it also signified the extension of a change in the structure of the state that hadstarted long before this exchange.Great Empires of the Middle Ages started to collapse one by one after their long existingpopulations had gained a national consciousness, and the French Revolution emerged as asymbol of this process, and thus nation states started to appear at the places of those Empires.The Ottoman Empire was articulated to this process of nation formation with the start of themodernization movement. Some states, such as Greece, declared their independence in the lastCentury of the Empire that went through wars. During this process some problems in Greececontinued until the foundation of the Turkish Republic and sharp results were to a great extentobtained with the Protocole signed in Lausanne, in 1923.According to the decisions taken in the Lausanne Treaty, the Orthodox Christians that wereliving in Anatolia -with the exception of those living in stanbul-and were citizens of theTurkish Republic, and the Moslems that were living in Greece-with the exception of thoseliving in Western Thrace-and were citizens of the Greek Republic were subjected to mutualmigration. This obligatory exchange of the people didn?t remain in the political domain only,but was also reflected in the activities in art and literature of the countries at different times.The reception of images that had been formed in those countries in the course of time with aclose connection to historical events also varied.One of the primary aims of this thesis is to make a comparative analysis of the reflection of1923 Exchange of Populations as part of the Lausanne Treaty on Turkish Literature by takinginto consideration the relation of literature with history and political science. For this reason inorder to go beyond surface analysis, certain literary works of eminent authors have beenchosen that are analyzed in detail. These are the following novels; Yaşar Kemal?s Fırat SuyuKan Akıyor Baksana, Sab Altınsay?s Kritimu - Girit?im Benim, and Ahmet Yorulmaz?Savaşın Çocukları.Theories of Imagology and Reception Studies are used in interpreting the texts, the impact ofthe chosen works on literature are investigated, the way they dealt with the migration themeand the way the images have been formed are analyzed. One of the significant results that areobtained in the thesis is the importance that all three authors have attached to the togethernessof their people during this migration process that have also influenced the formation of theImage of the Turk and the Image of the Greek in the works that have been analyzed.