Beyond the Greek and Turkish Dichotomy: TheRum Politesof Istanbul and Athens

Abstract

Rum Polites are a community known otherwise as Constantinopolitan Greeks, İstanbullu Rum or Konstantinoupolites. By combining these two terms—one in Turkish, one in Greek—I examine the wider sense of cultural identity that situates this group beyond any simplistic division between Greeks and Turks. An ethnographic insight into the Rum Polites indicates the importance of the idea of belonging, which is based on an urban cosmopolitan legacy, that of Istanbul, ‘the City’. This perspective effectively challenges conventional categories such as minority, diaspora or refugee that are founded on the primacy of the nation-state.

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