The Pending Modernisation of Islam in Greece: From Millet to Minority Status
The Pending Modernisation of Islam in Greece: From Millet to Minority Status

Summary/Abstract: Abstract: Since its creation in 1830, the Greek state has taken advantage of the long experience of the Ottoman millet system when dealing with its own Muslim popula-tions. In 1881 (and again in 1913), when a Muslim minority was officially recognised and its legal status was regularised, millet-like internal institutions such as local com-munity councils, minority schools, muftis and vakıfs were fitted into a minority protec-tion framework. Today the legal status governing the Turkish/Muslim minority of Western Thrace has been preserved as an institutional fossil, as a hybrid "neo-millet" keeping millet-like minority rights in parallel to the nexus of rights that citizenship en-tails. However, this legal status of the minority often creates conflicts of legal norms, as it is the case with the enjoyment of linguistic rights on the basis of religious affilia-tion or the application of the Shari‛a. Which principle will prevail? Minority rights or fundamental human rights? Community affiliation or citizenship? Examining the legal status of Islam in Greece, one could draw useful lessons for the ongoing discussions on the place of Islam in Europe.

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