Hellenoturkism (Greek:Ελληνοτουρκισμός,romanized: Ellinotourkismós;Turkish:Helenotürkizm) is a political concept that encompasses two things: a fact of civilization (i.e. the co-habitation and interdependence, since the 11th century) of theGreek andTurkish peoples and cultures, and a political ideology based on the above civilizational phenomenon, which aims at establishing a Hellenic–Turkish political ensemble, national, and cultural identity.
Most believers in the ideology support differing main principles and points, although generally supported ideas are that, one, both nations and peoples share similar cultures, traditions, histories, and also a mixed genetic similarity.
Such a unification could create a new global and regional, military and economic power within theEuropean Union andNATO, which could also peacefully resolve ongoing disputes between the Cypriot, Greek, and Turkish states and communities such as theCyprus problem, theAegean problems, and also Maritime-border disputes in the Mediterranean between the two Cypriot communities and three nations.
According toDimitri Kitsikis, from the time of thePersian Empire andAlexander the Great, to the collapse of theOttoman Empire in the 20th century A.D., theIntermediate Region has been covered by an ecumenical empire that had common civilizational characteristics, despite the fact that it passed into the hands successively of the Persians, to the Greeks, to the Romans, to the Byzantines and, finally, to the Ottomans. This central civilization of the Intermediate Region, existing since the time of Cyrus the Great, bore the characteristics, since the 11th century A.D. and for the last thousand years, of Greek and Turkish cultures. The Ecumenicity of the Empire was Hellenoturkism.[1]
In the 15th century, a Greek philosopher,George of Trebizond, 1395-1484 (the date of his death varies from 1472 to 1486 depending on the sources), who aimed at synthesizing Islam in the form ofAlevism and Christianity in the form ofGreek Orthodoxy,[2] is considered by some supporters of Hellenoturkism as one of the main thinkers and founders of their ideology.[3] He addressed the new ruler of the Empire,Fatih, or Mehmed the Conqueror, in a letter of 1466 as the legal emperor of the Romans and of the whole earth, and also as the common emperor of both Romans and Turks.[4]
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In the 20th century, the ideology of Hellenoturkism was revived by the historianDimitri Kitsikis who beginning in 1966, with numerous books, articles and conference papers focussed on the subject, and with political activity in both Greece and Turkey, as an advisor of both Greek PresidentKonstantinos Karamanlis and of Turkish PresidentTurgut Özal, strove to establish the basis of a Turkish-Greek Confederation.[5]
According to proponents, a bilingual "Greek Turkish Confederation" (East Mediterranean Confederation) betweenGreece,Turkey andCyprus (with national capitals inAthens,Ankara andNicosia, and Confederation parliament inIstanbul) would (to an extent) be a reincarnation of theByzantine/Ottoman Empires; thus filling the political, cultural and economic vacuum left behind by the absence of these two historic superpowers in the East Mediterranean region. It would have the largest economy and military in the area covering theBalkans, theMiddle East, theEast Mediterranean, theCaucasus andCentral Asia, and could become a key globalgreat power due to its geographic location.
However today, Hellenoturkism has little support in Turkey or Greece (excluding Cyprus).[citation needed] Although it has significantly grown in recognition, support and popularity as a result of its presentation in digital media and online platforms or forums.[citation needed]
Meanwhile in the recognized Cyprus and unrecognizedNorth Cyprus; the ideas of a united Cypriot federation,Taksim (Partition between Greece & Turkey) byTurks, andEnosis (Unification with Greece) byGreeks are more common.
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According to Yannis Mazis, professor ofTurkology & Eurasian Sciences inBoğaziçi University; Papadopulos "saw the possibility of such a confederation as realistic, and possible to come true within the next 40 years at that time".