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

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 populations. 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 community councils, minority schools, muftis and vakfs were fitted into a minority protection 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 entails. 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 affiliation or the application of the Sharia. 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.