“Karaman Türkleri’nin Meşru Mücadelesi ve Türkiye Büyük Millet Meclisiyle Münasebetleri (1920-1923)

Abstract

"There is no doubt that this Turkish and Orthodox nation, known by names such as Orthodox Turks, Turkish Orthodox, Karaman Turks, Karamanids, is a part of the Turkish nation. Known to have come to Anatolia long before the Muslim Turks, the Karamanids also lived and served in the Byzantine Empire. During this period, they adopted the Orthodox sect of Christianity. Today, they are known as Gagauz in Moldova, and they speak Turkish, which is spoken by Turks living in any village in Central Anatolia because it is their mother tongue. With the conquest, they were brought from Karaman and its surroundings and settled to ensure demographic balance in Istanbul. Since the Karamanids were Orthodox, they were within the religious dominion of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Fener. With the influence of the nationalist movements that spread after the French Revolution, the efforts to realize the claims that all Orthodox were Greeks began to disturb the Karamanids. They opposed the Greekization and anti- state activities of the Fener Patriarchate. During the Turkish National Struggle, Papa Eftim led the Karamanites, who supported the Turkish Grand National Assembly Government against the occupation and despite all the negativities, in their struggle. They performed a very important and historical task in propaganda activities in which the Government of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey was not very successful. In the same period, they succeeded in establishing their own Independent Turkish Orthodox Patriarchate, despite their demands dating back to the Ottoman Empire. This was not easy and was achieved despite all the obstacles of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Fener. But in the end, they were all subjected to the exchange, except for Papa Eftim and a few Turkish Orthodox families, which they never expected at the Lausanne Conference negotiations."