Seeking Borders and Their Mythology in Western Thrace, Greece

Abstract

This article deals with the boundaries of western Thrace, a Greek region bordering both the Bulgarian (northern) and Turkish (eastern) Thrace. The main aim here is to re-contextualise the perspective of the residents of western Thrace on Thracian borders. Such an interpretive process has to take account of the political changes in the southern part of the Balkan Peninsula after the collapse of the communist regime in Bulgaria and the increasing incorporation of Greece into the political structures of the European Union. The aim of this article is to explore the function of the border of western Thrace, the furthest and easterly area of Greece, which, in the east, shares a border with Turkey. Specifically, Greek (eastern) Thrace is a part of the historic and geographical area of Thrace which today consists of two other parts belonging to Bulgaria (northern Thrace) and Turkey (eastern Thrace). What changes occurred in the perception of the border over the 20th century? What was the role of older narrative motifs in the representation of the border? And what is the situation at the beginning of the 21st century, assuming that Greek borders are also the borders of the European Union? How - and to what extent - is the geographical border related to the invisible borders between the ethnic groups of the Muslim minority, on the one hand, and between the Christian and the Muslim population on the other hand.