The cobble stoned streets, the architecture, the house decorations...this may be Greek...
The emphasis on grapes, the local boutique wineries...this may be Greek...
the waterfront dining, the "ambiance"...this may be Greek..
But was my breakfast Greek...put out by Mehmet...a man named perhaps after the Turk conquerer of Istanbul....
Is the stone guest house, set in the midst of grapevines, Greek? Is Mehmet, the former accountant who runs the guest house and who lives in Istanbul in the winter Greek somehow?
I think that "Greek town" is no more Greek than "Little Italy" in New York City is Italy. When the Ottoman Empire was "pluralistic," that is, a complex of communities: Muslim, Jewish, Orthodox, then Tenedos, as Bozcaada was known, was Greek. Now it is an integral part of Turkey...it is Turkish.
Calling it "Greek town" while good for tourism allows Turkey to deny that being Turkish often may look a lot like being Greek. And that is o.k. The country is perhaps a lot more plural...even after the Greeks and Armenians and other minorities have been pushed out or fled or been killed...than its political leaders would like the citizens to believe.
Location:Bozcaada Tenedos
