Back	At the Ottoman Bank Museum 80 Years of Longing: Reunion of Displaced Turks and Greeks The series of monthly seminars, "Economy and Society on Both Shores of the Aegean," organized by the Ottoman Bank Museum, in collaboration with Alpha Bank and the History Department of Boğaziçi University, will focus month this month on the Turks and Greeks displaced more than 80 years ago with the 1923 compulsory population exchange between Turkey and Greece. Sefer Guvenc, Secretary General of the Lausanne Exchanged Populations Foundation, and himself from a family that originally emigrated from Greece, will be joining us with a presentation in Turkish entitled, "80 Years of Longing: Reunion of Displaced Turks and Greeks," on Friday, November 11, at 5:00 p.m. In his lecture, Sefer Guvenç will address the economic and social issues which the Greek Orthodoxes settled in Anatolia and the Muslims from Greece had to face with the forcible exchange of populations. Sefer Güvenç explains: "The Lausanne Convention of January 30, 1923, agreed on the compulsory exchange of Greek Orthodox Turkish citizens established in Turkey and Muslim Greek citizens established in Greek territories. Article 1 of that convention stipulates: 'These persons shall not return to live in Turkey or Greece respectively without the authorization of the Turkish Government or of the Greek Government respectively'. Due to the ups and downs in the relationship between Turkey and Greece, there were times when these people were not even given permission to return to their homeland to visit their houses and villages. As relations between the two countries mellowed, and especially after the disastrous earthquake of 1999, a close rapport was established between displaced Turks and Greeks." The monthly seminar series, "Economy and Society on Both Shores of the Aegean," focuses on the Greek Orthodox populations of the late Ottoman and early Republican periods. Seminar speakers provide comprehensive information on the subject and display special awareness of the delicate historical context. Admission to the seminars is free. Prof. Alexandra Yerolympos will be our next speaker at the conference scheduled for Friday, November 18th. ECONOMY AND SOCIETY ON BOTH SHORES OF THE AEGEAN 80 Years of Longing: Reunion of Displaced Turks and Greeks Sefer Guvenc, was born in 1945 to a family that had immigrated from Thessaloniki-Langada to Tekirdag-Malkara. After graduating, in 1972, from the Department of Philosophy at Istanbul University, he served as director of various non-governmental organizations and trade unions. In November,1999, following the earthquake catastrophes in the Marmara region and in Athens, he initiated "The Children of the Exchange" with a group of friends, hoping to contribute to the developing friendship between Turkey and Greece. In 2001, he was among the founding members of the Lausanne Exchanged Populations Foundation and has been its Secretary General since the date of its establishment. Date : Friday, November 11, 2005 Time : 5:00 p.m. Venue : The Ottoman Bank Museum Address : 35/37 Banks (Voyvoda) Street Contact : Aylin Beşiryan (212) 334 22 70