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22 October 2004 – Opening Seminar
The first seminar will start at 2:30 p.m. with the opening speeches of, Hector Verykios, Prof. Ayse Soysal and Prof. Selim Deringil. Three papers will be presented between 3:00 and 6:00 p.m. Dr. Alexis Alexandris, Consul General of Greece in Istanbul, will discuss new perspectives in Greek-Turkish relations, Prof. Kostas Kostis from the University of Athens will talk about the Ottoman and Turkish history studies conducted in his country while Prof. Edhem Eldem from Bogaziçi University will give details on the Modern Greek studies carried out in Turkey.

The seminar will end with the closing speech of Tolga Egemen and the screening of a short film, "Double Memory", a film about the political conjuncture of the two countries and their cultural similarities.

19 November 2004 – Prof. Athanasia Anagnostopoulou
The Many Faces of Helleno-Ottomanism
Recently, there have been a great number of Greek studies conducted on the ideology of Helleno-Ottomanism that have resulted in a total reevaluation of "facts" concerning the Rum of the Ottoman Empire which were, up to a few years ago, taken as givens of Greek national history. However, the majority of these studies have included very few of the complex aspects of 19th century Ottoman reality. In her lecture, Prof. Anagnostopoulou, who studied Turkish at the University of Paris, will approach the subject differently, evaluating Helleno-Ottomanism as a product of a transitional process within the wider framework of Ottomanism.

Prof. Anagnostopoulou's books include, "Greek Orthodox Communities of Asia Minor (19th century-1919): From the Millet of Rum to Greek Nation", and "The Transition from Ottoman Empire to Nation-States, a Long and Difficult Process: Greece". She has also written numerous articles on Cyprus and on the role played by religion in the formation of a nation-state.

Admission to the seminars is free. Prof. Selim Deringil will be our next guest speaker at the third conference in the series, to be held on December 17, 2004.

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