Abstract
On the Thought of “Helen-Ottoman Union” (in the Context of Athanasios Souliotis's Aciıvities in 1908-1912)
The idea of the Helen - Ottoman Union emerged in the first centuries of the
establishment and rise of the Ottoman Empire. Some Greek ideologues, who saw Byzantine
superior to all other civilizations, considered it possible to realize the Hellenic-Ottoman
Union by accepting the Ottoman State, which replaced this empire, as “heir”. In the
period when the struggles to seize the Ottoman lands were intensified before the First
World War, the slogans of the Hellenistic-Ottoman Union were brought up among the
subjects of Greek origin in the Ottoman Empire. In 1908-1912, Greek officer Athanasios
Souliotis established a secret organization in Istanbul under the name “Organization of
Constantinople”. To him; Greek and Turkish people had to unite within a confederation
to preserve the originality of the Aegean world, and with the establishment of this
confederation, the common nation - “Mediterranean Race” could emerge in the future.
Like the Greek nationalists and the “Young Turks”, the supporters of Souliotis were also
accepting the presence of only two nations in the region. This meant nothing but a national
conflict in the Balkans and Anatolia, which had turned into a “boiling point” before
the First World War. In the article; the activities of the Organization of Constantinople
were investigated in the context of Athanasios Souliotis's political works in 1908-1912.
The political and physical violence movements of the “Organization of Constantinople”
against other peoples are shown as the reason for the “Hellenic - Ottoman Union” idea
not to be realized.
Keywords
Helen, Ottoman, Turks, Greeks, Souliotis.
