The Lausanne Convention and the battle of memory

January 30 was the centenary of the signing of the Lausanne Convention (also known as the Convention Concerning the Exchange of Greek and Turkish Populations) on the compulsory exchange of populations between Greece and Turkey. This agreement was included in the treaty of the same name (Treaty of Lausanne), which defined the borders and regulated relations between the two countries in the last century. 

Whether it is considered a success or not, the result of the simultaneous expulsion of 1.2 million Greek Orthodox from Turkey and 400,000 Muslims from Greece fundamentally changed Greece and the course of Hellenism. It also changed Turkey, to a lesser extent, and continues to influence Greek-Turkish relations. It remains a prominent event in the memories of a large part of the population in both countries and, for Greece, an element of a collective trauma that defines the way...