Population Exchange in Sinop and an Exchange Village: Karacakoy

Abstract

Migration means passing an administrative border and changing the place of living temporarily or permanently. As a result of the Lausanne Peace Treaty signed on 30 January 1923, by the Public Exchange Agreement of the Turkish-Greek People the Greek Orthodox people in Anatolia and the Muslim population in Greece were decided to compulsory population exchange in Greece. By the population exchange, about 1,2 millions of Greeks had to migrate to Greece while 400.000 Turks to Turkey. The lives of hundreds of thousand people changed, immigrants tried to adapt to their new home, besides they tried to keep alive their identity and culture taken from the land they were born as a result of this Exchange which is unique by means of its dimensions, effects and results. One of the provinces affected from the Exchange is Sinop. The Greeks living in Sinop left their homes and lands to the Turks coming from Greece after the Exchange. In this study, the central district of Sinop and Karacakoy bounded to District of Erfelek emphasized, where the most prominent samples of the Exchange occurred.