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Zadrozna: Reconstructing the past in a post-Ottoman Village

Tags: papers, Post-Ottoman Near East, europe, turkey

Talks about the “Memory House of Ataturk” (mustafa kemal) as a focal point for macedonian ethnic identities, utilization of Ataturk as a symbol and claiming him (either through his lineage or pan-Turkishness) to be a rallying point.

historical consciousness is not a homogenous but rather a multilayered and complex process which can encompass apparently contradicting narratives of the past, not only within one nation-state - pg 12

3 types of self identification:

  1. Macedonian
  2. “Turk” <- isolated to the Lower Zupa region
  3. Torbesi

Identities revolve around primordialist arguments but are linked to political ones:

“Macedonians” support Macedonian political parties, the majority of the “Turks” vote for the Democratic Party of the Turks, and the Torbesi support the Part for European Future - PEI, which have actively worked for the legal recongition of the Torbesi as a separate ethnic group - pg 4

Who own Ataturk?

  • Based on ideals that Ataturk’s father was born in Kocacik, some groups claim ethic Turkishness