I touched on Islam amongst Anatolian Greeks briefly in one of my previous posts. I will make another one in the future 
The conversion of the Anatolian Greeks is common knowledge for most people from the balkans and Turkey. I find it more interesting to speak about the Muslim Greeks of Greece. You never hear anything about them. They're as forgotten as the slavs of Anatolia
Let's talk demographics. Muslim Greeks were mostly in Greek Macedonia and Thesaly. These regions were unsurprisingly populated by Anatolian Turkish migrants as well
en.m.wikipedia.org
Cretan Muslims are the most interesting amongst the Muslim Greeks
Here is the Muslim demographic of Ottoman Crete
This map is from 1861 (Red is Muslim)
en.m.wikipedia.org
The Cretans were known for their fierce valor in their fight against the Christian Greeks. During the Turkish independence war many Cretans rose to prominence
Here are a few men:
Ali Çavuş
Sökeli Cafer Efe
tr.m.wikipedia.org
Cafer is notable because he became a Zeybek. Zeybeks were usually anatolian peasants who turned to banditry when the Ottoman Empire started to crumble. They were like the Greek maniots. That he as a foreigner managed to get into such a group shows what a determined man he was. He was a leader mind you. He and Ali are famous for having pushed back the christians during the Turkish war of independence
en.m.wikipedia.org
en.m.wikipedia.org
Here are a couple Ottoman paintings of Muslim Balkan Greeks
The muslim Cretans, who in the end remained the only Greeks with a conscious Greek identity, were killed off by the Greek Christians. The rest migrated to Turkey.
A minority migrated to Lebanon.
en.m.wikipedia.org
A group of Cretans staged a coup against the newly established Turkish Republic
en.m.wikipedia.org
They beheaded a secular Cretan boy by the name of Mustafa Kubilay. They paraded his head around like a trophy
The man who staged this was Giritli Mehmet (Cretan Mehmet)
He felt betrayed by the state. He fought for a caliphate, not a secular republic
I wanted to discuss this topic because I love talking about history and lesser known subjects
The conversion of the Anatolian Greeks is common knowledge for most people from the balkans and Turkey. I find it more interesting to speak about the Muslim Greeks of Greece. You never hear anything about them. They're as forgotten as the slavs of Anatolia
Let's talk demographics. Muslim Greeks were mostly in Greek Macedonia and Thesaly. These regions were unsurprisingly populated by Anatolian Turkish migrants as well
Here are the mentioned Vallaades:
Vallahades - Wikipedia
Cretan Muslims are the most interesting amongst the Muslim Greeks
Here is the Muslim demographic of Ottoman Crete
This map is from 1861 (Red is Muslim)
Cretan Muslims - Wikipedia
The Cretans were known for their fierce valor in their fight against the Christian Greeks. During the Turkish independence war many Cretans rose to prominence
Here are a few men:
Ali Çavuş
Sökeli Cafer Efe
Sökeli Cafer Efe - Vikipedi
Cafer is notable because he became a Zeybek. Zeybeks were usually anatolian peasants who turned to banditry when the Ottoman Empire started to crumble. They were like the Greek maniots. That he as a foreigner managed to get into such a group shows what a determined man he was. He was a leader mind you. He and Ali are famous for having pushed back the christians during the Turkish war of independence
Zeybeks - Wikipedia
Turkish War of Independence - Wikipedia
Here are a couple Ottoman paintings of Muslim Balkan Greeks
The muslim Cretans, who in the end remained the only Greeks with a conscious Greek identity, were killed off by the Greek Christians. The rest migrated to Turkey.
A minority migrated to Lebanon.
Greeks in Lebanon - Wikipedia
A group of Cretans staged a coup against the newly established Turkish Republic
Menemen Incident - Wikipedia
They beheaded a secular Cretan boy by the name of Mustafa Kubilay. They paraded his head around like a trophy
The man who staged this was Giritli Mehmet (Cretan Mehmet)
He felt betrayed by the state. He fought for a caliphate, not a secular republic
I wanted to discuss this topic because I love talking about history and lesser known subjects
