The president of the Good Party (IYI) of Turkey, Meral Akşener, spoke about the family roots that reach Greece, and specifically in the region of Drama.
During the television interview, as reported by Proto Thema, Akşener revealed the following: “My family emigrated three times. From Drama twice to Xanthi and Komotini. As from Drama to Turkey. Our origin is from Drama. Only the elderly were left. The rest were foot soldiers.”
She was describing the Muslim refugees who left Greece for Turkey, mostly Turkified-Islamified Greeks, after the Asia Minor Disaster and the signing of the Treaty of Lausanne that led to the population exchange between the two countries.
Akşener’s grandfather settled from Drama in Nicomedia (Ismit), where he lived until he died.
As she has revealed, many times she had heard stories from her grandfather, both about the Balkan Wars of 1912-1913 and about the refugee migration to Turkey in 1923.
“The painful stories my grandparents told always come to my mind. My heart was broken when I traveled to those places. There are no more Turks in Drama. It was an unprecedented feeling for me,” she said in an earlier interview.
In the book “Metal Akşener in Turkish Politics,” written by Vedat Erbaş, it is claimed that her grandfather comes from a Turkish tribe that settled in the Balkans from Diyarbakir centuries ago, while her mother’s roots – named Sindika – are from Thessaloniki.
However, no evidence is provided on her fathers roots.
A particularly dynamic type from a young age, Akşener stood out from her other classmates and later fellow students at the University of Istanbul where she studied history. Since then, many have been talking about the girl from Roumeli, as the Ottomans called their former possessions in the Balkans.
Source : Greek City Times
