Episode 1, Part 1 - Memory: “...the Struggle of Memory Against Forgetting”

Episode 1, Part 1 - Memory: “The Struggle of Man Against Power is the Struggle of Memory Against Forgetting”

30th of January, 1923. Signatures were made regarding the Exchange of Populations between Turkey and Greece.

Both parties started their agreement with ARTICLE Number 1:

Beginning on 1 May 1923, a compulsory exchange (obligatoire) shall be undertaken between Turkish nationals of the Greek Orthodox religion settled in Turkish territory and Greek nationals of the Muslim religion settled in Greek territory. None of these persons shall be permitted to return to Turkey without the authorisation of the Turkish Government or to Greece without the authorisation of the Greek Government.

In 65 words, roughly 2 million people’s fate was sealed. They would soon be driven from their land, where they can’t protest. The French word “Obligatoire” was used specifically due to the diplomatic language of the era being French: but moreso, to not leave any space for misinterpretation. The departure had to take place not by choice, but by obligation.

Today, the exchangees and the migrants of that era are not around us much. But does that mean their memory also vanished? What if the ghosts of the past still surround us, haunting the present with the past's demand for justice? What if they reappear in other shapes and forms? What if they can be an abandoned church, a demolished hamam, a boat carrying migrants, or a scream from Palestine?

And if so, what do we do with this memory? How can we mourn for a past through a memory? How can we reconcile with it for a better future?

Or maybe, the fact that both in Turkey and in Greece the simple dessert of Lokma / Loukouma is given away during the funerals is just a coincidence…

Our first episode, "Memory," will dive deep into these questions in two parts.
Because this is Skala / Iskele!

Follow, listen, contact!
Instagram: @collectiveskalaiskele
Spotify: /radioskalaiskele
Info: [e-mail]

Narration: Ozan Mirkan Balpetek
Editing - Production: Ozan Mirkan Balpetek, Dirk Tobias Reijne

Theme Song: Onur Şentürk (@zermosi )
Music: Praksis - Eman Eman (@praksismuzik)
Logo Design: Roni Batte (@ronikkoo )

List of appereance:
Dimitris Kamouzis
Kostis Karpozilos
Leonidas Karakatsanis
Serhat Güvenç
Esat Ergelen
Andreas Kılçıksız
Spyros Tsivanopoulos
Fatma Inci
Olga Lafazani
Ezgi Koman
Burak Kanmaz
Gizem Metindağ
Fotini Tsibiridou