Microsoft Word 1 Arif thesis cover final doc

CHAPTER 2 – HISTORICAL BACKGROUND 
35 
The size and composition of the Muslim majority in Anatolia were altered 
perceptibly in the course of the nineteenth century by the settlement of refugees. An 
exodus forced by the Russians of Crimean Tatars began after 1856 and of Nogay 
Tatars, Circassians and other north Caucasian peoples from 1860. The numbers have 
been the subject of debate with estimates ranging from around 700,000 to around 
three million before allowance is made for mortality
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. A further substantial wave of 
around 500,000 refugees from the Balkans was a consequence of the Russian war of 
1877/8
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; some of these were refugees from the Crimea or the Caucasus who had 
earlier been settled in the Balkans. Since the range of estimates for the Muslim 
population of Anatolia at the end of the nineteenth century is between around 12 and 
15 million, this number of refugees was substantial not just in absolute but also 
proportional terms. 
Events which subsequently brought a much smaller number of Muslim refugees to 
Anatolia also brought to prominence a person who was to have a significant 
influence on its history. The events were on Crete and the person was Eleftherios 
Venizelos. Venizelos entered Cretan politics as a liberal in 1889, achieved renown in 
the uprising of 1897, and served on the executive council under the autonomous 
regime imposed by the powers in 1898 until he was dismissed by the High 
Commissioner, Prince George, in 1901. He then led the moves for union with Greece 
in the years leading up to 1908. Greece, however, fearing the menaces of Turkey and 
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Karpat 1985, 27 baldly says 3 million. Fisher, 362, says that an accurate count is not possible, concluding a 
detailed review at 364 with a range of 700,000-900,000. 
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Zürcher 2010, 287 

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