Population exchange between Turkey and Cyprus/Yugoslavia

[Kahless]

After Wars in beginning of 20 century there was large population exchange mostly between Muslim inhabitants of Greece and Bulgaria on one side and Christian inhabitants of Turkey.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Population_exchange#Ottoman_Empire

Cyprus and Yugoslavia did not participate in population exchange in this level, if they did wold that prevented Turkish invasion of Cyprus, civil wars in Yugoslavia and genocide of Armenians and other Christians in Turkey?

 

[ninebucks]

Probably... But that doesn't make it TTL any better.

'Population Transfer' is a nice, desceptively orderly phrase for describing something that in reality is very chaotic. Population transfers occur when huge swathes of people become panicked, and begin to fear for the survival of themselves and their families. During population transfers people have to up sticks and make impossible decisions about what to take and what to leave from their homes. With so much property being abandoned, oppurtunists of every creed and nationality spring into action, staking their claim on whatever they can find, as this happens, law and order breaks down; with so many people moving around and with the criminal element behaving so hyperactively, it becomes unavoidable that people might die. Some people then take this as an oppurtunity, in an ordinary situation, everyone would notice if you murdered your neighbour and stole all of his possessions, but with things as chaotic as they are during a population transfer, that kind of thing could easily be overlooked...

There is a thin-line between population transfer and inter-communal genocide. The more people you throw into this panicked state the closer you get to reaching the critical mass and crossing that line.

 

[Matthais Corvinus]

After Wars in beginning of 20 century there was large population exchange mostly between Muslim inhabitants of Greece and Bulgaria on one side and Christian inhabitants of Turkey.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Population_exchange#Ottoman_Empire

Cyprus and Yugoslavia did not participate in population exchange in this level, if they did wold that prevented Turkish invasion of Cyprus, civil wars in Yugoslavia and genocide of Armenians and other Christians in Turkey?

The muslims in Yugoslavia were mostly in Bosnia, which went from OE's control into Austrian possession. The Austrians didn't change the region's ethnic balance of power and left the muslims (who were already in charge of things) in charge of things. If Bosnia had been taken over by say Serbia things might have been different, but that would require huge PODs where Austria doesn't lose out in Italy and Germany and thus turns to the Balkans for territorial expansion.

Cyprus was owned by the British until the 50's, and also didn't want to mess around with the island's ethnic groups. The UK offered Greece Cyprus in return for entering WWI against the OE, but was turned down. Change that, and Cyprus' muslims would be gone.

 

[Zyzzyva]

After Wars in beginning of 20 century there was large population exchange mostly between Muslim inhabitants of Greece and Bulgaria on one side and Christian inhabitants of Turkey.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Population_exchange#Ottoman_Empire

Cyprus and Yugoslavia did not participate in population exchange in this level, if they did wold that prevented Turkish invasion of Cyprus, civil wars in Yugoslavia and genocide of Armenians and other Christians in Turkey?

...Apart from the fact that Armenia is nowheres near Yugoslavia or Cyprus, the genocide in Armenia was a population transfer - incredibly poorly executed and possibly even with malice aforethought, but at heart an attempt at population transfer. I have trouble seeing how extending this to the rest of the OE would make things better.

 

[danielbd]

It really depends on WHEN do these population transfers happen. It cannot happpen in OTL 1920s-30s Yugoslavia because the whole reason for the state's existence was to ensure that all Slavs live united in it.

Also population exchanges are done almost exclusively as a result of war or threat of war. No country will give up it's territory or a claim on a territory without a serious reason behind. So a war needs to happen in order for those states to be motivated enough.

 

[Dr Pervez Hoodbhoy]

It cannot happpen in OTL 1920s-30s Yugoslavia because the whole reason for the state's existence was to ensure that all Slavs live united in it.

There were (mostly Muslim) Albanians that the Serbs would have been overjoyed to get rid of, but it'd make a lot more sense for them to end up in Albania.

The problem is that we are discussing population transfers. The post-Balkan Wars Ottoman Empire and Kemalist Turkey had very few Slavs. As for the Greeks, the former state wouldn't do a transfer with Cyprus because this would be humiliating (it was legally part of its territory) while the latter sent them to Greece in OTL as part of a much better motivated transfer.