A Foundation for Modern Greek Studies Visiting Scholar Lecture

The Greek-Turkish exchange of populations is situated in the political context of the simultaneous reconstruction of the two neighboring countries after the war of 1919-1922 and their consolidation as nation-states. In Lausanne, land and population constituted the risk factor between all involved parties. The Convention of Lausanne (30 January 1923) regulated the fate of approximately two million people in a non-reversible and compulsory way. The bilateral agreement, of ambiguous compliance with international law, imposed ethnic unmixing as an acceptable practice, shaping the idea of “homeland” at the borderlines of peace and war.

Konstantinos Tsitselikis is a Professor of Human Rights and International Organizations at the University of Macedonia (Thessaloniki, Greece). Dean of the School of Economic and Regional Studies (2018-2023). Author of a series of books, studies, and articles on human rights, minorities, and refugee and migrant rights. He has also taught at the Universities of Thrace and Bilgi (Istanbul) and cooperated with the universities of Harvard, Sorbonne II, Tampere, Aix-en–Provence, SOAS, Aga Khan (London), Erlangen, Sulaimani (Kurdish Region, Iraq), among others. He has worked for the Council of Europe (1992-1995), the OSCE, the UN, and the EU (1997-2000) in human rights and democratization field missions. Member of research teams, team leader, evaluator, or trainer in a series of projects in relation to the rule of law, human rights, minorities, migrants, and refugees. Member of the Secretariat of the Minority Groups Research Centre (KEMO) and chairman of the Hellenic League for Human Rights (2011-2017). Co-director of the Series of Studies of KEMO at Vivliorama pub. (Athens). Member of the Bar Association of Thessaloniki, a lawyer before the European Court of Human Rights.