Οι Βαλαάδες του Βοΐου Κοζάνης την περίοδο 1912-1924 μέσα από εκθέσεις του υποδιοικητή της επαρχίας

Abstract

The present article describes the position of the Muslim Greek-speaking
Valaades of the Voio Prefecture inside the Greek State, their relations both
with the Greek authorities and the native Christians. The information presented
verbatim (along with the parallel use of other archives) in the article's
text is drawn from essays sent by the deputy governor of the Prefecture to the
Prefect of Kozanı during the summer of 1922.
More specifically, there is a reference firstly to the special circumstances
met in the region during the World War I, secondly to the participation of the
Valaades and the native Christians in the conflicts, thirdly to the retaliatory
actions by both sides and lastly to the repercussions that the aforementioned
events had to the later relationships of the Valaades with the native
Christians.
Furthermore, information is given about the education of this special Muslim population where we can observe the reluctance of the Greek Administration
to promote the incorporation of the Valaades into the national
body employing the fact that this separate group speaks Greek.
Moreover, from the same essays we can draw some information about the
religious beliefs of the Valaades, namely information about which villages belonged to Bektasism and which to Sunnite Islam.
Finally, there is an effort to outline the approaches of the different Greek
Governments towards the Muslim populations of the regions that were granted
to Greece after the Balkan Wars. Especially, as far as it concerns the
Valaades, the beliefs of the Greek authorities, the local political forces and
the Christian population are presented. It is evident, through the examining of
the stance of the above factors on the issue of the exemption of the Valaades
from the 1923 Population Exchange, that these beliefs are contradictory.