In Greece there is an ethnic Turkish minority,1 whose religiousaffiliation is islam. The Turks are the most numerous (about 130,000)among the minorities in Greece although they are not the only one.2 Theethnic Turks are concentrated in a small (8578 sq. km.) Balkan territory called'Western Thrace', which is bordered on the east by Turkey, on the west by theGreek part of Macedonia, on the north by Bulgaria and on the south by theAegean Sea. The area stretches from the Maritza (Meriç) river in the east asfar as the Mesta (Karasu) river in the west. The region includes the Rhodopemountains in the north. The Maritza river divides modern Thrace into the'Eastern' (or Turkish) and the 'Western' (or Greek) portions. A part of Thraceis, then, within the borders of European Turkey.