From: trh@jack.sns.com (Al Trh)
Subject:  A News Article
Organization: Systems'n'Software
Date: Mon, 14 Sep 92 01:14:49 GMT


BIZARRE EVENTS IN THE OLD BAZAAR

Ray HUDSON

A few  weeks ago, I again  found myself in north-east  Greece, in
the small provincial  town of Komotini. With its  rich ethnic and
cultural diversity -  how many towns with a  population of around
50,000 can  boast that they play  host to a Turkish  consulate? -
and  variety of  architectural  styles and  forms,  it remains  a
fascinating place. Arriving  at the hotel at  which we invariably
stay,  just off  the  large central  square,  it was  immediately
apparent  that  things  were   not  as  normal.  Something  quite
unprecedented  in  our experience  had  occurred.  The hotel  was
totally occupied. Although  we had booked well in  advance we had
some difficulty in  obtaining the mix of rooms  we needed. Having
satisfactorily resolved this problem, I was intrigued to discover
the causes of this sudden influx of people to one of the European
Community's most peripheral localities.

The causes  were indeed bizarre.  I was initially taken  aback to
hear the strident sounds  of transatlantic accents ringing around
the hotel. It didn't take long to locate their origin, a visiting
basketball team from  the United States, who appeared  to have an
average height  of around six and  a half feet, standing  a clear
head  above the  inhabitants. It  transpired that  they had  been
invited to  give a  series of exhibitions  and displays  of their
virtuosity  with  a  basketball.  Their  unlikely  presence  was,
therefore, a very direct product  of the Greeks' fascination with
the game.  Indeed, it verges  on a national  obsession, seemingly
permanently   screened  on   television.   Personally,  I   found
basketball  with breakfast  an  indigestible  combination, but  I
guess you can't please all of the people all of the time.

The second  main cause of the  hotel's bursting at the  seams was
more prosaic.  For most  of the rooms  were occupied  by students
from  the  new  University  of  Thrace, which  has  some  of  its
faculties  in  Komotini.  These  students  had  returned  to  the
university specifically to take  their examinations. Many of them
spend most of  the rest of the year elsewhere,  notably in Athens
and Thesaloniki. While there is much to be said for the provision
of  institutes of  higher education  in peripheral  regions, this
certainly represents  a different  concept of university  life to
that  familiar  to us  in  northern  Europe.  It is  unlikely  to
maximise  the  progressive  local  developmental  impact  of  the
project. In any case, the  local impact of the university remains
a  point of  considerable contention  with large  numbers of  the
local population. The  university stands on an  extensive area oF
land to  the north-west of the  town, the vast majority  of which
remains  derelict  and  undeveloped.  formerly,  this  was  good,
fertile agricultural land, almost  exclusively owned by the local
moslem population,  from whom  it was compulsorily  purchased. in
this respect, the development of  the university bears an uncanny
resemblance  to  that  of  the  new  industrial  estate,  to  the
south-east  of the  town.  again, it  lies on  a  very large  and
largely  undeveloped  site, most  of  which  was formerly  mosleM
agricultural  land. indeed,  it seems  likely that  more of  sucH
villages will lose  land as plans for a  major prison development
to  the  north-east  of  the  town  are  currently  under  active
discussion.  the  owners  of  such  lands  do  receive  financial
compensation but they  are not normally allowed to  buy new land.
this, coupled with the vast areas of compulsorily purchased lands
that are then left derelict,  suggests that their acquisition has
little to  do with the stated  aims of these various  projects. A
more plausible explanation is that their real aim is to provide a
mechanism  whereby, legally  and  through the  mechanisms of  the
state  itself,  the economic  basis  of  the moslem  agricultural
villages can be inexorably eroded. at the same time, the growing
settlement  of  returnees from  the  former  USSR, a  mixture  of
political  refugees   from  the   Greek  civil  war   and  longer
established  migrants  to the  Pontine  region,  is providing  an
alternative   source  of   cheap,  casualised   wage  labour   in
competition  with the  existing  Moslem population.  It has  been
estimated that  some 50,000  migrants from  the former  USSR have
already moved to Greece, the majority to Thrace. Certainly, there
is much evidence of permanent new housing for them on the fringes
of towns  such as Komotini  and they could rapidly  transform the
religious and  ethnic balance of  the area.  In this way  too the
Moslem population  is increasingly subjected to  pressures in its
search for incomes.

Meanwhile, back in Komotini itself just across the central square
from our hotel,  there is growing evidence of  bizarre changes in
the old bazaar itself. For the bazaar is being subject to process
analogous to gentrification,  at least in part. A  few years ago,
it  was exclusively  occupied  by artisanal  producers and  small
traders, providing goods  and services for the  everyday needs of
the town  and surrounding villages. Certainly,  this remains true
to much of it. But on  its outer fringes, adjacent to the central
square, things are changing,  and quickly. Upmarket tourist shops
are springing up alongside expensive jewellery and clothing shops
bearing  brand names  that are  only too  familiar from  northern
Europe. The  old cobbled streets  have been torn up,  replaced by
new hand-laid  granite blocks  in pedestrianised  streets adorned
with  street  furniture, such  as  imitation  lamps. And  in  the
evenings  such  streets are  taken  over  by increasingly  smooth
restaurants, as  linen table clothes  replace the old  plastic or
paper ones,  stemmed wine  glasses replace  the old  beakers, and
insolent young  waiters refuse to  believe that retsina  ought to
have some  pine resin  in evidence. In  a further  bizarre twist,
some of us spent several evenings  trying to escape the sounds of
Los Paraguayos - as far as  we could recall, a once popular South
American folk group  - as, complete with wide  brimmed hats, they
provided musical entertainment to  those having dinner there. The
net  result  of  all  this  is that  the  bazaar  is  losing  the
authenticity and  distinctiveness that once characterised  it. It
is unrealistic to believe that, today, places be frozen in a time
warp that avoids  all significant change. There is,  of course, a
danger of romanticising a life that was and remains very hard for
many if not most of the local population. the continuing de facto
discrimination  suffered  by the  moslem  population  is a  sharp
reminder  of  this.  even  so,  it  is  difficult  to  avoid  the
conclusion that the  changes that are taking place  in and around
komotini are increasing rather than narrowIng the gap between the
haves and  have nots. the  fact that this  is true in  many other
places provides scant consolation.

THE TIMES (Higher Educational Supplement), August 28 1992
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