Daily: TURKEY AND GREECE – Bad Blood and Lots Of It, with author Defne Suman

Aegean neighbours Greece and Turkey have been rivals for centuries – and both countries are prone to forgetting the “unfortunate episodes” in their relations with the other. Can they ever get past their infamous regional enmity? Alex Andreou talks to Turkish author and columnist Defne Suman – whose latest novel, The Silence of Scheherazade, looks at a flashpoint of the Greek-Turkish relationship, the Great Fire of Smyrna – about historical silences, lost cultures and the way forward. 

• “It's hard to remove the word ‘invasion’ from the heads of Turkish people.” 
• “I talk about the Greek ‘administration’, not the Greek invasion.”
• “Turkey today is actually not as cosmopolitan as it was during the Ottoman period.” 
• “Nationalism is the disease of our century.”
• “If you don't talk about the past, that wound will kill you.” 
• “Turkey needs a lot of healing. And culture and storytelling lets us heal ourselves from the wounds of the past.” 

Presented by Alex Andreou. Produced by Andrew Harrison. Assistant producers: Jelena Sofronijevic and Jacob Archbold. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Audio production by Alex Rees. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production

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