In a massive transfer of populations after World War I, Muslims living in Greece moved to Turkey and Christians in Turkey went to Greece. In exchange for the patriarchate of the Orthodox Church remaining in Istanbul where it had always been, a deal was struck to spare two communities from this transfer: Christians living in Istanbul and Muslims are mostly Turks, but they also include some Pomaks (Bulgarian-speaking Muslims) and Gypsies. The Greek government allowed the Muslims to stay but made life difficult for them, hoping they would leave for Turkey. (In like manner, the Turkish government harassed the Christians of Istanbul). In the prefecture of Rodop, for example, Muslims were required to get permission to travel to other parts of Greece, while foreigners were denied entry. In all three predominantly Muslim prefectures, the authorities tried to erase the Islamicate cultural heritage by changing place names, banning written material in Turkish, and prohibiting the repair of mosques or schools.

The Muslims of Greece were largely passive until the 1970s, when they formed such organisations as the Western Thrace Turkish Solidarity Association to protect interests. Despite this, conditions in Western Thrace deteriorated further after the Turkish invasion of Cyprus in 1974 and the economic squeeze was stepped up in 1979 with the virtual expropriation of waqf lands. These developments prompted Ankara to take up the issue of Western Thrace with Athens in high-level talks between the two governments. Although broken off in 1982 with none of the disputes resolved, these did have the effect of bringing the Thracian Muslims to international attention. Like the Rohingyas of Burma, the Muslims in Greece paid a price in the 1970s for the assertiveness of their co-religionists elsewhere.

Changed Role. A new autonomist assertiveness developed in the 1970s, accompanied by worsened conditions."