The new Greek school on the island of Gokceada (Imbros) reopened after decades this year with just two students. The Hagia Todori Elementary school was first opened in 1951 and then shut down again in 1964, and now its open again after 49 years.

Four students at the ceremonious openingof the Greek elementary school

The four students initially enrolled at the school were 5-year-old Musa Avcı, 6-year-old Dimitri Kalpas, 8-year-old Sofia Avcı and 10-year-old Kaan Kaleci. At the school’s opening ceremony they stood for a moment of silence and sang the Turkish national anthem. Two of the students that had initially enrolled departed to go to another school after delays to incomplete repair works, however the two remaining students attended the first day of lessons.

Greek students happy to finally have a school of their own in the land of their ancestors

The primary school –

The Hagia Todori Elementary school

But no high school – 

The creation of a Greek high school at another region of the island was delayed for this year after the Education Ministry didn’t grant permission, dashing the Greek minority’s hopes that they would once again have a high school after 50 years of closure. The school was to have eight students whose families had returned to Imbros anticipating the reopening of the school at the island’s Zeytinli (Agridia) village.

The high school building seeks approval –

From Imbros to Gokceada
Between November 1912 and September 1923, Imbros was under Greek administration and had an entirely Greek population. In 1920, the Treaty of Sevres with the defeated Ottoman Empire granded the island to Greece, however the Ottoman government signed but didn’t ratify the treaty when Mustafa Kemal Ataturk came into power. The Western powers agreed to the Treaty of Lausanne with the new Turkish Republic in 1923. According to this treaty the island was made part of Turkey but had special autonomous administrative status to accomodate the 100% Greek population that was excluded to population exchange between Greece and Turkey. Shortly after the legislation of “Civil Law” on June 26, 1927, the treaty was violated. Land was confiscated, locals were stripped of authority and deprived of its means of production, Turks were imported to the island and the opening of a prison resulted in many rapes and slaughtering, leading to a Greek exodus that peaked in 1974. Imbros name was changed to Gokceada in 1970 and the once bustling community numbering thousands is now home to 250 mainly elderly residents.