Alabama Greece Initiative

Dr. Angeliki Ziaka is a Lecturer in the History of Religions at Aristotle University in Thessaloniki, Greece, and a Doctor of the Marc Bloch University of Strasbourg. Dr. Ziaka's research interests focus on Muslim theology and history as well as the social, religious and political dimensions of Islam in the Middle East, interreligious dialogue, and contemporary religions. She has published books on the social and political dimensions of Shi'ism (2004), interreligious dia- logue (2010), byzantine and post-byzantine literature and Islam (2010) and the eschatological savior and Messianic movements in Islam (2010). Her lecture addresses the experiences and differences of two groups of Muslims currently residing in Greece. The so-called "old" Islam includes Muslims of Greek citizenship who are fully inte- grated into Greek society, having lived permanently in Western Thrace since the 15th century - when the nation came under Ottoman domination - and make up 2% of the Greek population. The so-called "new" or "migrant" Islam are immigrants who have recently come to Greece from various Muslim countries (financial refugees, political refugees, asylum seekers, students etc.). In order to better understand the status of these two groups, Dr. Ziaka presents a historical, social and juridical overview that will outline the phenomena related to migration and lead to proposals and solutions relevant to the problems involved.