From ‘Imagined’ to ‘Virtual Communities’: Greek‐Turkish Encounters in Cyberspace

Abstract

The pivotal role played by Computer-Mediated Communications (CMCs) as mobilization tools for social movements as diverse as the 'Arab Spring', the Iranian 'Green Revolution', and the 2008 Greek 'December Riots', has rekindled academic interest in the internet as a field of sociological research. Drawing on new media and nationalism studies, this article approaches a particular type of CMC as a 'virtual community'. By examining the context of post-1999 GreekTurkish reconciliation, it is argued that these virtual communities have offered significant breathing space for individuals who are ready to revisit, discuss, and negotiate the constitutive boundaries of modernity's 'imagined communities', and are therefore conducive to the Greek-Turkish rapprochement.