This study investigates the depositional history of the Late Eocene sedimentary record in the northwest of the Thrace Basin in a sequence stratigraphic approach and estimates the contribution of regional tectonics, basin physiography and eustasy. Late Eocene sedimentary succession was analyzed in two third-order sequences based on two major data sets / seismic reflection and well data sets. Depositional Sequence-1, represented by progradational stacking patterns, comprises the coarse-grained Hamitabat turbidite system. The base of the Sequence-1 was defined as the base of channel fill deposits in the northern shelf setting and the base of slope fan deposits in the slope setting. This boundary separates Lower-Middle and Upper Eocene sediments. In the slope setting, the Hamitabat turbidite system was analyzed in three major depocenters / Western, Northwestern and Northeastern depocenters respectively. Hamitabat turbidite system was controlled by the interaction of regional tectonics, basin physiography and eustatic fluctuations in the Late Eocene. This study highlighted the role of the regional variables / tectonic influence and basin morphology on the submarine canyon formation. The facies distribution was controlled by the high subsidence rate of sea-floor dominantly instead of eustasy. Depositional Sequence-2, represented by mostly retrogradational stacking patterns, is a clastic-carbonate mixed system. Depositional Sequence-2 was subdivided into three higher-order sequences. The lower sequence boundaries were induced by the rapid relative sea-level rise. The upper boundary of the Depositional Sequence-2 was defined as the termination of clastic-carbonate mixed system and a candidate for the Eocene-Oligocene contact.

The Thrace Basin located in northwest Turkey displays attractive prospective traps for hydrocarbon and has received much attention from the petroleum industry. Despite the extensive exploration efforts, there are only few studies which address the fault kinematics and deformation mechanism of the region in connection with structural development. In this study, 3D raw seismic data set collected around Temrez High near Babaeski fault zone will be processed and interpreted along with the available borehole data to reveal the subsurface structure of the region that will contribute towards understanding the Neogene tectonic evolution of the central Thrace basin, origin of the transcurrent tectonics and possible role of the North Anatolian Fault Zone.

Here, we provide results of mid/late Holocene fresh water Ostracoda analyses from coastal modern lake basins in the Thrace region of Istanbul and Sarikum Lake, on the Black Sea coast near Sinop. While neither diatoms nor Cladocera are abundant in the sediments, Podocopian (fresh water) ostracods preserved well, but with discontinuous occurences during the mid/late Holocene. Un-noded forms of Cyprideis torosa, along with other Podocopian ostracods, dominated the sediments of all three lakes. Studying these three lagoonal basins along the Black Sea and Thracian coasts of Turkey allows reconstruction of long term, regional environmental histories, using the following methods. Loss-on-ignition (LOI) analyses at 1 cm intervals of short and long cores provide stratigraphic cross-correlation and calculations of organic matter, carbonate and mineral weight. At 5 cm intervals, spectrally-inferred chlorophyll-a contents by visible reflectance spectroscopy (Michelutti et al., 2010), provide estimates of algal production. Trace element analysis (Mg/Ca and Sr/Ca) using ICP-AES (coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy) is applied to fully calcified adult specimens of un-noded forms of Cyprideis torosa shells (which dominate the uppermost 145 cm of Terkos Lake). 210Pb and 137Cs dating of short cores, and AMS 14C dating of long cores, are used to infer sediment accumulation rates and to place specific ages on inferred environmental changes. Benthic foraminifers, gastropods, bivalves, single valves of fossil Glochidia, and Charophyte seeds are the other biological indicators observed within the sediment archive. Based on these data: 1. Terkos Lake sediments contain records of multiple, sub-millennial scale marine incursion events, over the last 2.8 ka, inferred to be the result of severe storms or tsunami on the Black Sea, including the tsunami in AD 1598 and AD 557-543 / 2. short core sediments from Sarikum Lake reveal sharp decreases in organic matter, carbonate, and increases in algal production and sand amount that suggest a storm or more recent earthquake / such as the Great Erzincan Earthquake (26 December, 1939) or the Bartin earthquake (3 September, 1968) while four more such events appear in the undated sediments of the Sarikum Lake long core / and 3. a large earthquake in AD 447 that affected the entire Sea of Marmara (Leroy et al., 2002) does not appear in the B&uuml / y&uuml / k&ccedil / ekmece Lake sediment record, but there is evidence for a significant hiatus in these deposits before the development of the dam (AD 1989) and after the youngest AMS date (2400 cal yrs BP). This suggests that B&uuml / y&uuml / k&ccedil / ekmece Lagoon was an environment of net erosion prior to its artificial impoundment, either from gradual processes or from scouring by one or more tsunami.

This thesis analyzes the evolution of minority protection in general and Greece&rsquo / s minority policies in Western Thrace especially since the beginning of 1990s. The examination of the definition and the scope of the term minority is followed by the analysis of the evolution of minority rights since Westphalia Agreement to Framework Convention for Protection of National Minorities to facilitate the analysis of the evolution of Greek minority policies. The thesis includes the history of Greek minority policy since its establishment to compare and contrast the continuities and changes of the Greek minority policies before and after 1990s. This thesis also seeks to find the causes of continuities and changes of the Greek minority policy along with detailed analysis of the policies and practices after 1990s, and argues that the Greek minority policy in Western Thrace basically presents continuity with its exclusivist and ethnocentric tendencies in spite of minor modifications due to the circumstantial factors.

Thermal maturity modeling is widely used in basin modeling. Of the available models, Easy%Ro has gained acceptance. Thermal gradients (TG) at seventy wells in the Thrace Basin are calibrated against vitrinite reflectance (%Ro). A 90% confidence interval is used to assess the uncertainty. Best paleo-TG are obtained from the MSR curves. Comparison of the paleo-TG with the actual ones showed that thermal regime of the Thrace Basin did not dramatically change during geologic history. A correlation between geological and thermal properties of the basin is established. Thermal regime of the Thrace Basin is controlled by 1) basement edge affect / 2) crustal thickness variations ad basement heat flow / 3) lateral thermal conductivity variations within the stratigraphic column / 4) transient heat flow affect / and 5) influence of the tectonic features. Basement edge affect is traced at the steep northern margin. Central part of the basin demonstrates lower TG. THe Eocene Ceylan Formation with relatively lower thermal conductivity plays a thermal reducing role. Areas of high sediment influx are associated with low TG due to the transient effect of the immature sediments. Fault systems of the Thrace Basin do not possibly have influence on paleo-thermal gradients.

This thesis analyzes the Greek minority policy of Western Thrace by dwelling on the history of the Muslim Turkish minority of Western Thrace from the beginning of 1920s until today. Until the early 1990s, changes in the Greek policy of Western Thrace had not been observed. However, the year 1991 marks a turning point both in the attitude of Greece towards the Muslim Turkish minority and in the history of the Western Thracian minority. As a result of the change in the Greek minority policy of Western Thrace there has been developments in the living conditions of the Minority. It is the aim of this thesis to explore to what extent there has been occurring changes and to what extent problems continue to affect the members of the Minority. Moreover, this thesis aims to analyze the actors that played a quite significant role in the Western Thracian policy change of the Greek state. After evaluating the situation in Western Thrace in the pre-1990 and post-1990 period this thesis argues that while on the one hand it is the economic and social domains that changes have been observed, on the other hand continuities in the Greek policy of the Muslim Turkish minority regarding the political and educational issues keep on affecting the members of this Minority. The aim of this thesis is to show that as a result of such a &lsquo / partial change&rsquo / today&rsquo / s situation in Western Thrace is better than that of pre-1990s but some significant problems of the Minority still remain unresolved due to the unaltered stance of the Greek state towards some issues of the Western Thracian Minority.

The present thesis deals with the interrelationship between environmental changes and the Thracian society whose development took place in the surrounding environment undergoing fundamental transformation during the first millennium BC. The more significant impact of increasing human activities on the landscape, namely cultivation of plants and pastoralism, both connected with extensive deforestation, associated with the higher social and economic pressure can be detected since the Late Bronze Age and Early Iron Age. In the following phase of agriculture development, since the seventh century BC when the first Greek colonies were founded in the Northern Aegean, Thrace became an important part of the Eastern Mediterranean macro-region. Vegetation cover and its changes influenced by local land-use and livelihoods is studied on the basis of identification and interpretation of anthropological indicators, contained in the plant macroremains and pollen assemblages. Geographically, the palaeoecological and archaeobotanical studies included in this thesis are focused on inland Ancient Thrace, i.e. the territory of the modern Bulgaria. For better understanding of vegetation history, settlement pattern and subsistence strategies, the archaeobotanical records of cultivated and ruderal plants or weeds...

Regional and Cohesion Policy is the EU's most operational and close-citizen development policy, with visible results. However, with interdependent economic, social, and territorial dimensions, impact of Cohesion Policy (CP) in various regions and social groups has become a contested subject recently. Besides, a particular importance has been given to promoting social cohesion in recent years as a result of successful enlargement waves and economic financial crisis that have brought significant socioeconomic imbalances across social groups including marginalised communities and minorities. CP has broadened its scope to include more social issues and human rights in line with EU strategies in recent years, despite the fact that it does not directly reflect a minority policy. As a result, combating with social exclusion and promoting social inclusion with focus on minorities and vulnerable groups has become CP's primary objectives during the last two programming periods. Therefore, this study examines social inclusion objective of CP in a particular minority region, Western Thrace of Greece, where the Turkish minority exist. Focusing on two main criteria of social inclusion, active participation to socioeconomic and public life and access to resources, services and rights, this study aims to reveal to...

Three pottery assemblages from the Yambol District were processed in this thesis to enrich our knowledge about the Roman and Late Antique pottery material in Ancient Thrace. The first, and most abundant assemblage, is from the Roman vicus called Yurta, which is located near the village of Stroyno and dated from the 1st /2nd c. AD till the Late Antiquity. This assemblage is substituted by different pottery classes which give us bases for identifying the variability of the pottery material and the different wares and fabrics in the area. In addition, it represents the main material for statistics and for a quantitative comparison of individual classes. The second assemblage includes 19 complete vessels from two burial mounds in Palauzovo, dated to the 2nd -3rd c. AD, and gives a comparative sample for the settlement contexts as well as a basis for studying the ways in which pottery was modified for special burial purposes. The last set of 57 vessels comes from a closed context dated to the end of the 6th c. AD, which was found in a collapsed house at the Dodoparon hillfort, rising above the village of Golyam Manastir. It represents a unique set of finds from the Late Antiquity, which is well dated and preserved. The three pottery assemblages are all different, each with a distinct character, which...

This research study investigates the potential of cryptocurrencies in alleviating the consequences of the financial crisis and identifying new avenues for economic development in Eastern Macedonia and Thrace, Greece. It is motivated by the significant economic downturn experienced by Greece following the 2008 financial crisis, which led to a risk of bankruptcy and a drastic reduction in GDP per capita, with the consecutive implementation of capital controls further disrupting the financial transactions in the country. The region under study is documented for its low economic development level and GDP per capita compared to the national and EU averages. Through a mixed-methods approach, including a questionnaire-based survey and data analysis, this study explores the perceptions and behaviors of consumers and business owners in that region regarding cryptocurrencies. Furthermore, the survey employs closed-ended questions delivered through an internet-based platform while using probability and non-probability sampling techniques to target consumers and business owners. Consequently, the collected data are examined through the scopes of descriptive and deductive analyses with the use of SPSS software, with the findings of this research aiming to shed light on the role of cryptocurrencies as a means to mitigate the impact of the financial crisis and stimulate economic activity in Eastern Macedonia and Thrace. The findings revealed that while participants did not believe that introducing a parallel digital currency would improve the Greek economy, consumers affected by the crisis showed eagerness to invest and transact in cryptocurrencies. Business owners, on the other hand, were hesitant to view cryptocurrencies as long-term assets and did not believe in their capacity to transform the region’s economy. The study's outcomes contribute to the growing body of knowledge on cryptocurrencies' adoption and potential benefits in regions facing economic challenges.