istos was founded as an independent publishing house in 2011 under the personal initiative of a group of people who are part of the Istanbul Greek community. By reviving a Greek publishing tradition that has been interrupted for decades, istos contributes to studies on the history, culture and life of the Greeks of Turkey and on the city of Istanbul itself. Not content with interpreting history through the lens of ‘nostalgia’, istos instead seeks to replace nostalgia with ongoing current practice and by opening critical lines of inquiry into the city and its people.
Since our foundation we have introduced readers to works in Turkish, Greek-Turkish, and Greek through our book series Testimonials, Politics and History, Elenika, Akritika, Mikroistoria and Komikosmos. We translate “basic” texts, which are considered cornerstones of Greek history and literature, into Turkish. We also publish contemporary Turkish and Greek literary and academic studies, being produced across a variety of disciplines and genres.
Based on the knowledge accumulated by the Greek community and inter-disciplinary studies on Turkish society, with all its many components, we hope to expand our efforts to understand the wider minority condition across the Balkans, the Mediterranean and the Middle East.