Turkish Escape to Greece - Dedeağaç, İskeçe, Selanik, & Taşöz

8-15. July 2024. Greece.
Once the Turkish police told me I couldn't drive for 6 months, I had no choice but to spend my summer in Greece (Ελλάδα)!
Join me on my escape from Turkey with my getaway driver Murat Evgin, who spends the first week with me, refusing to call the places we visited by their Greek names: Alexandroupoli (Αλεξανδρούπολη), Xanthi (Ξάνθη), Thessaloniki (Θεσσαλονίκη), and the island of Thasos (Θάσος).
Referenced Videos:
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Ataturk's school in Bitola: • Yugoslav Spomeniks (Pa...
Greece Road Trip Series: • Greece
• Turkish Escape to Gree...
• Thessaloniki - What to...
• 8 Hours in Ioannina, a...
• Beach Hopping in Corfu
• Metsovo - Greece's Vla...
• Vergina - Aigai's Undi...
• Komotini - Greece's On...
• Two Weeks on Samothraki
• Thessaloniki (Part 2) ...

[@ΕυάγγελοςΤζουτζούκης]

This is not the house where Kemal was born. This is Turkish propaganda. Kemal was born in a village near Lagada called Chrysavgi.

[@doruksu7478]

I don't understand why we need this kind of propaganda.lol

[@Maria-k5v3n]

OK my friends, Have fun Alexandroupolis by the way was NOT founded by ottoman empire

[@FastEddieDice]

If what you’re saying is true, someone needs to update Encyclopedia Britannica, which indicates the city was founded by the Turks in 1860

[@ΑστεριοςΣκοδρας]

​@@FastEddieDice by Russian fishermen. And you are a lover of Turkey. Now move on!

[@FastEddieDice]

I’m so sorry this is happening to you!

[@antonisxenos1053]

Actually, I looked it up in Wikipedia, it was.

[@eftihiaxiruhaki4098]

It was founded as a modern city by fisherman from three thracian villages in 1875. Between 1877-1878 during the Russian Turkish war it was occupied by Russian troops. At that time, the city centre was designed. Later on, the place was occupied by Bulgarians. In antiquity the Egnatia road of the Romans passed thru here. History is not studied by reading a single page. The place was, also, inhabited in the iron age by a thracian tribe, the Ciconians, neighbours of the famous Odryssians.

[@marsupiotupak]

Smesan si covece. Nisu Grci dosli u Severnu Grcku i promenili postojece otomanske i turske nazive mesta i gradova vec je obrnuto bio slucaj. Tako je bio slucaj i sa Srbijom. Hvala bogu da su do pocetka 20. veka vraceni izvorni grcki, bugarski i srpski toponimi. Pozdrav

[@FastEddieDice]

I only know the Greeks came up with the name Alexandroupoli to replace the original Turkish name

[@ΜιλτιάδηςΜπαλτατζής]

I am from trapezunda ,and Constantinople is greek city ☦️🇬🇷

[@FastEddieDice]

I’m sorry this is happening to you

[@georgekokkinakis1001]

Alexandroupolis was not founded by the Ottoman empire. It bears the name of Alexander the Great Englishman. So what that tells you?

[@FastEddieDice]

It tells me you don’t know who the Greeks renamed the town after in 1920. King Alexander I visited, and it was renamed Alexandroupoli from Dedeağaç (the name the Ottomans gave it when they founded the town)

[@Hydrogen-Hyperoxide]

@@FastEddieDice Alexandroupolis existed in antiquity with the ancient name Sali, which was founded by the Maronites. The modern city was founded in the middle of the 19th century by fishermen from Ainos and the villages of Makri and Maroneia, making it known as Dedeağaç (Turkish: Dedeağaç)... -The name was given by the Turks (it makes sense, Greece was under Ottoman occupation). The founders, however, were Greeks.

[@FastEddieDice]

@@Hydrogen-Hyperoxide I get your point, but it’s a stretch. The ancient city of Sale was nearby Dedeağaç, but of course abandoned for centuries

[@Hydrogen-Hyperoxide]

@@FastEddieDice Whether Ancient or new, Greeks founded it. I also mentioned the 3 villages whose residents founded Alexandroupolis - Dedeağaç. You didn't read the whole answer.

[@FastEddieDice]

The ethnicity doesn’t matter; point is that the city was founded / settled under the Ottoman Empire. But, if ethnicity is the discussion, rumor has it the fishermen were Russian

[@pavlosstaios6954]

Both Istanbul and Constantinople are Greek words. Samothraki is a very beautiful island, worth visiting.

[@FastEddieDice]

Driving to Samothraki now

[@pavlosstaios6954]

Don't forget to visit the waterfall and the pond! Also, prepare yourselves to eat a lot of goat meat!

[@FastEddieDice]

here's my samothraki video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/m4qzgYOFpKt9j9ksi=jNaAeQWR0tkOshI8

[@savvassyrmopoulos5570]

Thanks a lot!

[@HugoEco]

Hey i am Greek,I like your mentality,if you pass nearby Platamon or larisa,send me message to have a beer together.

[@PAULME_CH]

Alexandropolis, as the name says, alexandro polis. It's a completely Greek name, and it says Alexander city. So it's not an Ottoman Empire founded city, but a city founded by Alexander the Great. He gave his name to the city.

[@FastEddieDice]

City’s new name has nothing to do with Alexander the Great. Dedeağaç was renamed in 1920 by the Greeks to honor a visit by King Alexander I of Greece

[@andim197]

As a greek, I would like to contribute the conversation with some facts. The origin of the greek name of the city came from the King Alexandros I who visited the city after its liberation of the ottoman rule in 1920 and the local authorities decided to rename the city (to Alexandroupolis/Alexandroupoli = city of Alexandros), in his honor. At that time, Greece was a kingdom and King Alexandros I ruled the country for a very short period of time before he died by a monkey bite. However, the founders of the city were greeks at the antiquity era. Its ancient name was Sali (Σάλη))

[@PAULME_CH]

@andim197 You are actually right. I was wrong, as i targeted to the name, and wrongly thought that it was from Alexander the Great, (like Alexandria in Egypt) . But in this case it was from King Alexander, as you said.

[@qwinegp2000]

I salute you I am from Thessaloniki and enjoy your uploads

[@FastEddieDice]

thanks for watching!

[@user-ug7ur5ou5e]

You should take a trip with your turkish friend in Asia minor, what is called turkey today" and see if you can find one city that is not founded by Hellenes.

[@FastEddieDice]

Who founded a city should be about more than who showed up first. For example, can we say New York was founded by the Native Americans? The region of Asia Minor has a long history, maybe the longest in the world. Specific to the "longest in the world," the city that comes to mind is Şanlıurfa. During the Hellenistic period, it was known as Edessa. But you can go back much further than that. Right nearby is a Neolithic settlement founded around 9500 BC (referred to now as Göbekli Tepe). That said, I don't think any city that was built on a site that had been abandoned for a very large period of time owes its history to whatever civilization happened to have also settled in the area long before. A lot of commentors mentioned that Dedeağaç (now Alexandroupoli) was originally Sali, founded by settlers from Samothraki, and therefore Dedeağaç wasn't founded under the Ottomans. While it's true that once that area (or near that area) was settled thanks to people from Samothraki, it is also true that the settlement was abandoned and, only after hundreds of years passed, new settlers arrived to start from scratch during the Ottoman period. So disregarding cities that were founded but then abandoned for centuries, there are a lot of cities in Turkey that owe nothing to the Hellenistic period: Yalova, Osmaniye, Mersin (shout out to the American Civil War), Tokat, Eskişehir, Çanakkale, Balıkesir, Adıyaman, Çorlu, Kırıkkale, Aksaray, it goes on and on.

[@user-ug7ur5ou5e]

@@FastEddieDice Naming all Hellenic cities in todays would take all day. Since the presens of Hellines in anatolia goes back thousands of years an that turks tribes arrived in the area in the 11 century the question "who was there first" is a no brainer. Lets just name regions in todays turkey that still have keept there Hellenic names; Kastamonu (Κασταμονή), Sinop (Σινόπη), Samsun (Σαμσούντα), Giresun (Κερασούντα), Trabzon (Τραπεζούντα), Rize (Ριζούντα), Kutahya (Κοτύαιον), Bursa (Προύσα) , Manisa (Μαγνησία), Antalya named after king Attalos, Konya (Ικόνιο), Isparta (Σπάρτη).

[@katherinesam3626]

Αs for us, my friend, Constantinople sounds much better than Istanbul, as well as Smyrna from Izmir, Aydinion from Aydin, Trapezounda from Macka, Gokceada from Imbros etc !

[@FastEddieDice]

as my turkish friend said in the beginning, defending his saying "dedeağaç" to the border guard, "but they don't say istanbul. they say constantinople!"

[@ErisstheGoddessofmanhwas]

Omg for 100 euro this as a palace. And you are lucky to have that in summer season.

[@lookkg381]

That was pure fun my guy, amazing respectful attitude, unmatched sense of humor (that beer joke was the epitomy of comedy) and last but not least a huge thanks for the camera skills when it mattered the most ;-) Please come again with more turkish friends next time!

[@FastEddieDice]

Epitome of Greek hospitality. Let others learn from you! I will invite more Turks to join, per request :)

[@chris1972angel1]

There's no place called "dedeagac" in Greece .

[@FastEddieDice]

my driver just informed me there's no such place called "constantinople" in turkey. history sucks sometimes, right? here's my full greece playlist: kzbin.info/aero/PLnrWepwzwiRFJCR2fPc52vJ5ubDGorr_V&si=DZ1ftqM05pI3e0H0

[@chris1972angel1]

@@FastEddieDicehonestly i don't care what's your bast@rd driver informed you .

[@chris1972angel1]

@@FastEddieDice go and see a doctor .And take your driver with you 😁

[@antonisxenos1053]

I enjoyed your humorous irreverent presentation. A great advert for Greece.

[@FastEddieDice]

thanks! here's my greece playlist: kzbin.info/aero/PLnrWepwzwiRFJCR2fPc52vJ5ubDGorr_V&si=jrhqZX5JlSChTlJF

[@Somali1971]

You and Murat are having a great time and enjoying yourselves to the fullest extent.

[@SOLEN-zm1vd]

Those cookies are amazing …nothing like you get in Buyukada …. Enjoy

[@johnavlakiotis]

@@SOLEN-zm1vd Πρίγκηπος (Pringipos) mongol lady

[@agarwaengrc]

What's all this hangup with the names? Baklava is obviously Arab. Nobody calls strained yogurt "Greek yogurt" in Greece. Yogurt in general existed in the Balkans since the ancient times (B.C.), and I doubt it's specific to Greece. All the towns that you're mentioning Turkish names for, isn't this just cherry picking? obviously the whole of Turkey for example didn't have a single "Turkish named town" at one point, since there were no Turks there till around 1040. And there were obviously no Greeks there before the Ionian settlements of 500B.C. When does this end exactly?

[@FastEddieDice]

How fascinating. Thank you!

[@ErisstheGoddessofmanhwas]

Well we call Xoriatiki the Greek salad , that doesn't mean outside the country know that or should call it that way .

[@geogeo2299]

LoL there were Greeks in Asia Minor since long before 500BC. The Ionian migration started during the Bronze Age, and it succeeded the Aeolian migration, which succeeded other migrations - remember the Troyans.

[@savvassyrmopoulos5570]

I wonder why Turks, Arabs and Persian people have not objected to the presentation of "baklav", "mousaka", "yogurt" (and so on) as traditionally greek, while the names at least midle eastern. According to a Turk in a similar discussion, "yogurt" is a Turkish word, more descriptive for this state of milk than in greek. Perhaps there is an originally greek word for us neogreeks to use everyday. Like other words e.g. "kouvas" (=bucket in turkish) while the greek word is "dohion". Or "mpogia" (colour) instead of "chroma" ("chros" is the skin in greek, not used as is in everyday life today).

[@geogeo2299]

@@savvassyrmopoulos5570 Yogurt being a turkish word does not mean that yogurt is originally Turkish, in the same way Oregano was a plant with wide distribution that got a Greek name eventually. As for baklava and mousaka, Turks were nomads and nomad diet is based on meat and dairy. Nomads are unable to develop a pastry-based cuisine as the dough requires cultivation of wheat, rice etc, the process of baking, making syrups etc.

[@ΚυΙν]

Alexandroupolis was a tiny small village in the years of Ottoman Empire. CONSTANTINOPLE WAS THE CAPITAL OF THE WORLD back the n when it was Greek. Tell "your driver" to study history and don't mixing information in his head. Don't compare different things. Also the lighthouse was built by French people. ......not turks

[@FastEddieDice]

just off the phone with my driver. he was curious as to why you wanted to discuss population growth as a win. he mentioned that constantinople's population was less than 50,000 people in 1453. istanbul is now 16,000,000. that is, constantinople's population was 0.3% of what the turks grew it into. population of dedeağaç was 11,000. alexandroupoli is now around 60,000. my driver also pointed out that you didn't watch the video, since the video explains that the french built the lighthouse. my driver also said a bunch of stuff in turkish, but all i understood was "he has a small brain."

[@ΚυΙν]

@FastEddieDice Tell your Driver , Constantinople has 50 thousand at 1453 because MOST of people leave to save there lives. Ottoman invasion didn't start at 1453 but many years before.....and came closer and closer. Also tell him if it wasn't "THE CITY" they didn't try to conquer it so many times and years. Alexandroupolis was a village living Greeks, Turks, Bulgarians etc. CONSTANTINOPLE WAS THE DIAMOND OF THE WORLD back then. The population issue that he told you it's not important now because CONSTANTINOPLE is full from Turks came from deep Asia .....and they make 3-4 kids .

[@FastEddieDice]

@@ΚυΙν i will let him know. thanks!

[@ΚυΙν]

@FastEddieDice I wish you have nice trips ....

[@Taleton]

Do you know what Istanbul means? Where the name comes from? We the Greeks when we say The city - i Polis..We all know that we talk about Konstantinopolis. Example> Wher do you go? I am going to the Polis ( Is tin Poli = To the city ) The Turks heard the Greeks say> "Is tin Poli" and called Constantinople.. Istanbul > Is tin Poli > Istanbul!

[@FastEddieDice]

i did know that, yes!

[@helendimakakos9708]

Go back to Turkia ,read some history and then come back,Alexanroupolis is a Greek city!

[@ΜιλτιάδηςΜπαλτατζής]

Constantinople ☦️ is greek

[@FastEddieDice]

I’m sorry this is happening to you

[@ΑστεριοςΣκοδρας]

​@@FastEddieDice you are a paid ironic little...it! 😊

[@FastEddieDice]

DOT DOT DOT

[@ΚώσταςΖωγράφος-θ5σ]

Ανδριανουπολη.... Χτίστηκε την ίδια περίοδο με την Αλεξανδρουπολη.... (Όλα Ελλάδα)

[@FastEddieDice]

Incorrect. Dedeağaç (new name Alexandroupoli) was founded 1800s under the Ottoman Empire, where as Adrianopolis (Edirne) was founded by Roman emperor Hadrian on the site of Orestias around 1st century AD

[@evaloum1760]

​@@FastEddieDice classic American know ir all 😂😂😂😂 what a wiseaassss 😂😂😂😂 idiot g

[@FastEddieDice]

@@evaloum1760 thank you for watching, and happy you were able to learn something. here is my full greece playlist: kzbin.info/aero/PLnrWepwzwiRFJCR2fPc52vJ5ubDGorr_V&si=jrhqZX5JlSChTlJF

[@SOLEN-zm1vd]

You got the Marble ….ahahhhahhahahhhhaaaaaaaa Youre good 😜

[@g.c4855]

Thanks for visiting ATATURK’s house…

[@katara3619]

👍🏻👍🏻🇬🇷🇹🇷 greetings from 🇬🇷Ellada

[@ΜιλτιάδηςΜπαλτατζής]

Παρτα 🖐

[@JIMY45GR]

gyro is my favorite..please leave for me

[@Harun-oq2by]

I was wondering why you keep calling him "Borat", until I realized it was Murat :)

[@effievassiliadis6503]

Too bad you must read more about history about Alexandroupoli because some issues are not to be taken lightly. Not all made oe invented by Ottoman empire as you love to say.Vergina is a historic place of Alexander the Great.

[@FastEddieDice]

I’m in Vergina now. This town is certainly related to Philip II & Alexander the Great. No one should feel insulted by history. Amazing how many Greeks think that Alexandroupoli’s new name is somehow related to Alexander the Great

[@effievassiliadis6503]

@@FastEddieDice Every city in Greece that begins with Alexandria ( the ending Polis means city in Greek )is named after Alexander the Great. Even the city in Egypt named Alexandria is to honor him.

[@FastEddieDice]

Incorrect. Greeks renamed Dedeağaç in honor of a 1920 visit by King Alexander I, shortly before he was killed by a monkey. The city has nothing to do with Alexander the Great

[@effievassiliadis6503]

@@FastEddieDice from whom did king Alexander got his name?!

[@effievassiliadis6503]

@@FastEddieDice By stop being ironic and egocentric you can improve yourself

[@ELLAS1234]

Alexandroupolis is the ancient city of Sali and it was colonized by the Samothraces, it was not built by the Ottomans

[@FastEddieDice]

I believe you’re suggesting that 3,000 years ago some people lived nearby and therefore Dedeağaç wasn’t founded under the Ottomans. Sali was long gone when Dedeağaç was settled. It was buried abandoned stones, nearby what is now named Alexandroupoli

[@ELLAS1234]

@@FastEddieDice its the same city first was built by ancients greek sali was tha name , there was 2-3 citys there and all dogether was called peraia , the ottomans build in the ancient ruins of this town

[@FastEddieDice]

Fascinating. Thanks so much! Now I know it’s impossible to found a city if you’re building it near abandoned buried rock from thousands of years ago

[@marianikolopoulou2986]

The beer is called...veh..ryi..na

[@FastEddieDice]

Disappointing

[@savvassyrmopoulos5570]

Worth visiting the ancient Vergyina findings by Manolis Andronikos

[@FastEddieDice]

@@savvassyrmopoulos5570 here's my short video on ancient aigai in the modern small town of vergina: kzbin.info/www/bejne/qHakdouqhZyAn80si=xTGgwwdX9gt4d3zi

[@xtra8dj]

Oh, bagpiper, my reaction would be as when I see a street pantomime ... attack .....

[@coolfinetime]

You deserve more subscribers

[@FastEddieDice]

Mom? That you?

[@iraklis088]

Alexander the Great....so Alexanroupolis.... Come on...

[@FastEddieDice]

false. the greeks renamed dedeağaç "alexandroupoli" in honor of a visit by the greek boy king alexander I, shortly before a monkey killed him

[@nikolask3875]

For them the planets history starts with the ottomans... Also all the Global Rights and laws.. If they accept the past before otto occupation... nothing belongs to them.

[@adam1959]

The strait of Dardanelles is the entrance to Bosporus

[@adam1959]

Alexandroupolis is not at the entrance of Bosporus, open a map before talking

[@FastEddieDice]

@@adam1959 I’m flying to China from New York. YOU: “New York is not at the entrance of China, open a map before talking”

[@alial-yunani]

Bira içmek haramdır.

[@FastEddieDice]

How fascinating. Thank you so much!

[@alanfrenchfrei1357]

finally mystery solved after centuries of debate, baklava isnt greek

[@FastEddieDice]

Glad I could help you!

[@giolybe4223]

You are going to attract lots of negative comments calling Greek cities with a turkish name or shit towns, be carefull Eddie here are the Balkans not Ohio.

[@FastEddieDice]

Been living in the Balkans for 12 years. What happens in Ohio?! Never been

[@giolybe4223]

@@FastEddieDice Read the first part of my comment that you avoided replying and then i ll tell you what happens in Ohio ;)

[@johnedwards315]

A beer lout and his bubbly mental confusion. No respect at all.

[@FastEddieDice]

I’m sorry this is happening to you