myth that Greece is a monocultural and homogeneous society has been strongly challenged by the high numbers of migrants currently composing ten per cent of the country’s population. In the 1990s, after decades of economic difficulties and authoritarian government, Greece completed a very long and difficult trajectory towards becoming a democratic European society. Respect for human rights, educational policies against social exclusion and the protection of minority cultural differences are part of the new agenda. These changes are reflected in the education of the Muslim minority. The most significant innovation is the 1996 affirmative action taken by the government to allow a 0.5% minority quota to enter Greek universities by special examination. This affirmative action was in 2005 extended to the students of technical secondary education. A major innovation was also the introduction of the instruction of Turkish in secondary state schools in 2006. As part of the overall changes the Project was to change the scene drastically. The achievements of the Project In a nutshell, there are definite improvements in the day-to-day lives of the people, as a result of region specific political measures and of the overall process of modernization. The affirmative measure concerning the university entrance examination has visibly strengthened the minority’s motivation to attend secondary education. The Project’s new educational materials have contributed significantly to high quality improvements in schooling, although the biggest changes have come from the heightened awareness of a small number of teachers. Teacher training proved to be the most difficult task. Several of the teachers have started to see things differently, while a few have performed miracles. Drop out rates from the 9-year compulsory school in the year 2000 was 65%. In less than ten years they dropped by more than a half. While still high, the trends are definitely promising. Gymnasium attendance has almost quadrupled over less than 15 years and girls’ school attendance, although still low, is rapidly increasing. Similarly, Lyceum (the last three years of secondary education) attendance is growing as well. In three years it increased by 60%. These figures are very promising. The most successful measure introduced by the Project was the Community Centers. Being outside the school structure and equally staffed by majority and minority workers they were somewhat free from inter-ethnic antagonism and power structures, whereas change within the school system represents a longer and more arduous process. Parents have changed. Many have started showing trust. The local press acknowledged the progress achieved. There is a higher consensus on the part of the majority that society in its entirety benefits from the equality of opportunity for minority children. An increasing number of Greek-speaking teachers are eager to learn Turkish, the first language of most of their pupils. The ‘patriotic’ discourse, prevalent in the local society, has weakened. There is a higher consensus on the part of the majority that society in its entirety benefits from the equality of opportunity for minority children. There is an ongoing process of transformation of the rigid identification between ‘Us’ and ‘the Others’ in the local society. The division between Christian and Muslim, Greeks and Turks, Us and Them is starting to include other social identities, such as men and women, modernists and traditionalists, individuals resistant to or in favour of social change, Europeanists and isolationists… This process seems to be one among the most important changes of all.