Muslim minority of Greece Greeks were required to leave Turkey, and the 356,000 Muslims outside of Thrace were required to leave Greece, including the Muslim Greek Vallahades of western Greek Macedonia. Consequently, most of the Muslim minority in Greece resides in the Greek region of Thrace, where they make up 28.88% of the population. Muslims form the largest group in the Rhodope regional unit (41.77%) and sizable percentages in the Xanthi (31.19%) and Evros regional units (4.65%). Nearly 300 Turks remain on the island of Rhodes and 200 on the island of Kos, as the islands were part of the Italian Dodecanese when the
Dodecanese Regiment the Dodecanese Islands. Led by the Dodecanesian Youth organization, the community organized impressive rallies in Athens and at the same time pressed the Greek Government to allow Dodecanesian volunteers with Italian citizenship to enlist in the Hellenic Army. The request was accepted, and on November 13, 1940, the general headquarters issued the order for the formation of the "Dodecanese Regiment". The true reason for this order was that the Albanian Front had absorbed all the reserves, and the GHQ was in a desperate need for additional forces that would counter the impending German offensive from the Bulgarian border. More than