Country: Bulgaria

Group: Turks

Date finalized: 02/15/2022

Team: Omer Carrillo (lead), Rayna Castillo, Hunter Blevins, Erin Fagan, Ryan Oakley, Rami Sussan

            Turks make up 8% of the Bulgaria’s population.  In 1958, the communist state imposed assimilation policies that lasted until the fall of the Soviet Union and resignation of tyrant Todor Hristov Zhivkov in 1989. The teaching of the Turkish language was eliminated from school curriculum in 1975 and was minimized in newspapers and magazines in the early 1980’s (Minority Rights, 2021). The communist state forced Turks to adopt Bulgarian names and banned them from speaking Turkish and practicing Islam. Punishments for those who did not conform to these policies ranged from killings, arrests, mass deportations and losing their jobs. Zhivkov used these methods to ethnically cleanse Bulgaria and transform it into a “pure” country (Dimitrov, 2000; Kamusella, 2019). Following the collapse of the communist state in 1989, many Turks returned to Bulgaria and sought rights that they previously lost, which included land reclamation. As recent as 2011, there was some anti Islam rhetoric in the country since there was an influx of Turkish asylum seekers. The Bulgarian state has also recognized the atrocities that ensued under the communist state (Kamusella, 2019; Minority Rights, 2021).

The data quality was rated a 3 since there is plenty of evidence that proves that the Turks were victims of ethnocide. In fact, the victims who lived through this are still vocal about it.

Sources

  1. Dimitrov, V. (2000). In search of a homogeneous nation: The assimilation of Bulgaria’s Turkish minority, 1984-1985. JEMIE: 1.
  2. Minority Rights Group. (2021, February 5). Retrieved February 7, 2022, from https://minorityrights.org/minorities/turks-2
  3. Mahon, S. M. B. (2001). The politics of nationalism under communism in Bulgaria. Myths, memories, and minorities. University of London, University College London (United Kingdom). https://doi.org/https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1317549/1/248046.pdf
  4. Kamusella, T. (2019, March 4). Words matter. Bulgaria and the 30th anniversary of the largest ethnic cleansing in Cold War europe. New Eastern Europe – A bimonthly news magazine dedicated to Central and Eastern European affairs. Retrieved February 15, 2022, fromhttps://neweasterneurope.eu/2019/02/25/words-matter-bulgaria-and-the-30th-anniversary-of-the-largest-ethnic-cleansing-in-cold-war-europe%EF%BB%BF/