The Turks of Bulgaria: 1945-1983 (original) (raw)

The Bulgarian Migrations and the End of Ottoman Rule in Bulgaria (1878–1900)

The Bulgarian Migrations and the End of Ottoman Rule in Bulgaria (1878–1900), “Historijski zbornik” (Zagreb) 2018, br. 1, god. LXXI, pp. 45–59. | The paper presents the problem of the migrations of Bulgarians from Macedonia, Thrace, Russia, the Habsburg Monarchy, and Romania in 1878–1900. The biggest wave arrived in Bulgaria after the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–1878 – people were escaping from the repressions in the Ottoman Empire after its defeat. Later, many of the settlers were determined by economic motives – they hoped that the living standards would be better in the new Bulgarian state. The scale of the migrations led to introduction of two laws on that problem: in 1881 and 1890. The phenomenon had not only a crucial impact on the demographical structures of the Bulgarian state but also on its political, social and cultural shape, among others, on the transformation of the ethnic structure of the cities.

Turkey and Turkish/Muslim Minorities in Greece and Bulgaria (1923-1938)

This thesis examined how Turkish perception of insecurity, which was based on its suspicions about Greek and Bulgarian intentions and politics towards its territorial integrity and stability of its regime, shaped its view of Turkish/Muslim minorities living in these two states in the early Republican period. Using a wealth of archival material and newspapers, it questioned to what extent these physical and ideological concerns of the Turkish Republic played a role in its approach to these minorities in the period between 1923 and 1938. Turkey perceived the Greek and Bulgarian maltreatment of these minorities as a part of these states’ hostile intentions regarding the new Turkish state. Thus, what this thesis argued is that Turkey responded to pressure on Turkish/Muslim minorities in these two states not only because of humanitarian concerns but according to its security concern, which became an important factor to determine Turkish interventionist approach to the minority issues in Greece and Bulgaria in this period.