Bulgarians in Turkey
Encyclopedia
Bulgarians
form a minority of Turkey
(. People identifying as Bulgarian include a large number from the Pomak
and other Slavophonic Muslim communities (whose ancestors were Bulgarian), and a very small number of Orthodox of ethnic Bulgarian origin. Pomaks are also muslim and speak a Bulgarian
dialect. According to Ethnologue
at present 300,000 Pomaks in European Turkey
speak Bulgarian as mother tongue.
It is very hard to estimate the number of Pomaks along with the Turkified
Pomaks who live in Turkey, as they have blended into the Turkish society and have been often linguistically and culturally dissimilated. According to Milliyet
and Turkish Daily News
reports, the number of the Pomaks along with the Turkified Pomaks in the country is about 600,000. According to the Bulgarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Bulgarian Orthodox Christian
community in Turkey stands at 500 members.
The medieval Bulgarian Empire
had active relations with Eastern Thrace before the Ottoman conquest of the Balkans in the 14th–15th century: the area was often part of the Bulgarian state under its stronger rulers from Krum
's reign on, such as Simeon I
and Ivan Asen II
; the city of Edirne
(Adrianople, Odrin) was under Bulgarian control a number of times. Bulgarians were sometimes taken captive during Byzantine
raids and resettled in Asia Minor
(modern Asian Turkey), but their traces are lost in the Middle Ages
. As the Balkans
were subjugated by the Ottomans
, the entirety of the Bulgarian lands fell under Ottoman domination.
It was during the Ottoman rule that a more substantial Bulgarian colony was formed in the imperial capital Istanbul
(also known as Constantinople
or, in Bulgarian, as Tsarigrad). The so-called "Tsarigrad Bulgarians" (цариградски българи, tsarigradski balgari) were mostly craftsmen (e.g. leather
workers) and merchants. During the Bulgarian National Revival
, Istanbul was a major centre of Bulgarian journalism and enlightenment. Istanbul's St Stephen Church, also known as the Bulgarian Iron Church, was the seat of the Bulgarian Exarchate
after 1870. According to some estimates, the Tsarigrad Bulgarians numbered 30–100,000 in the mid-19th century; today, there remains a small colony of 300–400, a small part of the city's Bulgarian community.
A specific part of the Bulgarian population of modern Turkey were the Anatolian Bulgarians
, Eastern Orthodox Bulgarians who settled in Ottoman-ruled northwestern Anatolia, possibly in the 18th century, and remained there until 1914.
Much more intense was the fate of the Bulgarian population of Eastern Thrace in the Ottoman Province (vilâyet
) of Edirne. According to Lyubomir Miletich
's detailed study of the province published in 1918, the Bulgarian population of the province (today mostly in Turkey, with smaller parts in Greece
and Bulgaria) in 1912 numbered 298,726, of whom 176,554 Exarchists, 24,970 Patriarchists
, 1,700 Eastern Catholics
and 95,502 Muslims (Pomaks). In the Çorlu
and Constantinople regions, Miletich estimates the Bulgarian population at a further 10,000.
After the Balkan Wars
of 1912–1913, most of the Bulgarian population was killed or expelled by the Ottomans to Bulgarian-controlled territories. The legal property rights of the expelled Thracian Bulgarians) were recognized fully by the Republic of Turkey through the Treaty of Ankara, signed on October 18, 1925, but have been never denied or enforced yet. Almost one century after 1913, the heirs of the Bulgarian refugees have still not been compensated yet. After the Balkan Wars some Turks left Bulgaria and a number of Bulgarians moved from Ottoman Turkey to Bulgaria. Between the Balkan Wars and the First World War there were a series of agreements on exchanges of population between Bulgaria and Turkey.
churches in the city of Edirne: Saint George (dating to 1880) and Saints Constantine and Helena (built in 1869). The Bulgarian churches were reconstructed in the 2000s with the cooperation of Turkey, using mostly Bulgarian state funds. They are both in a good condition today; Saint George also has a Bulgarian library and an ethnographic collection. The two Bulgarian churches are the only functioning Christian places of worship in the city today, as none of the Greek churches are active or even preserved.
In September 2007 Evgeni Kirilov, Bulgarian deputy in the European Parliament
, proposed an amendment to the resolution concerning the EU-Turkish relations, which refers to the property of the Thracian Bulgarians and the obligations of Turkish authorities according to the Treaty of Ankara. In January 2010, Turkish daily Milliyet
reported that Bulgarian minister Bozhidar Dimitrov
(himself a son of Thracian refugees) talked on a prospect to demand compensation from Turkey in return for the property of expelled Bulgarians. In a response the Turkish foreign minister Ahmet Davutoğlu
has underlined that Bulgaria has not filed any official claim and that any such demand needs to be viewed as a whole to also envisage the rights of the two million Turkish refugees from Bulgaria based on the Treaty of Ankara. Bulgarian prime minister Boyko Borisov
stated that Bulgarian government had no prospects for demanding compensation from Turkey and Dimitrov was forced to publicly apologise for his statement.
Bulgarians
The Bulgarians are a South Slavic nation and ethnic group native to Bulgaria and neighbouring regions. Emigration has resulted in immigrant communities in a number of other countries.-History and ethnogenesis:...
form a minority of Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
(. People identifying as Bulgarian include a large number from the Pomak
Pomaks
Pomaks is a term used for a Slavic Muslim population native to some parts of Bulgaria, Turkey, Greece, the Republic of Macedonia, Albania and Kosovo. The Pomaks speak Bulgarian as their native language, also referred to in Greece and Turkey as Pomak language, and some are fluent in Turkish,...
and other Slavophonic Muslim communities (whose ancestors were Bulgarian), and a very small number of Orthodox of ethnic Bulgarian origin. Pomaks are also muslim and speak a Bulgarian
Bulgarian language
Bulgarian is an Indo-European language, a member of the Slavic linguistic group.Bulgarian, along with the closely related Macedonian language, demonstrates several linguistic characteristics that set it apart from all other Slavic languages such as the elimination of case declension, the...
dialect. According to Ethnologue
Ethnologue
Ethnologue: Languages of the World is a web and print publication of SIL International , a Christian linguistic service organization, which studies lesser-known languages, to provide the speakers with Bibles in their native language and support their efforts in language development.The Ethnologue...
at present 300,000 Pomaks in European Turkey
East Thrace
East Thrace or Eastern Thrace , also known as Turkish Thrace, is the part of the modern republic of Turkey that is geographically part of Europe, all in the eastern part of the historical region of Thrace; most of Turkey is in Anatolia, also known as Asia Minor. Turkish Thrace is also called...
speak Bulgarian as mother tongue.
It is very hard to estimate the number of Pomaks along with the Turkified
Turkification
Turkification is a term used to describe a process of cultural or political change in which something or someone who is not a Turk becomes one, voluntarily or involuntarily...
Pomaks who live in Turkey, as they have blended into the Turkish society and have been often linguistically and culturally dissimilated. According to Milliyet
Milliyet
Milliyet is a major Turkish daily newspaper founded in 1950.-History:Milliyet came to publishing life at the Nuri Akça press in Babıali, Istanbul as a daily private newspaper on 3 May 1950...
and Turkish Daily News
Turkish Daily News
The Hürriyet Daily News, formerly Hürriyet Daily News and Economic Review, is the oldest current English-language daily in Turkey....
reports, the number of the Pomaks along with the Turkified Pomaks in the country is about 600,000. According to the Bulgarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Bulgarian Orthodox Christian
Eastern Orthodox Church
The Orthodox Church, officially called the Orthodox Catholic Church and commonly referred to as the Eastern Orthodox Church, is the second largest Christian denomination in the world, with an estimated 300 million adherents mainly in the countries of Belarus, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Georgia, Greece,...
community in Turkey stands at 500 members.
History
Bulgarian Empire
Bulgarian Empire is a term used to describe two periods in the medieval history of Bulgaria, during which it acted as a key regional power in Europe in general and in Southeastern Europe in particular, rivalling Byzantium...
had active relations with Eastern Thrace before the Ottoman conquest of the Balkans in the 14th–15th century: the area was often part of the Bulgarian state under its stronger rulers from Krum
Krum of Bulgaria
Krum the Horrible was Khan of Bulgaria, from after 796, but before 803, to 814 AD. During his reign the Bulgarian territory doubled in size, spreading from the middle Danube to the Dnieper and from Odrin to the Tatra Mountains. His able and energetic rule brought law and order to Bulgaria and...
's reign on, such as Simeon I
Simeon I of Bulgaria
Simeon I the Great ruled over Bulgaria from 893 to 927, during the First Bulgarian Empire. Simeon's successful campaigns against the Byzantines, Magyars and Serbs led Bulgaria to its greatest territorial expansion ever, making it the most powerful state in contemporary Eastern Europe...
and Ivan Asen II
Ivan Asen II of Bulgaria
-Early rule:He was a son of Ivan Asen I of Bulgaria and Elena . Elena, who survived until after 1235, is sometimes alleged to be a daughter of Stefan Nemanja of Serbia, but this relationship is questionable and would have caused various canonical impediments to marriages between various descendants...
; the city of Edirne
Edirne
Edirne is a city in Eastern Thrace, the northwestern part of Turkey, close to the borders with Greece and Bulgaria. Edirne served as the capital city of the Ottoman Empire from 1365 to 1453, before Constantinople became the empire's new capital. At present, Edirne is the capital of the Edirne...
(Adrianople, Odrin) was under Bulgarian control a number of times. Bulgarians were sometimes taken captive during Byzantine
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...
raids and resettled in Asia Minor
Asia Minor
Asia Minor is a geographical location at the westernmost protrusion of Asia, also called Anatolia, and corresponds to the western two thirds of the Asian part of Turkey...
(modern Asian Turkey), but their traces are lost in the Middle Ages
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
. As the Balkans
Balkans
The Balkans is a geopolitical and cultural region of southeastern Europe...
were subjugated by the Ottomans
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
, the entirety of the Bulgarian lands fell under Ottoman domination.
It was during the Ottoman rule that a more substantial Bulgarian colony was formed in the imperial capital Istanbul
Istanbul
Istanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...
(also known as Constantinople
Constantinople
Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...
or, in Bulgarian, as Tsarigrad). The so-called "Tsarigrad Bulgarians" (цариградски българи, tsarigradski balgari) were mostly craftsmen (e.g. leather
Leather
Leather is a durable and flexible material created via the tanning of putrescible animal rawhide and skin, primarily cattlehide. It can be produced through different manufacturing processes, ranging from cottage industry to heavy industry.-Forms:...
workers) and merchants. During the Bulgarian National Revival
Bulgarian National Revival
The Bulgarian National Revival , sometimes called the Bulgarian Renaissance, was a period of socio-economic development and national integration among Bulgarian people under Ottoman rule...
, Istanbul was a major centre of Bulgarian journalism and enlightenment. Istanbul's St Stephen Church, also known as the Bulgarian Iron Church, was the seat of the Bulgarian Exarchate
Bulgarian Exarchate
The Bulgarian Exarchate was the official name of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church before its autocephaly was recognized by the Ecumenical See in 1945 and the Bulgarian Patriarchate was restored in 1953....
after 1870. According to some estimates, the Tsarigrad Bulgarians numbered 30–100,000 in the mid-19th century; today, there remains a small colony of 300–400, a small part of the city's Bulgarian community.
A specific part of the Bulgarian population of modern Turkey were the Anatolian Bulgarians
Anatolian Bulgarians
The Anatolian Bulgarians or Bulgarians of Asia Minor were Eastern Orthodox Bulgarians who settled in Ottoman-ruled northwestern Anatolia , possibly in the 18th century, and remained there until 1914....
, Eastern Orthodox Bulgarians who settled in Ottoman-ruled northwestern Anatolia, possibly in the 18th century, and remained there until 1914.
Much more intense was the fate of the Bulgarian population of Eastern Thrace in the Ottoman Province (vilâyet
Wilayah
A wilāyah or vilâyet , or vilayat in Urdu and Turkish, is an administrative division, usually translated as "province", rarely as "governorate". The word comes from the Arabic "w-l-y", "to govern": a wāli — "governor" — governs a wilayah, "that which is governed"...
) of Edirne. According to Lyubomir Miletich
Lyubomir Miletich
Lyubomir Miletich was a leading Bulgarian linguist, ethnographer, dialectologist and historian, as well as the chairman of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences from 1926 to his death....
's detailed study of the province published in 1918, the Bulgarian population of the province (today mostly in Turkey, with smaller parts in Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
and Bulgaria) in 1912 numbered 298,726, of whom 176,554 Exarchists, 24,970 Patriarchists
Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople
The Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople , part of the wider Orthodox Church, is one of the fourteen autocephalous churches within the communion of Orthodox Christianity...
, 1,700 Eastern Catholics
Bulgarian Greek Catholic Church
The Bulgarian Greek Catholic Church is a Byzantine Rite sui juris particular Church in full union with the Roman Catholic Church.-Middle Ages:...
and 95,502 Muslims (Pomaks). In the Çorlu
Çorlu
Çorlu is a northwestern Turkish city in inland Eastern Thrace that falls under the administration of the Province of Tekirdağ. It is a rapidly developing industrial center built on flatland located off the E80 highway between Istanbul and Turkey's border with Greece and Bulgaria. As of the 2000...
and Constantinople regions, Miletich estimates the Bulgarian population at a further 10,000.
After the Balkan Wars
Balkan Wars
The Balkan Wars were two conflicts that took place in the Balkans in south-eastern Europe in 1912 and 1913.By the early 20th century, Montenegro, Bulgaria, Greece and Serbia, the countries of the Balkan League, had achieved their independence from the Ottoman Empire, but large parts of their ethnic...
of 1912–1913, most of the Bulgarian population was killed or expelled by the Ottomans to Bulgarian-controlled territories. The legal property rights of the expelled Thracian Bulgarians) were recognized fully by the Republic of Turkey through the Treaty of Ankara, signed on October 18, 1925, but have been never denied or enforced yet. Almost one century after 1913, the heirs of the Bulgarian refugees have still not been compensated yet. After the Balkan Wars some Turks left Bulgaria and a number of Bulgarians moved from Ottoman Turkey to Bulgaria. Between the Balkan Wars and the First World War there were a series of agreements on exchanges of population between Bulgaria and Turkey.
Present
There remain two Bulgarian OrthodoxBulgarian Orthodox Church
The Bulgarian Orthodox Church - Bulgarian Patriarchate is an autocephalous Eastern Orthodox Church with some 6.5 million members in the Republic of Bulgaria and between 1.5 and 2.0 million members in a number of European countries, the Americas and Australia...
churches in the city of Edirne: Saint George (dating to 1880) and Saints Constantine and Helena (built in 1869). The Bulgarian churches were reconstructed in the 2000s with the cooperation of Turkey, using mostly Bulgarian state funds. They are both in a good condition today; Saint George also has a Bulgarian library and an ethnographic collection. The two Bulgarian churches are the only functioning Christian places of worship in the city today, as none of the Greek churches are active or even preserved.
In September 2007 Evgeni Kirilov, Bulgarian deputy in the European Parliament
European Parliament
The European Parliament is the directly elected parliamentary institution of the European Union . Together with the Council of the European Union and the Commission, it exercises the legislative function of the EU and it has been described as one of the most powerful legislatures in the world...
, proposed an amendment to the resolution concerning the EU-Turkish relations, which refers to the property of the Thracian Bulgarians and the obligations of Turkish authorities according to the Treaty of Ankara. In January 2010, Turkish daily Milliyet
Milliyet
Milliyet is a major Turkish daily newspaper founded in 1950.-History:Milliyet came to publishing life at the Nuri Akça press in Babıali, Istanbul as a daily private newspaper on 3 May 1950...
reported that Bulgarian minister Bozhidar Dimitrov
Bozhidar Dimitrov
Bozhidar Dimitrov Stoyanov is a well-known Bulgarian historian working in the sphere of Medieval Bulgarian history, the Ottoman rule of Bulgaria and the Macedonian Question...
(himself a son of Thracian refugees) talked on a prospect to demand compensation from Turkey in return for the property of expelled Bulgarians. In a response the Turkish foreign minister Ahmet Davutoğlu
Ahmet Davutoglu
Professor Ahmet Davutoğlu is a Turkish political scientist, an academic and an ambassador. On May 1, 2009, he was named Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkey after being the chief advisor to the Prime Minister of Republic of Turkey.-Life and career:...
has underlined that Bulgaria has not filed any official claim and that any such demand needs to be viewed as a whole to also envisage the rights of the two million Turkish refugees from Bulgaria based on the Treaty of Ankara. Bulgarian prime minister Boyko Borisov
Boyko Borisov
Boyko Metodiev Borisov is a Bulgarian politician who has been Prime Minister of Bulgaria since July 2009. Previously he was Mayor of Sofia from 8 November 2005 until his election as Prime Minister....
stated that Bulgarian government had no prospects for demanding compensation from Turkey and Dimitrov was forced to publicly apologise for his statement.
Notable people
- This list includes people of Bulgarian origin born in what is today Turkey or Bulgarians mainly active in the Republic of Turkey.
- Antim IAntim IAntim I , born Atanas Mihaylov Chalakov , was a Bulgarian education figure and clergyman, and a participant in the Bulgarian liberation and church-independence movement. He was the first head of the Bulgarian Exarchate, a post he held from 1872 to 1877...
(1816–1888), first head of the Bulgarian ExarchateBulgarian ExarchateThe Bulgarian Exarchate was the official name of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church before its autocephaly was recognized by the Ecumenical See in 1945 and the Bulgarian Patriarchate was restored in 1953....
(from KırklareliKirklareliKırklareli is the capital of Kırklareli Province in Eastern Thrace, on the European part of Turkey. The province has a coastline on the Black Sea. There is a Jewish community.-Name:It is not clearly known when the city was founded, nor under what name...
) - Alexander BogoridiAlexander BogoridiPrince Alexander Stefanov Bogoridi Стефанов Богориди; Turkish: Aleko Pasha; ) was an Ottoman statesman of Bulgarian origin....
(1822–1910), Ottoman statesman of Bulgarian origin (from Istanbul) - Georgi ValkovichGeorgi ValkovichGeorgi Valkovich Cholakov was a Bulgarian physician, diplomat and conservative politician. Among the leading surgeons in the Ottoman Empire, Valkovich became one of the leaders of the Conservative Party after the Liberation of Bulgaria in 1878...
(1833–1892), physician, diplomat and politician (from Edirne) - Konstantin BozvelievKonstantin BozvelievKonstantin Tenev Bozveliev was a Bulgarian socialist politician.-Biography:Bozveliev was born in Constantinople , the capital of the Ottoman Empire, to the family of Bulgarian tobacco merchant Tenyo Bozveli. On his father's side, Bozveliev descended from the cleric and Bulgarian National Revival...
(1862–1951), socialist policitian (from Istanbul) - Nikola AslanovNikola AslanovNikola Hristov Aslanov was a Bulgarian revolutionary, a worker of the Internal Macedonian-Adrianople Revolutionary Organization .Nikola Aslanov was born in 1875 in Lozengrad, East Thrace, today located in Turkey and known as Kirklareli. He worked as a merchant. In 1896, he became a member of the...
(1875–1905), IMARO revolutionary (from Kırklareli) - Hristo SilyanovHristo SilyanovHristo Silyanov - was a Bulgarian revolutionary, historian and memoirist. He was among the activists of the Bulgarian Macedonian-Adrianople Revolutionary Committees and in his memoirs uniquely described the history of the organization in its early period.Silyanov was born in a rich family in...
(1880–1939), IMARO revolutionary, historian and biographer (from Istanbul) - G. M. DimitrovG. M. DimitrovGeorgi Mihov Dimitrov , known as Gemeto to distinguish him from Georgi Dimitrov Mihaylov, was a Bulgarian politician, a leading figure of the Bulgarian Agrarian National Union in the 1930s and 1940s and an opponent of Nazism and communism alike.G. M...
(1903–1972), politician (from Yeniçiftlik near Marmara Ereğlisi) - Zako HeskijaZako HeskijaZako Heskija, Зако Хеския, also:Zako Heskia or "Sako Cheskija" was a Bulgarian film director and writer....
(1922–2006), film director (from Istanbul)
See also
- Minorities in TurkeyMinorities in TurkeyMinorities in Turkey form a substantial part of the country's population. 25-30% of the populace belong to an ethnic minority. While the Republic of Turkey, following the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne, recognizes Armenians, Greeks and Jews as ethnic minorities, this legal status is not granted the Kurds,...
- Bulgarian diasporaBulgarian diasporaBulgarian diaspora consists of Bulgarian emigrants and their descendants.The number of Bulgarians outside Bulgaria has sharply increased since 1991, following the collapse of the communism in Eastern Europe. Over one million Bulgarians have left the country, either permanently or as temporary...
- The Destruction of Thracian Bulgarians in 1913The Destruction of Thracian Bulgarians in 1913"The Destruction of Thracian Bulgarians in 1913" were events described by Bulgarian academician Lyubomir Miletich in 1918, but also mentioned by Carnegie Endowment for International Peace with also a detailed report on the annihilation of Thracian Muslims...
- Bulgaria–Turkey relationsBulgaria–Turkey relationsBulgarian–Turkish relations are foreign relations between Bulgaria and Turkey. Bulgaria has an embassy in Ankara, 2 general consulates in Istanbul and Edirne and a chancellery in Bursa. Turkey has an embassy in Sofia and 2 general consulates in Plovdiv and Burgas. Both countries are full members...
- Turks in BulgariaTurks in BulgariaThe Turks in Bulgaria number 588,318 people and constitute 8.8% of those who declared their ethnic group and 8.0% of the total population according to the 2011 Bulgarian census. 605,802 persons or 9.1% of the population pointed Turkish language as their mother tongue. They are also the largest...