Turkish minority in post-communist Bulgaria and their political participation (1997-2000)

In this study, the status of Turkish minority living in Bulgaria, socio-economic and cultural situation, migration phenomenon, ethnicity, ethnic identity, ethnic relations; ethno politics, political participation of minorities, changes in this participation and the factors affecting the change and the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF) were examined on the basis of the years 1997- 2000. The problem of the study is how the Turkish / Muslim minority in Bulgaria came to the integration stage through an intensive assimilation process? In the post-communist period, there were bloody ethnic and religious conflicts in the Balkans, particularly in former Yugoslavia. The study further investigates, as a Balkan country how Bulgaria, which includes many ethnic and religious minorities, particularly the Turks, managed to stay away from these conflicts. The role of the political participation of Turkish and Muslim minorities, ethnic politics, and the MRF in this avoidance was also examined. In addition, the study summarizes the historical process of the Turkish minority, which constitutes approximately 9% of the Bulgarian population, from the Ottoman to the present. Regarding the period under investigation, the study emphasises 1984-1989 assimilation and repression period and brings us to 2000 the time when Bulgaria's European Union (EU) candidacy process started. In the study, not only the Turkish minority is examined, but because of their religious and cultural affinities, Muslim Pomaks and Roma (Gypsies) are also mentioned. Turkish/Muslim minorities have been subjected to the forced and/or contractual migration for various reasons, especially for demographic concerns. The study also considers the migration phenomenon that is recently directed to the EU countries rather than Turkey. With the collapse of the Zhivkov regime, the communist era came to an end in Bulgaria and the Turkish minority entered a relatively easier period. With the MRF, which was established in 1990, it took its place in the Bulgarian politics and shared power from time to time. With the inclusion of MRF in Bulgarian politics, the political activities of the Turkish minority increased; they achieved significant achievements in terms of political participation and ethnic politics. Besides mobilising its voters, the MRF created a pressure for recognizing minority status and granting minority rights; it became the voice and representative of the minority in both Bulgaria and Europe. The MRF has won the favour of other minorities, particularly the Muslims; it has become a mass party from an ethnic party identity by expanding the electorate. According to the findings of our questionnaire, interviews and observations, we come to the conclusion that the Turkish minority embraced the MRF and preferred to vote for a large proportion of their votes. The study was carried out in three countries; the UK, Bulgaria and Turkey. It is an interdisciplinary study that covers the sciences such as sociology, ethnography, history, political science and international relations. Within the scope of the study, a field work was carried out in Bulgaria's Rhodopes (Kardzhali) and Deliorman (Razgrad) region for four months. In the field work, a questionnaire consisting of 63 questions was applied to the randomly selected 200 participants, in order to measure the issues related to Turkish Muslim minority's political participation status and voting behaviours (See Appendix-2). In the data analysis of process, a mixed approach was adopted. That is quantitative methods for the questionnaires and qualitative methods for the interviews were used. In the analyses, the frequencies, comparative tables and the Chi-Square test were performed with SPSS Program. Questionnaires passed the reliability test with ", 739" Cronbach's alpha coefficient. The first chapter includes introduction and methodology; in the second chapter conceptual framework and theoretical approaches are discussed; in the third chapter historical appraisal is given; socio-economic status and migration phenomenon are discussed in the fourth chapter; education, religious-cultural structure are evaluated in the fifth chapter; the sixth chapter covers ethnic relations; political participation, ethno politics, and the MRF are examined in the seventh chapter; findings and comments are explored in the eighth chapter. Evaluation, results and recommendations are pointed out in the last section. Key Words: Bulgaria, ethnicity, ethno-politics, MRF, political participation, Turkish minority.