Last great migration from the Balkans to Turkey as the outgoing 1989 migration process

The Balkan states, which aimed to establish their own nation-states, have always kept up the assimilation and emigration policies towards minorities along the history. Bulgaria, where most of the Turkish minorities live in the Balkans, has been implemented the same attitude in their minority policy in a variety of way before and after the Communist era. In this study, the answers to these questions has been searched in the context of mentioning the extent of the Bulgaria – Turkey relationship: How the process leading to the 1989 migration was committed? Why the Turkish and Muslim minorities were forced to assimilation policy or to emigrate? The tensions existed before The Cold War between Turkey – Bulgaria, lately continued periodically. It was seen that Turks in Bulgaria was wanted to be acquired by the regime in the early years of the Communism. After the 1951 Migration, the Turkish minority in Bulgaria was immediately left alone with the socialist training process; it was aimed to raise atheist and Soviet fan generations. While the Turkey-Bulgaria relations had almost come to a standstill between 1951–1966, bilateral relations was brought to a specific level by the migration agreement signed in 1968. Bulgaria, which was worrying about the results of the Turkey's Cyprus Operation in 1974, was seeing the Turkish minority as a demographic threat. Communist regime has thought that they could solve their own minority problem with the projects of "Priobştavane" (Integration - Merger), "Homogenization" and finally "Vızroditelen Protses" (Rebirth). In 1984, with the so-called "Revival Process", when the communist regime wanted to change the names of the Turkish minority by force, Turkey - Bulgaria relations have experienced the most tense period in the history of the Republic. By Turkey's attempts to solve this issue through a comprehensive migration agreement, the communist regime, which could not resist to international pressure, could not hold the Turkish minority and more than 300.000 people came to Turkey. As a result, the 1989 Migration is recorded as the last great immigration from the Balkans to Turkey. Keywords: 1989 Migrations, Balkans, Turkey- Bulgaria Relations,Turkish and Muslim Minority in Bulgaria, Assimilation Policy