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The Muslim-Turkish Minority in Bulgaria

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The Muslim-Turkish Minority in Bulgaria BULGARIAN HELSINKI COMMITTEE MEMBER OF THE INTERNATIONAL HELSINKI FEDERATION FOR HUMAN RIGHTS The Human Rights of Muslims in Bulgaria in Law and Politics since 1878 Fatme Muyhtar Sofia November 2003 Contents: Brief Introductory Chapter: 1. Demographic data 2. Origins of the Bulgarian Muslims 2.1. Turks 2.2. Bulgarian-speaking Muslims (Pomaks) 2.3. Roma Muslims Chapter I: The Muslim community in post-Ottoman Bulgaria (1878 - 1944) 1.1. Religious rights 1.2. Immigration and assimilation problems 1.3. Muslim minority education 1.4. Muslim (Turkish) minority press 1.5. The impact of Kemalism on the rights of the Muslims in Bulgaria Chapter II: The Muslim community during the Communist era (1944 - 1989) and the first years of democracy in Bulgaria 2.1. The politics towards Muslims in the period 1944-1956 2.1.1. Legal basis of Muslims’ religious freedoms 2.1.2. Development of Muslim minority education 2.1.3. Immigration inclinations among Muslims and their consequences 2.2. The treatment of Muslims between 1956 and 1984 2.2.1. Limiting the religious freedoms and launching a policy of forced assimilation of Muslims 2.2.2. Renewed immigration waves 2.2.3. New forced assimilation of Pomak Muslims 2.2.4. Preparing the soil for the assimilation of the Turks and the Roma Muslims 2.3. The situation of the Bulgarian Muslims during the last years of the Communist regime (1984-1989) 2.3.1. The “Revival Process” in its apogee 2.3.2. The international reaction to the “Revival Process” 2.3.3. The “Big Excursion” phenomenon Chapter III: Protection of Muslims’ basic rights and freedoms in present day Bulgaria 3.1. Right to identity 3.2. Freedom of religion 3.2.1. Political climate after the 1989 changes 3.2.2. Demonstrations of discrimination on religious grounds 1 3.2.3. Arbitrary expulsions of Muslim preachers 3.2.4. Legal developments on freedom of religion 3.2.5. Vakuf’s property issues 3.3. Right to use one’s minority language before administrative authorities 3.4. Education and mother tongue 3.4.1. The study of Turkish language as a mother tongue 3.4.1.1. Legal basis and organisation 3.4.1.2. Turkish as a foreign language 3.4.2. Study of “Religion-Islam” 3.5. Media 3.5.1. Legal framework 3.5.2. Media coverage of Muslim minority-related issues 3.5.2.1. The image of Muslims in the press 3.6. Access to justice 3.6.1. Criminal justice and related issues 3.6.1.1. Legal changes 3.6.1.2. Excessive use of force and misuse of firearms by police and access to justice 3.6.1.3. BHC surveys on illtreatment of defendants and other monitoring initiatives in places of detention 3.7. Participation in public life 3.7.1. Muslims’ participation in local government 3.7.2. Involvement in law-enforcement bodies’ work 3.8. Access to effective medical care 3.9. Access to employment 2 1. Demographic data: The Muslim community in Bulgaria is represented by three main ethnic groups: Turks, Bulgarian-speaking Muslims (Pomaks)1 and Roma (Gypsy) Muslims. According to the last two population censuses from 1992 and 2001, the total number of Muslims (based on “religious belonging”) is 1,110,295 (out of 8,887,317 total population) in 1992, and 966,978 (out of 7,928,901) in 2001.2 The biggest ethnic constituent, according to “ethnic belonging”, of the Muslim community in Bulgaria--the Turks--enumerated 800,052 persons in 1992, and 746,664 in 2001. 762,516 persons indicated Turkish as their “mother tongue” respectively in the 2001 census.3 However, due to the fact that a substantial part (if not the greater part) of the Muslim Roma identify themselves as Turks to avoid the social stigma associated with the term “Gypsies”, the total number of Turks in Bulgaria has to be reduced. In addition, a certain number of Pomak Muslims also identify themselves as Turks. Thus, the number of the Turkish minority should be further lowered if one completely ignores the generally shared claim that the actual number of Bulgarian Turks is far greater than what is officially indicated.4 Considering this, the exact number of Turks in Bulgaria can only be speculated upon. No official census data on the number of the Pomak Muslims are presented in either the 1992 and the 2001 censuses. The reasons for this are complex, and the main claim goes that due to lack of a clear sense of self-identity, the Bulgarian-speaking Muslims are prone to point out either Turkish and/or Bulgarian ethic belonging. Many of them register as Turks, Bulgarians, or simply Muslims, because there is no appropriate column for them in the census papers. Failing this, not only the number of the Turks or ethnic Bulgarians artificially increases, but, what is more, one is unable to trust that the principle of free self-determination of Bulgarian nationals is properly applied to in the country—all the more that the idea of annulling the 2001 census results on grounds of “wrong ethnicity indication” among Pomak Muslims, Roma, and other communities, was rather close to implementation at the relevant time. In the initial publications of the 1992 census results based on a 2% sample, 65,546 persons were reported to have declared “Bulgarian Muslim” identity, which number represented the sum of Muslims who registered as non-Turks, non-Bulgarians, and non- Roma. This figure, however, does not reflect even the approximate number of Pomak Muslims in Bulgaria. Thus it should be accounted also that according to the 1992 census 70,252 persons declared “ethnic Bulgarian” identity, but Muslim religion; about 35,000 – Bulgarian-speaking Muslims from the Rhodopes registered as Turkish-speaking; and about 70,000 of them declared “ethnic Turkish” identity. In addition, there was a small 1 Both names of reference are used in the present study without being intended to be derogatory for reasons exposed bellow. 2 National Statistics Institute, at: http://www.nsi.bg/Census/Census-i.htm. 3 Ibid. Census results from 1992 and 2001. 4 On a number of occasions, Todor Zhivkov—Bulgaria’s head of state during Communism, and other senior “comrades” repeatedly emphasised that the Bulgarian Turks are well over a million, and that they increase with 15,000 per year. These statements were made on numerous meetings of Politburo, when future authorities’ plans related to the brutal “Revival Process” (1984-1985) and the “Big Excursion” (Spring-Summer 1989) had been adopted. This is reflected in details in the relevant section on Communism. 3 number of people considered by others as “Pomaks”, who in fact declared “ethnic Bulgarian” identity and “Orthodox Christianity” as their religion.5 In any event, the number of Bulgarian-speaking Muslims remains a matter of rough approximation at best. What happens during censuses is that their number is unevenly distributed among several groups, depending on the identity criterion: ethnicity, religion and/or mother tongue. As a result they are never indicated, and hence, never recognised thus far as a distinct minority group in spite of the fact that they perceive themselves and are seen by the others as a separate community.6 The exact number of Muslim Roma is also not known. According to the 1992 census the total number of Roma is 313,396 persons, and in 2001 they already enumerate 370,908--based on “ethnic belonging”, and 327,882--based on “mother tongue” indicators. According to the latest census Roma constitute about 4,6 % of Bulgaria’s total population, of which 180,326 persons (or 48.6%) registered as Orthodox Christians and 27.9% - as Muslims. The census data further point out that more than half of Protestant Christians in Bulgaria, whose total number equalizes to 24,651 people, are of Romani origin (i.e. more than 12,000 Roma Protestants). However, the opinion of different human rights organisations, and a number of authoritative international institutions such as the World Bank, is that the Roma in Bulgaria approximate 800,000.7 That might be true, especially against the background of the fact that the greater part of Muslim Roma identify themselves as Turks, and another significant part of the Christian Roma register as ethnic Bulgarians in order to avoid the mentioned social stigma associated with the Roma ethnic group. Thus, it is not yet definite whether Muslim or Christian Roma form a majority in Bulgaria. Each of the three basic groups--Turks, Bulgarian-speaking (Pomak) Muslims and Roma (Gypsy) Muslims--that form the Muslim community in Bulgaria, is a distinct minority group. This fact necessitates brief introduction into their origins (or at least the existing theories of their origins, because in the case of the Pomak Muslims--whose identity is still subject to great controversy generated by the multitude of competing theories and hypotheses--theories are all that is disposed of with certainty) without prejudice to any of the existing theories or convictions. 2. Origins of the Bulgarian Muslims 2.1. Turks8: 5 Alternative report submitted pursuant to Art. 25 (1) of the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities, prepared by the Bulgarian Helsinki Committee, September 1999 (p.5), available at http://www.bghelsinki.org. 6 Recall the fact that more than 65,000 Bulgarian-speaking Muslims wished to have been referred to as “Pomaks”, “Pomak Muslims” in the 1992 census. 7 Study of the Centre for Social Practices entitled “Their Voices”, prepared within the project: “The voices of the rejected – more opportunities for minority groups through the media”. The projects, funded by the European Commission, were completed in 2002.
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