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Home , Treaty of San Stefano

GAMER, I, 1 (2012) s. 209-219

Kitap Tanıtımı/ Book Review

Safet Bandžović, Iseljavanje Bošnjaka u Tursku, Sarajevo 2006, 773 pages

Neşe Özden*— Hatice Oruç**

Safet Bandžović’s 773-page book Iseljavanje Bošnjaka u Tursku / The Migration of Bosniaks to Turkey was published in the Bosnian language in 2006 by the Institute for the Research of Crimes Against Humanity and International Law (Institut za istraživanje zločina protiv čovječnosti i međunarodnog prava) in Sarajevo/BIH. Born in 1961 in Novi Pazar, historian Dr. Safet Bandžović currently lives and works (at the Institute for History) in Sarajevo. Having completed his bachelor’s degree at the History Department of the Faculty of Philosophy (Sarajevo) in 1985, Dr. Bandžović continued his studies at the Department of Philosophy (Belgrade); the dissertation for his Master’s degree was entitled “Demographic Movements of Population of Bosnia-Herzegovina between 1941 and 1945”. With his study on the subject of “Muslim Slav (Bosniak, Montenegrin, Torbesh and others) Population Migrations from Sandžak, and Kosovo to Turkey, 1912-1970” he received his doctorate from the Faculty of Philosophy of the University of Sarajevo in 2002. Safet Bandžović based “The Migration of Bosniaks to Turkey” on archival material, published works, chronicles, memoires, and newspapers. This book is a doctoral thesis, debated in the presence of the doctoral jury members Prof. Dr. D. Juzbašic, Prof. Dr. I. Karabegović and Prof. Dr. T. Išek at the Faculty of Philosophy of University of Sarajevo on March 6, 2002. The main theme of the book covers the migration of the Bosniaks and other Muslims of Slavic

* Prof. Dr., Ankara University, Faculty of Letters, Ankara/ TÜRKİYE. ** Assoc. Prof. Dr., Ankara University, Faculty of Letters, Ankara/ TÜRKİYE.

Nese Özden – Hatice Oruc

origin from Bosnia-Herzegovina, Sandžak, Serbia, Montenegro, Macedonia and Kosovo from the second half of the 19th century until the 1960s (when there were fewer migratory movements). The book consists of a foreword (pp 1-31), six chapters (pp 33- 661), summaries both in Bosnian and English languages, and a reference section. Aside from archival documents and periodicals on the subject matter, the extensive reference section of the book (pp 681-768) also lists many useful books and articles, as well as publications by the author himself. As stated in the summary, with their historical-demographic context, the forcable migration of the inhabitants of the Balkans is a difficult area in scientific studies, with an influence on ethnic, political, social and cultural relations. Furthermore, migration –i.e. a mass movement of population consisting of different groups of people and/or religious communities– is one of the fundamental elements of Islamic history in the Balkans, whether it concerns the retreat of the from Europe beginning in the 17th century, or whether it deals with the conditions of the new, fast and turbulent formations that came about between the end of the 19th century and the first decade of the 20th century. The migration of Muslims from Sandžak, Kosovo and Macedonia (which formed part of a massive migration from the Balkans) point to a long migratory movement brought about by political, social, economic and other relevant factors. The movement to Turkey involved different forms of migration that not only affected the individual, but also families and much larger social groups; furthermore, it included crucial life events (refugees, evacuations, deportations, voluntary exile, removal by force, inter-state exchange of population). In his Predgovor/Foreword (pp 1-31), Safet Bandžović briefly narrates the story of Muslim migration, especially that of the Bosniaks in the Balkans to other regions. As explained in the first lines of the foreword, the Muslims who are called Bosniaks in the Balkans do not only consist of the Muslims that live in Bosnia- Herzegovina. Muslims of Slavic origins are known as the ‘Bosniak/Bosnian Muslims’. The Muslims of Slavic origin that lived not only in Bosnia-Herzegovina but also in Sandžak, , , I, 1 (2012) , I, 1 (2012) Nikšić, Plavo, , Kolašin, as well as other nearby regions and in the west of Kosovo (until Mitrovica) that shared the fate of Muslims GAMER 210 Safet Bandžović, Iseljavanje Bošnjaka u Tursku in Bosnia-Herzegovina between 1877/1878 and 1912 were also known as ‘Bosniak’. The author expresses the opinion that in the past the expansion of the Ottomans in the Balkans and Europe’s expansion in other territories were perceived as a clash between Islam and Christianity – a conflict between two civilizations– and that the defence of Europe amounted to the protection and expansion of Christianity developed by Europeans in the face of the East. From the 15th to the 17th century Ottoman rule was invincible; Ottoman defeats at Lepanto (Inebahtı) in 1571 and Vienna in 1683 showed that circumstances had started to change and that power had shifted sides. The consequences of the defeat of the Ottomans by the Austrian-Polish army at Vienna were quite serious for the Muslims who inhabited many regions of Central Europe and the Balkans, as the result was one of the large waves of migration in the history of the Muslim population. During and after the Battle of Vienna (1683- 1699), the Muslims that escaped from Hungary settled in Bosnia. Amongst them were a large number of emigrants from Slovenia, who generally settled in Posavina. A large number of emigrants from Hungary settled around Tuzla, in and around Modriča, whereas those that came from the lower region of Dalmatia settled in Pounja, Glamoč, Grahovo and Livno, and those whose origins were in the central region of Dalmatia established themselves around Livno, Ljubuški, Ljubinje, Stolac and Duvno. Emigrants from South Dalmatia and Boka Kotorska moved towards Trebinje, Ljubinje, Stolac, Nikšić and Mostar. As a result, the Austrians successfully cleared Hungary of its entire Muslim population. In the summer of 1684 and 1685, a great section of south-western Hungary (including Pest) came under Habsburg rule. In June 1686, Buda, the most important Islamic center located on the north of the Sava and the , also fell. Together with the surviving Buda Muslims, the Sephardi Jews also withdrew from the region and settled mainly in Sarajevo. The Habsburgs also seized Péc and Segedin (Szeged) in 1686, again confronting the Muslims with great difficulties. In October 1697, the Austrian army under the command of Eugene of Savoy entered Bosnia; on October 23 they advanced towards Sarajevo. The city was pillaged and then set on fire. The , I, 1 (2012) , I, 1 (2012) Austrians, however, failed to capture the fortress in Tabija. After long negotiations between the Ottomans and the Austrians, a peace treaty GAMER 211 Nese Özden – Hatice Oruc

(the ) was signed in Sremski Karlovac in January 1699. Following the Battle of Vienna, a period of deportation for the Muslim population of the Balkan region commenced. Two centuries after the Muslim population made the northwest regions of the Balkans, Panonia, Dalmatia, the Knin Region, Lika, Slovenia, Hungary and other regions their home, they were subjected to deportations following the withdrawal of Ottoman rule from these territories. Muslim families remaining in Hungary and Slovenia were forced to convert to Christianity. Muslims living in Lika, Krbava, Hungary and Dalmatia were subjected to a similar fate. The Muslim population from the Lika and Kordun regions had generally settled in Bosanska Krajina and Bihać, Cazin, Bosanska Krupa, Kulen Vakuf and other city and towns in Krajina. After the Venetian occupation of Dalmatia and its coastal cities, countless Muslim families migrated in the autumn of 1687 to Bar, Herzegovina and Nikšić. The history of the deportation of Muslims had become a never-ending story. The Ottoman Empire, whose domains had been further reduced, became a place of refuge for different ethnic groups emigrating from the territories that had been lost. With the Ottoman retreat at the beginning of the 18th century, Bosnia became the Ottoman western frontier province, exposed to Habsburg and Venetian attacks. Muslim migration from the (where the Kingdom of Serbia was established in the 19th century) began after the Ottoman-Austrian War of 1737-1738. This was followed by several migratory waves beginning in 1788 and continuing throughout the 19th century. Muslims exiled from the sanjak settled in the province (ejalet) of Bosnia during the 19th century. According to information relayed by the Russian consul in Sarajevo, more than ten thousand Muslims moved between 1862 and 1867 from the sanjak of Smederevo to the province of Bosnia, after the aforementioned city was seized by the Serbs. Most of these emigrants settled in the territories of Bijeljina, Janja, Kozluk, Zvornik, Srebrenica, Vlasenica, Brčko, Kladanj, Tuzla and Gračanica. Furthermore, they also established new settlement areas: Brezovačko Polje, Gornja Azizija (Bosanski Šamac), Donja Azizija , I, 1 (2012) , I, 1 (2012) (Orašje). Further Muslim migration occurred from regions bound to Serbia and Montenegro following the Russo-Turkish War of 1876- GAMER 212 Safet Bandžović, Iseljavanje Bošnjaka u Tursku

1878. Moreover, there was also Muslim migration from Bosnia- Herzegovina. Myths originating in the century-old struggle against the ‘Turks’, which had developed into political poison and which had become more important than historical facts, gave emphasis to the belief that the Muslims and the Ottoman Empire had been the perpetrators of every disaster. The struggle against ‘Turks’ of different ethnic origins in mythology and tradition was reduced to the struggle against Islam and many generations were brought up with this belief. The ‘golden age’ of the Balkan nation states, from the Berlin Conference until the First World War (1878-1914), was a period when national tensions and national history were created not only by the pen, but also by the desire to create them through state policy. National ideologies strove to create great ethnic states; the Muslims in the Balkans barely survived under these new conditions. Exile and deportation of the population reached its peak during the (1912-1913); thereafter, mass migration occurred during the early years of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (SHS), and again after the Second World War. Any commotion, whether small or big, in the southern Slav regions after the 16th century meant “massacre, forced baptism, sudden departure, that is, escape and migration” for the Bosniak-Muslim population. The struggle against the Ottomans gave rise to the annihilation of the Muslims – ‘the last refuge of negative Orientalism’ - regardless of their ethnic origins and rights. The use of force was justified by sacred national objectives. CHAPTER I Muhadžirski pokreti na Balkanu krajem XIX i početkom XX stoljeća / Migratory Movements in the Balkans at the End of the 19th Century and Early 20th Century, (pp 33-178) This chapter, which refers to the Balkan migration, is divided into the following headings: Migratory Movements of the Muslim Populace in the Balkans (1877-1879); Migration from the Newly Annexed Regions by Serbia; Migration from the Newly Annexed Regions by Montenegro; Immigration from Bosnia-Herzegovina 1878-1914; The Arrival of the Emigrants in Sandžak.

The immigration of Muslims from Bosnia-Herzegovina, Sandžak, , I, 1 (2012) Macedonia and Kosovo which occurred from the end of the 19th GAMER 213 Nese Özden – Hatice Oruc

century into the 20th century was one of the largest and most extensive migrations in New History, and drastically changed the demographic and ethnic image of the Balkans. The 1878 Treaty of San Stefano and the decisions made during the Berlin Conference, which provided for a new territorial distribution in the Balkans, sparked off an intense ethnic movement in regions no longer under Ottoman rule. This chapter describes the process leading up to the Berlin Conference and the condition of the Muslim population in the Balkans prior to and subsequent to the conference, as well as referring to the migratory movement. CHAPTER II Iseljavanja 1912.-1918. Godine / 1912-1918 Migration (pp 179-305) The author divides the chapter as follows: Military-Political Events in the Balkans; Circumstances in Sandžak and the Conditions of the Emigrants at the Beginning of the 20th Century; The Outcome of the Balkan Wars; Migratory Movements; Sandžak and World War I. Exile/deportation of the population was at its peak during the Balkan Wars (1912-1914). The attempts of the Muslims in Sandžak to defend their own cities had ended in failure. Offering a geographical unity, Sandžak was partitioned between Serbia and Montenegro in 1913. Many long-established families, literate people, merchants and scholars left Sandžak. Alongside the Bosniaks of Sandžak, the Albanian and Turkish population of Kosovo and Macedonia as well as the Gorani people from Kosovo and the Torbeshi population of Macedonia also migrated. CHAPTER III Iseljavanja između dva svjetska rata / Migration Between Two World Wars, (pp 307-441) This chapter deals with the period between the First and Second World Wars and covers the topics: The Condition of the Bosniaks within the Kingdom of Yugoslavia; Socio-Economic, Cultural and Educational Conditions in Sandžak; the Policy on Fear and Oppression; Emigrations from Bosnia- Herzegovina, Kosovo and Macedonia; Legalization of Migratory Movements. After the First World War the Balkans failed to succeed , I, 1 (2012) , I, 1 (2012) concerning nation states, or to complete the process of a national revolution. After 1919, the Balkan Peninsula bore witness to mass GAMER 214 Safet Bandžović, Iseljavanje Bošnjaka u Tursku movements. A great number of Muslims from the Kingdom of SHS (from Macedonia, Kosovo, Serbia and in part from Bosnia- Herzegovina), Greece and left for Turkey. CHAPTER IV Iseljenički planovi i stradanja bošnjaka u drugom svjetskom ratu / Plans for Migration during the Second World War and the Annihilation of the Bosniaks, (pp 443-476) This chapter mainly discusses the issue of the massacre of Bosniaks at Sandžak and in East Bosnia at the beginning of 1943. The Second World War was another blow for the Bosniaks, especially for those in Sandžak and East Bosnia. In order to implement the project of establishing a ‘Greater Serbia’, members of the Serbian Culture Club (SKK) were very active in areas inhabited by different mixed groups, especially in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Chetniks (extreme Serbian nationalists) carried out programs during the war to dispose of those living within the Serbian “habitat” who were not Serbs. During the Second World War, the Chetniks therefore carried out three executions of Bosniaks residing in East Herzegovina, East and West Bosnia and Sandžak. CHAPTER V Poratna iseljavanja u Tursku / Post-War Emigration to Turkey (pp 477-612) This section discusses the migration to Turkey after the Second World War: Bosniaks under the New Yugoslavia; Sandžak and Annulment of ZAVNOS (National Anti-Fascist Council of the People's Liberation of Sandžak); Post-War Status of Sandžak; Pressure to Refine National Attributes; On with the Path of Migration; The Road that Leads through Macedonia; The New Path; The Government’s Approach to the Migration. Migratory movements of the Bosniaks did not cease even after the formation of socialist Yugoslavia. Even though the 1946 Constitution of Yugoslavia contained an article regarding freedom of faith, the situation was quite different in practice. In Yugoslavia, the official status of the “Bosniak” had changed from “neutral” to “Serb in the religion of Islam”, to “Croat in the religion of Islam” or “Yugoslav” and finally “Muslim”.

The traditional bond between Bosnia-Herzegovina and Sandžak , I, 1 (2012) was intentionally severed through scholarly, educational and cultural means. Migration after the Second World War was again mainly from GAMER 215 Nese Özden – Hatice Oruc

the Sandžak region. The rate of migration developed in various stages until 1970. In 1954, the Yugoslav government and Turkey once again discussed the 1938 Treaty regarding the emigration of Turks in Yugoslavia to Turkey. As the treaty was never acknowledged, a new “gentleman’s agreement” was reached on the “Humane Attitude of Turkey regarding the Admission of Turks from Yugoslavia.” Towards the end of the 1960s, due to administrative prohibitions the emigrants had first to move from Sandžak to Macedonia; after a stay of a certain duration they became citizens of the Republic of Macedonia and were then able to obtain the necessary documents for immigration. According to the documents they held, Muslims of different backgrounds moved to Turkey as ’Turks’; once in Turkey, however, they were known as ‘Bosniaks’. CHAPTER VI Život u Turskoj / Life in Turkey, (pp 613-661) Many Muslim emigrants from the territories of the former Yugoslavia live in the Republic of Turkey. Aside from Turks and there is also a group of Slavic origin. It is now over a century since these families settled in Turkey; as time has passed, new generations have been brought up either completely or partially distanced from their former ancestral lands. Towns, villages, neighborhoods and cities populated mainly by Bosnian, Macedonian and Albanian-speaking Turkish citizens started to appear throughout Turkey. In this last chapter, therefore, the author outlines the status of the Bosniaks in Turkey under the headings: Under a New Open Canopy; The Arrival in Turkey of Refugees from the Balkans during the Two World Wars; Post-War Hardships and Experiences; Settlements and the Number of Refugees; Life and Traditions. In the final analysis, when we take an overall look at the book, we can see that this is a comprehensive, fluent and multi-dimensional study with footnotes that presents topics for discussion, as is additional information on the subject based on a wide range of sources (documents, periodicals and books). Chapter I refers to the Treaty of San Stefano between 1877 and

, I, 1 (2012) , I, 1 (2012) 1879, the process leading up to the Berlin Conference and the Muslim emigrants subsequent to that period. It also underlines the fact that the Ottoman Empire was no longer a European power, and calls GAMER 216 Safet Bandžović, Iseljavanje Bošnjaka u Tursku attention to the fact that the state policies of the great powers in a way dramatically changed the ethnic structure of the Balkans, this transformation being accelerated with policies relating to the and the future of south-Slavic territories. In this regard, Bandžović also draws attention to the difference between the policies of the and Pan-Slavism on the one side, and Austria- Hungary’s plans involving Eastern Europe and the Balkan policies of the Ottoman Empire on the other. Furthermore, he emphasises the “Pravoslavlja / Orthodox” and cultural-historical aspects of ’s interest in the Balkans. The author also discusses important developments such as the 1908 Revolution of the Young Turks in the Ottoman Empire and the 1908 annexation of Bosnia-Herzegovina by Austria-Hungary, all within the period extending from the Berlin Conference up to the First World War. In the broad sense, the work examines territories which harbored both Christianity and Islam, where East and West met –that is, where they were in contact as well as conflict with one another– whilst in the narrow sense it encompasses national state policies in the Balkans. In this chapter, the author brings clarity on how and under what circumstances the future and identities of the Muslim emigrants of Montenegro, Serbia, Sandžak, Kosovo, Macedonia and Bosnia-Herzegovina were shaped during this period. He believes that the Balkan Wars (1912-1913) contributed to the religious and aggressively nationalistic factors of the migratory movements. According to Bandžović, Muslims who were unable to form a new national frontier were without doubt the defeated party; forced to migrate not only because of religious factors but also because of harsh socio-economic conditions. Circumstances were not that much different in the years following the Balkan Wars; Serbia, Montenegro, Greece and Bulgaria were still using enforced migration and exile in order to create ethnically pure territories. The tendency which emerged as the minority problem for the nation states in the Balkans and which in fact aimed to eradicate the Ottoman Empire demographically in the course of 1912 and 1923 had continued to exist after the 1917 Declaration of Corfu, in various stages –as the Vidovdan Constitution of 1921, migration policies of Nikola Pasić and Stjepan Radić– that transpires under the Kingdom of , I, 1 (2012) , I, 1 (2012) Serbs, Croats and Slovenes established in 1918 (which later is to be known as the Kingdom of Yugoslavia). Chapter III gives detailed GAMER 217 Nese Özden – Hatice Oruc

information and statistics regarding the conditions and emigration of the Muslims in Sandžak, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo and Macedonia, with special emphasis on the period between the two world wars. Whilst discussing the interference of Hasan Saka, Chair of the Turkish Section of the Economic Council of the Balkan Conferences, and of Haydar Beg, Turkish Minister at Belgrade in March 1938, the author also refers to the negotiations which took place the end of 1938 between Turkey, Yugoslavia and other Balkan Pact countries. Through “the Population Exchange between Greece and Turkey,” “the 1934 Balkan Entente” and various agreements “between Turkey and the Balkan states” made throughout the 1930s, the intention was, in a way, to give direction to the course of Muslim migration from the Balkans. Compared to the other chapters, Chapter IV is short and consists of 34 pages. It sets forth the difficult circumstances the Bosniaks were subjected to in Sandžak and East Bosnia during the Second World War. The hardships endured by the Bosniaks continued during the era of the new, or Socialist, Yugoslavia – a time when Macedonia was in the process of becoming one of Yugoslavia’s republics after 1945, when Kosovo was autonomous, and when Sandžak did not officially exist in politics. As Bandžović’s statistical information emphasizes, migration continued from areas which were predominantly populated by Muslims, such as Novi Pazar, Sjenica, Tutin and Rožaje. Compared to past movements, the migrations that came about after 1945 –i.e. during the Yugoslavian period– did not include massacres, but hardship was still felt in various socio-economic, cultural- political and psychological issues experienced by the emigrants, as well as in their search for security and on matters of their citizenship. In the last, short chapter (48 pages), Bandžović briefly but effectively considers the migrations of different periods that started in the Balkans and ended in Turkey; he also discusses the process of the emigrants’ adaptation to their new living conditions, as well as considering their living conditions and the names of the settlements they had made their new homes in Turkey (, Ankara, Edirne, Bursa, Izmir, Adapazarı, Adana, Eskişehir, Manisa, Konya, Izmit,

, I, 1 (2012) , I, 1 (2012) Yalova, etc.). Furthermore, the author provides examples of the new surnames given to those that had migrated from Sandžak that are reminiscent of the city, place or village they had come from as: Alkan, GAMER 218 Safet Bandžović, Iseljavanje Bošnjaka u Tursku

Aksoy, Yıldız, Demir, Erden, Yenipazar, Akbayrak, Büyükbayrak, Sancaklı. In addition the above points, he explains the formation process of the Turkish Republic, and its founder Mustafa Kemal Atatürk’s efforts to initiate a brand new era. Finally, we –as the reviewers of Bandžović’s book— should add a couple of sentences of our own by way of reminder: Migration… Being forced to leave one’s homeland, which one identifies with his/her father’s home; in search of new homes, safe havens; setting off on voyages mixed with despair, hope and difficulty; uncertain of where, when and how it will all end; on reaching destination, picturing memory-snapshots of those left behind, and unrelenting silent laments which last for generations.

, I, 1 (2012)

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