LINGUISTIC RIGHTS OF THE TURKISH MINORITY IN BULGARIA A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES OF MIDDLE EAST TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY BY CENGİZ HAKSÖZ IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF SCIENCE IN SOCIOLOGY SEPTEMBER 2007 Approval of the Graduate School of Social Sciences Prof. Dr. Sencer Ayata Director I certify that this thesis satisfies all the requirements as a thesis for the degree of Master of Science. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Sibel Kalaycıoğlu Head of Department This is to certify that we have read this thesis and that in our opinion it is fully adequate, in scope and quality, as a thesis for the degree of Master of Science. Assist. Prof. Dr. Ayşegül Aydıngün Supervisor Examining Committee Members Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ceylan Tokluoğlu (METU, SOC) Assist. Prof. Dr. Ayşegül Aydıngün (METU, SOC) Assoc. Prof. Dr. Recep Boztemur (METU, HIST) I hereby declare that all information in this document has been obtained and presented in accordance with academic rules and ethical conduct. I also declare that, as required by these rules and conduct, I have fully cited and referenced all material and results that are not original to this work. Name, Last name: Cengiz Haksöz Signature: iii ABSTRACT LINGUISTIC RIGHTS OF THE TURKISH MINORITY IN BULGARIA Haksöz, Cengiz M.S., Department of Sociology Supervisor: Assist. Prof. Dr. Ayşegül Aydıngün September 2007, 179 pages This thesis analyses linguistic policies in Bulgaria, during the Ottoman, monarchical, communist and post-communist periods and its effects on the Turkish minority in Bulgaria. The linguistic policies in Bulgaria did not follow consistent policies; on the contrary, it followed different policies in different periods. The aim of this thesis is to analyse how the Turkish minority experiences and perceives linguistic rights in the post-communist period, such as study of and in Turkish language, Turkish minority media, use of minority personal names, naming of topographical places and the status of Turkish language in official and administrative institutions. For this purpose, in-depth interviews were carried out in Işıklar (Samuil) municipality in Bulgaria, where Turks constitute the absolute majority of the population. As a result of the analyses of the experiences of the Turkish minority, it was observed that (Turkish) linguistic rights and language were experienced by the Turkish minority in terms of ethnolinguistic identity. It is concluded that symbolic iv power and diglossia relationships between Turkish and Bulgarian languages affected the ways of perception of (Turkish) linguistic rights by the Turkish minority in Bulgaria. Keywords: Turkish Minority, Linguistic Rights, Language Policy, Bulgaria, Post- Communism, Symbolic Power, Diglossia. v ÖZ BULGARİSTAN’DAKİ TÜRK AZINLIĞIN DİLSEL HAKLARI Haksöz, Cengiz Yüksek Lisans, Sosyoloji Bölümü Tez Yöneticisi: Yrd. Doç. Dr. Ayşegül Aydıngün Eylül 2007, 179 sayfa Bu tez Bulgaristan’ın Osmanlı, monarşi, komünizm ve komünizm sonrası dönemlerindeki dil politikalarını ve bunların Bulgaristan’daki Türk azınlığı üzerindeki etkilerini incelemektedir. Bulgaristan’da uygulanan dil politikaları zaman içinde tutarlı bir doğrultu izlememiş, tersine farklı dönemlerde farklı politikalar izlenmiştir. Bu tezin amacı, komünizm sonrası dönemde Bulgaristan’daki Türk azınlığın Türkçe eğitimi ve Türkçede eğitim, Türkçe medya, bireysel azınlık adlarının kullanımı, topografik yerlerin adlandırılması ve Türk dilinin resmi ve idari kurumlardaki statüsü gibi dilsel hakları nasıl yaşadığını ve algıladığını incelemektir. Bu amaçla, büyük çoğunluğu Türklerden oluşan Bulgaristan’daki Işıklar (Samuil) Belediyesinde derinlemesine mülakatlar yapılmıştır. Türk azınlığın deneyimlerinin incelenmesi sonucunda, (Türkçe) dilsel hakların ve dilin Türk azınlık tarafından etnik-dilsel kimliğin temel bir unsuru olarak algıladığı görülmüştür. Türkçe ve Bulgarca arasındaki sembolik güç ve diglossia ilişkisinin Bulgaristan’daki Türk vi azınlığın (Türkçe) dilsel haklarını algılama biçimlerini etkilediği sonucuna varılmıştır. Anahtar kelimeler: Türk Azınlık, Dilsel Haklar, Dil Politikası, Bulgaristan, Komünizm Sonrası, Sembolik Güç, Diglossia. vii To my mother and father... viii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First of all, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my supervisor Assist. Prof. Dr. Ayşegül Aydıngün for her valuable guidance, encouragement and insight throughout the research. I also express my sincere thanks to my examining committee members, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ceylan Tokluoğlu and Assoc. Prof. Dr. Recep Boztemur, for their enlightening suggestions. I am especially grateful to Erdal Ayan, Bahar Sakızlıoğlu, Zeynep Başer and Aslan Yavuz Şir for dedicating a considerable amount of time to review chapters of this thesis. I am also thankful to Çağdaş Kılıç, Sabri Tuna, Beytullah Tuna, Vesile Haksöz, Nefile Haksöz, Gülay Kılıç and Yağmur Özkan for their invaluable assistances and supports. I am very appreciating Sali for his friendship and assistance in every part of my field research. I also thank İbrahim, Hüseyin, all of my interviewees and the people and administration of Işıklar (Samuil) Municipality. I am especially thankful to Rumeli Eğitim Vakfı (Rumeli Education Foundation) for its supports. Additionally, I owe to thank Hikmet Haksöz for his endless credence and support. Finally, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my dear parents, Refiye Haksöz and Vedat Haksöz. They have always been a great source of support, love and patience while I was writing this thesis as they have been being through out my life. ix TABLE OF CONTENTS PLAGIARISM...........................................................................................................iii ABSTRACT..............................................................................................................iv ÖZ..............................................................................................................................vi DEDICATION........................................................................................................viii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS.........................................................................................ix TABLE OF CONTENTS...........................................................................................x LIST OF TABLES...................................................................................................xiv CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION..................................................................................................1 1.1. Introducing the Study..........................................................................................1 1.2. Methodology......................................................................................................11 2. LINGUISTIC POLICIES OF BULGARIA DURING THE MONARCHY........14 2.1. Linguistic Policies in Bulgaria during the Ottoman Rule..................................14 2.1.1. Education and Education Policy during the Ottoman Period................16 2.1.2. Turkish Minority Media in Bulgaria during the Ottoman Period..........17 2.2. Linguistic Policies in the Bulgarian Principality (1878 – 1908).......................17 2.2.1. Turkish Minority Schools during the Bulgarian Principality................19 2.2.2. Turkish Minority Media during the Bulgarian Principality...................23 2.3. Linguistic Policies in the Bulgarian Kingdom (1908 – 1944)...........................24 2.3.1. The Agrarian Union Rule (1919 – 1923)...............................................25 2.3.2. The Fascist Rule (1934 – 1944).............................................................30 2.4. Re-Naming of Toponyms..................................................................................32 2.5. Turkish Minority Media during the Bulgarian Kingdom..................................34 x 3. LINGUISTIC POLICIES OF BULGARIA DURING THE COMMUNIST RULE......................................................................................36 3.1. First Phase: “Promoting Ethnic Identity” (1944 – 1959)...................................37 3.1.1. Surname System of Bulgaria and the Turkish Minority........................40 3.2. Second Phase: “Integration” (1959 – 1971)......................................................42 3.3. Third Phase: “Forced Integration” (1971 – 1984).............................................45 3.3.1. The Turkish Minority Art, Culture and Literature in the Communist Period.....................................................................................46 3.4. Fourth Phase: “Forced Assimilation” (1984 – 1989).........................................47 3.4.1. Reasons of the Forced Assimilation Campaign.....................................51 3.5. Turkish Minority Media in Bulgaria during the Communist Regime...............53 4. LINGUISTIC POLICIES OF BULGARIA IN THE POST – COMMUNIST PERIOD....................................................................56 4.1. The Post-Communist Minority Politics and MRF.............................................57 4.2. Linguistic Rights in the Post-Communist Period..............................................60 4.2.1. Study of/ in Turkish...............................................................................61 4.2.2. Turkish Minority Media........................................................................68 4.2.3. Right to Use Turkish Minority Personal Names....................................71 4.2.4. Right to Use Turkish in Administrative and Judiciary Bodies..............74