Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Tables, Figures and Maps
- Acknowledgements
- List of Abbreciations
- INTRODUCTION: The Europeanization of Bulgarian Society: A Long-Lasting Political Project
- CHAPTER ONE Institution-Building, Political Culture and Identity in Bulgaria: The Challenge of ‘Europeanization’
- CHAPTER TWO Appropriations of Bulgarian Literature in the West: From Pencho Slaveikov to Iordan Iovkov
- CHAPTER THREE Communism and Cold War in Bulgaria: The Absence of Europe?
- CHAPTER FOUR Bulgarian Turks During the Transition Period
- CHAPTER FIVE Women's Identity and Social Policy in Bulgaria Before and After 1989
- CHAPTER SIX Legal Status and Migrant Economic Performance: The Case of Bulgarians in Spain and Greece
- CHAPTER SEVEN Bulgaria's Path to EU Membership – and Beyond
- CHAPTER EIGHT Accession into the Euro-Atlantic Institutions: Effects on Bulgaria's Balkan Policy(-ies)
- CHAPTER NINE Mirroring Gazes: Europe, Nationalism and Change in the Field of Bulgarian Art and Culture
- CHAPTER TEN The Emergence of Regional Policy in Bulgaria and the Role of the EU
- EPILOGUE
- Appendix I Tables, Figures and Maps
- Notes
- List of Contributors
CHAPTER FOUR - Bulgarian Turks During the Transition Period
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 March 2012
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Tables, Figures and Maps
- Acknowledgements
- List of Abbreciations
- INTRODUCTION: The Europeanization of Bulgarian Society: A Long-Lasting Political Project
- CHAPTER ONE Institution-Building, Political Culture and Identity in Bulgaria: The Challenge of ‘Europeanization’
- CHAPTER TWO Appropriations of Bulgarian Literature in the West: From Pencho Slaveikov to Iordan Iovkov
- CHAPTER THREE Communism and Cold War in Bulgaria: The Absence of Europe?
- CHAPTER FOUR Bulgarian Turks During the Transition Period
- CHAPTER FIVE Women's Identity and Social Policy in Bulgaria Before and After 1989
- CHAPTER SIX Legal Status and Migrant Economic Performance: The Case of Bulgarians in Spain and Greece
- CHAPTER SEVEN Bulgaria's Path to EU Membership – and Beyond
- CHAPTER EIGHT Accession into the Euro-Atlantic Institutions: Effects on Bulgaria's Balkan Policy(-ies)
- CHAPTER NINE Mirroring Gazes: Europe, Nationalism and Change in the Field of Bulgarian Art and Culture
- CHAPTER TEN The Emergence of Regional Policy in Bulgaria and the Role of the EU
- EPILOGUE
- Appendix I Tables, Figures and Maps
- Notes
- List of Contributors
Summary
Introduction
In November 1989 Bulgaria started its transition from Soviet-type state socialism to parliamentary democracy and market economy. The following years confronted Bulgarian society with many hardships and challenges. Bulgarian Turks, as part of this society (they are about 700, 000, or just under 10 per cent of the population) not only faced the same difficulties, but also encountered even greater problems. The reasons for this are complex, but key among them was the socioeconomic character of the transition process. Thus, with a decreased role, the state could no longer direct economic development, and spent less money on social and national programs. Still other reasons are historic – the beginning of the transition period marked the end of the so-called ‘revival process’. This was the name communist propaganda gave to the campaign, which started at the end of 1984 and was the most serious attempt of the communist government to assimilate Bulgarian Turks by depriving them of their identity. Because of these historic reminiscences, the situation of Bulgarian Turks during the transition period can be properly analysed only when their experiences during the ‘revival process’ are taken into account.
Historical Background
Ottoman and Post-Ottoman Period Up to the Communist Takeover
The roots of the problem are deep in the past. At the end of fourteenth century, the Ottoman Turks conquered the Balkans. The medieval Bulgarian state ceased to exist and for 500 years, Bulgarians had to live within the borders of the mighty Ottoman Empire.
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- Bulgaria and EuropeShifting Identities, pp. 63 - 78Publisher: Anthem PressPrint publication year: 2010
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