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81-519: Like with the " Big Excursion ", the name "Revival Process", under which this campaign of forced assimilation is most well known, is euphemistic and ambiguous. It likewise originated from the statements and official correspondence of the socialist Bulgarian government while it carried out the policy. Bulgarian Turks constitute a substantial portion of Bulgaria's Muslim population. While Muslims of all ethnicities ( Turks , Pomaks , Muslim Roma , Albanians and Tatars among others) were affected by

162-653: A 2000 speech at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania , for example, keynote speaker and head of the National Security Agency Michael V. Hayden, made only non-specific reference to the "Revival Process" that he observed while stationed in Sofia during the Cold War because the audience would not have understood the "facts and context necessary to follow his talk." This illustrates

243-588: A Sufi-dervish-like group of priests but they themselves believe about 10% are the descendants of the earliest Christians of Asia Minor who balls the Sunni invasion of Anatolia. They believe the Sunni Muhammad is a false Muhammad. Ali for them is not one single historical person but the ineffable name kept by God's Ministers (Avlioh). It has also been suggested that they perhaps first came to the Balkans during

324-476: A closed society and zealously hide their rituals. Circumcision , reserved for the priests, is done when the boy is one week old. At the age of 13 years his pubic hair may be trimmed in a spectoraly ceremony where only male Elders are present. They are monogamous and should only marry other Alians. Marriages may be arranged years in advance by the families but the couple are only married together as young men and women because child marriages are abhorred by Alians. It

405-529: A couple were found to have violated the ban, both the parents and the individual who had performed the circumcision faced punishment. Similar to the system of government-controlled religious organizations which exists in the People's Republic of China today, Bulgaria tightly regulated the practice of Islam in the country. The People's Republic of Bulgaria formally employed a loyal Chief (Grand) Mufti along with regional Muftis throughout its reign. Unsurprisingly,

486-553: A great role among themselves for converting Christians in Bulgaria. A tradition is performed among Alians and other Alevis after the 3rd week of December until the first week of January where St Nicholas (Grandfather Gaxan also known more recently as Baba Noel) and his bride Fadike and a character normally known as the Arab will visit the homes in the community to perform a play and collect gifts then go on to distribute them to others in

567-477: A mere day later Turkey officially closed its border with Bulgaria to stop the flow of "Bulgarian citizens without a Turkish visa ". As a result, the number of Muslims crossing into Turkey dropped dramatically, though some Bulgarian expellees did obtain Turkish visas thereafter and subsequently cross the border. Indeed, some Bulgarian Muslims who had already packed to leave the country were unable to do so because of

648-423: A month after the resignation of General Secretary Todor Zhivkov , the "Big Excursion" came to a genuine end, with the new government promising to restore the rights of Bulgarian Muslims. By the end of 1990, around 150,000 Bulgarian Muslims had returned from abroad. The "Big Excursion" has been recognized as an ethnic cleansing , including by the democratic government of now-EU-member Bulgaria in 2012. Though

729-535: A person." In 1984, the authoritarian communist regime in Sofia increasingly leaned into Bulgarian nationalism and embarked on an assimilationist campaign known officially as the " Revival Process " ( Bulgarian : Възродителен процес , romanized :  Vazroditelen protses ). While initially, the regime focused on heightened assimilationist policies, it eventually resolved towards ethnic cleansing. For example, on June 7, 1989 General Secretary Todor Zhivkov said

810-576: A pre-approved list of "'real'" Bulgarian names in lieu of their original "Islamo-Arabic" names. Initially, only Turks living or born in the Rhodopes region in the country's southeast were required to change their names, but the requirement was ordered expanded to "all districts where there is such [a Turkish] population" in December 1984, which was carried out a month later in January 1985. By March 1985

891-423: A substantial portion of both Bulgaria's Muslim population and the victims of the "Big Excursion". While Muslims of non-Turkish ethnicities ( Pomaks , Muslim Roma , and Tatars among others) were also affected by the "Big Excursion", Pomaks were often referred to as "Turks" and vica versa. As a result, the precise identity of victims can be difficult to determine. Estimates of the ethnic composition of victims of

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972-771: Is known that Alians are mysticists and believe in personal communication with God through a near- trance state during Zikr. They do not use the Sunni Islamic rituals, but the Persian calendar, an Old Rite -style breviary and use candles and wine during their Mass which they call Dzhem on Thursday nights to achieve the Haqq–Muhammad–Ali communion. They celebrate Christmas (Gaxand) and Easter (Sultan Nowruz) while revering Christian saints especially Saint Nicholas as well as Sufi saints using icons and crosses alongside tasbih. Along with other Alevis . They historically placed

1053-580: Is treated as such by historians. Passports were restricted in all Soviet bloc nations. Typically, passports were only issued to a select group and had to be relinquished to government authorities. Passports were also usually not issued to entire families for travel to capitalist countries to reduce defection. On May 19, however, Bulgaria substantially loosened its passport regime and allowed Bulgarian citizens to keep their travel documents at home. During May of 1989, Communist Bulgaria issued passports to all those it considered to be Turks. Following on from

1134-653: The Bulgarian Parliament officially condemned the "Revival Process" and recognized the events of 1989 as ethnic cleansing. While some Bulgarian mainstream parties have been rebuked for their continued disregard for the events of 1989, the "Revival Process" is widely condemned. In November 2002, the Bulgarian Orthodox Church declared all victims, including non-Christian victims, of the Bulgarian communist regime to be martyrs . At

1215-596: The Cyprus problem , attempting to allay concerns that Turkey posed a threat to Bulgaria. Soon thereafter, however, a crowd of over 100,000 fueled by false rumors of Soviet military actions against Bulgarian Turks and Muslims gathered in Istanbul 's Taksim Square shouting anti-Bulgarian slogans. The Turkish ultranationalist organization known as the " Grey Wolves " openly called for an invasion of Bulgaria. These (often warmongering) demonstrations and statements served to fuel

1296-700: The Helsinki Accords . Though it sought an agreement with Bulgaria regarding the migration of Bulgarian Turks from the start, towards the beginning of the "Big Excursion" Turkey vowed to accept the entire estimated population of Bulgarian Turks if necessary and suggested it would be able to integrate the expellees. However, Turkey soon experienced difficulties coping with the inflow of expellees from Bulgaria. For instance, this inflow caused an up-to 100% increase in rental prices in European Turkey . Turkey directly addressed Bulgarian rhetoric around

1377-424: The People's Republic of Bulgaria were generally closed, Turks sought refuge within the country. Many fled into the forests and other inaccessible areas to hide from the state while others attempted to flee for the big cities (where the re-naming process was slower and more cumbersome). Regardless, such escape attempts generally failed. Muslims who refused to assimilate faced imprisonment, expulsion, or internment in

1458-595: The Revival Process . Similarly, MRF leader Ahmed Dogan worked to marginalize ultra-nationalist elements within the Turkish community and refrained from calling for autonomy or independence. The "Big Excursion" is less well-known than many of the other late-20th century ethnic cleansings in the Balkans. Even after the fall of Communism in Eastern Europe, media organizations largely failed to report on

1539-473: The Turkish language and Islamic religion . Once the necessary structures had been established, organized opposition began in earnest and opposition became increasingly visible. Turks and Muslims organized large-scale protests demanding the restoration of their rights and original names. Rather than fight, however, many Turks initially attempted to escape the renaming process. While the international borders of

1620-407: The "Big Excursion" and an international fact-finding mission was organized, albeit without participation from any Soviet Bloc nation. The Soviet Union, however, refused to mediate between Bulgaria and Turkey. The Zhivkov regime consistently falsified economic data . Following Zhivkov's fall from power, it became known that economic data was far less favorable than previously thought. In line with

1701-434: The "Big Excursion" as ethnic cleansing , and called for the prosecution of those responsible. However, that recognition was largely ignored by scholars, and to date Bulgaria does not officially commemorate the ethnic cleansing and the state has not brought criminal charges against any individual involved in carrying out the "Big Excursion". Indeed, Bulgaria has even frequently commemorated the now-deceased Todor Zhivkov on

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1782-415: The "Big Excursion" is controversial. While the Bulgarian forced migrations of 1989 are often viewed as amounting to " ethnic cleansing ", that term is not always used to describe them. Though modern use of the term " ethnic cleansing " dates back to the early 19th century, it is usually understood to have come into common usage with the breakup of Yugoslavia , which began in earnest in 1991, two years after

1863-520: The "Big Excursion" is sometimes merged with the longstanding assimilationist policies of the Bulgarian state towards its Muslim minority or the "Revival Process" in particular. It is treated as an endpoint. In contrast to assimilation campaigns, however, the "Big Excursion" was unprecedented before 1989. Similarly, the Holocaust was of a distinct and unprecedented character from the series of pogroms and anti-semitic campaigns which preceded it and

1944-427: The "Big Excursion" thus vary. For example, by one estimate around 90% of victims were Bulgarian Turks, but by another up to 111,000, approximately one third, of the victims of the "Big Excursion" were Pomaks despite official exclusion of Pomaks from the events. Since Pomaks and Turks traditionally lived in different parts of Bulgaria, authorities used individuals' place of origin to "impose a preferred ethnic category on

2025-458: The "Big Excursion", over 300,000 left Communist Bulgaria for Turkey between 30 May 1989 and 22 August 1989 ( Bulgarian : Голямата екскурзия , romanized :  Goliamata Ekskurziya . While the government of the Bulgaria maintained that the migration of Muslims to Turkey was voluntary, many Bulgarian Turks had been coerced into leaving the country. On 10 November 1989, Todor Zhivkov

2106-577: The "Big Excursion". A diplomatic summit between Bulgaria and Turkey in Kuwait was eventually held in October of 1989 and a follow-up meeting was held months after the fall of Zhivkov in January of 1990. No armed conflict between countries broke out over the "Big Excursion". As the Bulgaria was a member of the Warsaw Pact and Turkey was a member of NATO , such conflict over the "Big Excursion" had

2187-476: The "Big Excursion". Even within Bulgaria, the events of 1989 are not particularly well known. Academic Tomasz Kamusella writes that "The generations of Bulgarians born after 1989 know next to nothing about the Revival Process and the 1989 ethnic cleansing." While the events of 1989 were not front-page news in the West, the allure and moderating influence of potential European Union (EU) membership contributed to

2268-565: The "Excursion" and the generally poor situation, Bulgaria experienced poor harvests leading to food rationing throughout the country, including in Sofia . Even before the ultimate end of the Excursion, large numbers of expellees returned to Bulgaria, For some, the decision to return to Bulgaria was motivated by hard living conditions in Turkish refugee camps and difficulties adjusting to life in Turkey. The number of returnees accelerated after

2349-517: The "Revival Process" were not the first such efforts on the part of the Bulgarian People's Republic . While Bulgaria had a large Turkish minority, until Zhivkov's removal from power, the Bulgarian regime denied the existence of any native Muslims of non-Bulgarian origin and insisted that such Muslim populations were descended from Bulgarians who had been forcibly converted to Islam under Ottoman Rule. In line with this view, education policy

2430-422: The "Revival Process", many Muslim Bulgarian nationals were referred to as "Turks" by the Bulgarian government whether ethnically Turkish or not and vica versa. Further complicating the matter, some Bulgarian Muslims whose native language was not Turkish themselves identified as ethnically "Turkish", or at least did not strongly contest the label. Thus, identifying the precise ethnic background of individuals and

2511-509: The 15th century, in order to keep up the morale of Ottoman soldiers and to help integrate the newly conquered peoples into the empire. However, it is not likely since the Ottomans were Sunnis while the Alians are viewed as ghulat by other Muslims for their heterodox views concerning Muhammad and Ali . However, the reverse accusation is returned that their attackers are Munafiqun for abandoning

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2592-629: The 2012 declaration condemning the events of 1989 by the Bulgarian parliament was widely praised in Turkish media. Alians The Alian Kızılbaş ī community (in Bulgarian: алиани, in Turkish: Alevi), are a Shi`a order, similar to the Sufi Mevlevi , who live in several regions of Bulgaria . Alians revere the name " Ali " carried by their circle of 12 Imams ( awliya' ), which they consider an emanation of God . They follow

2673-707: The Alian Mass) has nothing to do with Twelver Shiism. They believe the Quran was compiled by an Alian ex-convert to Monophysitism from Zoroastrianism called Salman al-Farsi whom they hold in high esteem. Their tafsir of the Quran based on syncretic harmony between the 4 books (Quran, the Old Testament, the New Testament and Psalter) places them firmly within the Judeo-Christian tradition. They are

2754-588: The Bulgarian Government announced that " Bulgarisation " had been completed, and the Bulgarian Turks were provided with several newly issued documents for identification. The creation of an ideologically coherent list of approved "Bulgarian" names proved to be a challenge for the authorities. While many had been made to change their names previously, the regime sought to develop a comprehensive "'Classifier of Bulgarian Names'" only in 1984. In

2835-508: The Bulgarian regime's anti-Turkish propaganda. By late August, over 300,000 Muslims had crossed the Bulgarian-Turkish border, leading to a refugee crisis in Turkey. The Turkish and Bulgarian foreign ministers repeatedly planned to meet in Kuwait for talks regarding the crisis, but they failed to do so. With no meeting set to materialize, on August 21, Turkey reinstated the visa requirement for Bulgarian passport holders, and

2916-567: The Excursion is not as widely remembered in the West as the Bosnian genocide and expulsion (and subsequent return) of Kosovar Albanians in neighboring Yugoslavia , as of 1989 it was the largest instance of ethnic cleansing in Europe by number of victims since the expulsion of Germans living east of the Oder–Neisse line between 1944 and 1950. The terminology used to refer to and describe

2997-480: The Islamic or Arabic inscriptions and symbols on their ancestors graves. Store and restaurant owners were also prohibited from serving women in traditional Islamic dress . The pre-existing ban on Islamic circumcision was strictly enforced, and Muslim parents were required to sign documents promising not to circumcise their child. Officials regularly inspected Muslim boys to ensure they remained uncircumsized, and if

3078-610: The Varna airport and another at the Plovidv rail station, were agents of the secret police. As a result of Muslim resistance to Bulgarianization and the "Revival Process", the government concluded that a subset of the Muslim population was intractable and could not be assimilated. The emigration of this subset was thus to be encouraged actively. In 1989, the "Revival Process" reached its apogee. In an event euphemistically referred to as

3159-456: The actual data, living conditions in Bulgaria worsened towards the end of the Communist era. In addition to the general economic malaise, the "Big Excursion" itself contributed to popular economic hardship. Bulgarian Turks were themselves largely employed in the agricultural sector and the expulsions of the "Big Excursion" came about at the same time as the annual harvest. As a consequence of

3240-547: The anniversary of his birth, with former prime minister Boyko Borisov even referring to Zhivkov as the "Great Daddy of the Bulgarian Nation." Less than a week after the 2012 recognition of the event as ethnic cleansing by the Bulgarian Parliament, the far-right ultranationalist political party, Ataka , introduced a new bill officially contesting the declaration. According to the bill's authors

3321-606: The articles of Imaan especially that concerning belief in the 4 books which Alians believe and for adopting ibn Hazm 's doctrine of Tahrif instead which Alians reject. The Alians have very similar beliefs and practices to the Alevis and along with Alevis are surviving examples of pre-Sunni Islam because the Alians are believed to be descendants of a member of the Banu Eli tribe who was called Abbas ibn Ali and Umm ul-Banin so their 12 imams (referring to 12 ministerial roles during

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3402-479: The attacks did occur. For instance, 7 people lost their lives occurred in the village of Bunovo . [1] It is possible that some of the attacks were carried out or entirely fabricated by the Bulgarian regime in order to drum up support from the non-Muslim population. For example, upon the opening of secret police archives after the fall of the Communist regime, it was discovered that the perpetrators of two high-profile attacks allegedly committed by Turks in 1984, one at

3483-484: The closure. Around 25,000 were unable to cross into Turkey as a result of the closure. Bulgaria did not attempt to more directly expel its Muslim population in large numbers following the closure, even after Turkey re-opened its border with Bulgaria for Turks and Muslims with a valid Turkish visa a mere two weeks later on September 3. However, the repression of Muslims by Communist Bulgaria continued until on December 29, 1989, exactly seven months since Zhivkov announced

3564-462: The community especially Zeyi (young women who can not afford dowries) and distribute nuts, sweets, chocolates and dried fruits to children. Alian shrines are visited by Balkan Christians and do themselves also sometimes attend Christian Churches and frequent Balkan Christian Shrines. However, Alians have always refused to visit madrassahs in the Ottoman Empire, because orthodox Sunni Islam

3645-478: The country in fewer than two hours. The DS also ensured that expellees were allowed to take no more than 300 Bulgarian levs (around $ 40 in 1989 United States Dollars) per person with them. On May 29, 1989, General Secretary Todor Zhivkov announced the opening of the border with Turkey, ostensibly "to allow tourists to visit the neighboring country," for three months at most. Large numbers of Muslims, many of whom, like Rasim Ozgur, had already prepared to leave

3726-559: The country in the face of state intimidation, surged to the Turkish border. Turkey in-turn issued 90-day visas on request to any holder of a Bulgarian passport. Turkey fully opened the Kapıkule border crossing near the Bulgarian town of Kapitan Andreevo on June 3 even to those without a visa. All expellees had to cross into Turkey via this single border crossing. This checkpoint is sometimes referred to as "Checkpoint Ali". In response to international backlash, particularly from Turkey with

3807-407: The declaration and recognition of the 1989 ethnic cleansing would represent a "boost" for "'separatists'", presumably in reference to the nation's Turks and Muslims. This reasoning is in-line with that of Bulgarian nationalists more generally, who often cast the Turkish and Muslim minority in the "role of perennial anti-Bulgarian separatists ." In support of the viewpoint of Bulgarian nationalists,

3888-468: The end of the "Big Excursion". By the end of 1990, Communist rule had come to an end, with the People's Republic of Bulgaria transformed into simply the Bulgarian Republic, and around 150,000 Muslims had returned. By the end of 1991, as many as 200,000 had returned. The return of such a large number of recent expellees is attributed to Bulgaria's successful transition to democracy following

3969-471: The end of the exodus as well as moderation by both the democratic Bulgarian government and the Bulgarian Turkish community itself. For example, Bulgaria's first democratically-elected president, Zhelyu Zhelev , treated the Turkish political movement as political allies. Zhelev even worked to defend the then-nascent Movement for Rights and Freedoms against a legal challenge from nationalists and

4050-428: The extreme level of repression carried out by the People's Republic of Bulgaria prevented the development of armed opposition. Over 600 unorganized acts of " terror " were officially recorded by Sofia during the 1980s, with the regime blaming Turks and Muslims for the acts, as well as their opposition groups. Of those alleged 600 attacks, the vast majority cannot be explained conclusively. Regardless, at least some of

4131-627: The face of difficulties regarding the acceptability of foreign names (given names and surnames of Turkish, Arabic, Armenian, or some other non-Bulgarian origin) and the association between both foreign and "Bulgarian" and religion, the decision was eventually made to draft a list of 5,000 purely "Bulgarian" names, including those with a relationship to the Orthodox Christian calendar. Acceptable "Bulgarian" names were not just those of Slavic or Christian origin however, non-Islamic foreign names were also sometimes deemed acceptable. While this list

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4212-467: The following of the necessity of the "Big Excursion": The riots in the country stopped after this exhibition (from May 29). We are on the brink of a major exodus psychosis. How should we assess this psychosis? We need such psychosis, it is welcome. I'm going to tell you something that we keep secret. If we do not remove 200–300 thousand people from this population, after 15 years Bulgaria will not exist. It will be like Cyprus or something. In discourse,

4293-610: The limited remembrance of the "Revival Process" abroad. Even in Turkey, memory of the "Revival Process" is limited and testimony by victims is limited. Throughout the "Revival Process", many sought refuge abroad in countries other than Turkey, especially in Austria , Germany , and Sweden . Many also found refuge in Australia , Canada , England , and the United States . One 2012 study found that Bulgarians generally blame

4374-477: The mayor, the Communist Party secretary, and a few officials were then summoned and asked to sign a declaration that the village(rs) be given Bulgarian names... They were handed lists of Bulgarian names and then usually allowed twenty-four hours to consider. Most of these men agreed to cooperate and were thus held up as models for the rest of the village... Those who refused to comply, however, were taken by

4455-458: The migration of Bulgarians of all ethnicities seeking economic opportunity to Turkey following the fall of Communism blurred together with the "Big Excursion" in the eyes of many and bolstered the argument that the exodus had been voluntary. Even in Turkey, few accounts of excursion have been published. What books have been produced primarily regard the individual accounts of expellees, which have typically been printed in limited runs. However,

4536-543: The militia from their homes... Eventually they signed. Those who still refused were held in a cellar for several days, abused, threatened, and beaten . If they still persisted, then imprisonment ensued." Beyond the Bulgarianization of the names of living Muslims, Bulgarian authorities began to enforce other assimilation measures during the "Revival Process". During that time, Muslims were not allowed to bury their dead in Islamic cemeteries and were made to deface

4617-543: The mystical rituals of the wandering dervishes . Their exact origin is not certain, since few relevant historical records have been preserved, but according to the prevailing theory they fled to Bulgaria from Central Anatolia after the 1512 victory by the Ottoman Sultan Selim I , a Sunni , over the first, part- Turcoman Safavid shah of the Persians , Ismail I . Alians appear to be descendants of

4698-523: The number of people who died of neglect or suicide in Belene. In spite of the high number of fatalities among the Muslim community, organized armed resistance to the "Revival Process" never arose. Explanations for why resistance remained non-violent are varied (in contrast to contemporaneous armed movements in places like Northern Ireland ). Rumen Avramov, who was an economic advisor to Bulgaria's first non-communist president, Zhelyu Zhelev , claims that

4779-416: The opening of the Turkish border and just over one month after Zhivkov's resignation, when the government of Petar Mladenov announced that the rights of Muslims would be restored, though it would take two years for that promise to be fully fulfilled. Even after closing its shared border with Bulgaria, Turkey continued to reiterate its desire for a diplomatic agreement to address the refugee crisis caused by

4860-678: The politicians of the time for the "Revival Process". When asked who bore the blame for the campaign, respondents blamed the Bulgarian Communist Party , Todor Zhivkov , and the Secret Police. Some respondent even blamed the Soviet Union and Leonid Brezhnev (who died in 1982). The same study also found that victims do not generally blame ethnic-Bulgarians and are inclined to forgive them, with much blame instead heaped on fellow-Muslim "traitors" who collaborated with

4941-465: The post-communist Bulgarian Socialist Party which could have led to the MRF's dissolution. In less than two years after the fall of Zhivkov, religious and Turkish-language schools were re-opened across Bulgaria, a new national constitution was adopted guaranteeing freedom of religion , and the state began to officially restore the previous names of Muslims which had been forcibly Bulgarianized throughout

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5022-489: The potential to draw in the United States and Soviet Union , the two principal nuclear-armed superpowers of the era. However, because records in both Russia and the United States remain sealed and the topic has received little scholarly attention, the precise role that the "Big Excursion" played in the larger context of the then-waning Cold War cannot be confirmed. The United States Senate officially condemned

5103-485: The reactivated Belene labor camp , situated on an island in the Danube river. Some who were sent to Belene died. While the number of civilian casualties is not definitively known, according to Turkish sources, anywhere from 800 to 2,500 died between November 1984 and February 1985. Other observers, meanwhile, estimate the number of casualties at more than 1,000, though that number is likely to rise considerably when including

5184-583: The regime attempted to phase out traditional and religious holidays and observances in favor of approved socialist observances and rites. Officials were sent to Islamic funerals to ensure that the proper Socialist rites were carried out and prayers said in the Bulgarian language . Just before the start of the "Revival Process" proper, the regime initiated a new round of limited forced Bulgarianization . Between 1981 and 1983, around 100,000 people, mainly Muslim Roma were forcibly Bulgarianized. The measure

5265-619: The regime had long encouraged assimilationism to some degree, as the Eastern Bloc wavered in the 1980s, the Zhivkov regime leaned more heavily into Bulgarian ethno-nationalism to prop itself up and stepped up repression of the Muslim population in particular. The policy of the Bulgarian Communist Party towards ethnic and religious minorities evolved during the forty year course of one-party rule. The draconian policies that characterized

5346-470: The regime of Todor Zhivkov to describe the events. The Bulgarian government described the forced migrations as the "Big Excursion" ( Bulgarian : Голямата екскурзия , romanized :  Goliamata Ekskurziya ) because officially the border with Turkey was allegedly opened "to allow tourists to visit the neighboring country," and the regime in Sofia claimed that victims had only left temporarily to visit relatives abroad. Some, however, have criticized

5427-463: The regime. Big Excursion The " Big Excursion " ( Bulgarian : Голямата екскурзия , romanized :  Goliamata Ekskurziya ) was the 1989 forced migration ( Turkish : 1989 Zorunlu Göç ) of Bulgarian Muslims by the Communist government of the People's Republic of Bulgaria . In total, around 360,000 Bulgarian Muslims crossed the border into Turkey . In late December 1989,

5508-599: The simmering tensions between the Communist regime and Bulgaria's Muslim population, the Bulgarian state increasingly cracked down, arresting many. The first 170 of the most "'problematic'" dissidents were deported soon after May 20th, 1989, followed by another 4,000–10,000 Muslims. The first 1,000 "ringleaders" of anti-regime protests were deported to Austria , Yugoslavia , and Sweden. The state also threatened individual Muslims. For instance, one Bulgarian Turk, Rasim Ozgur, recalled that in early May 1989, communist state militiamen told him that they would kill him if he

5589-426: The start of the "Big Excursion". In the years since Yugoslavia 's dissolution, the term "ethnic cleansing" has gained scholarly acceptance in spite of its own originally euphemistic origin. The term "ethnic cleansing" is consequently not always associated with the 1989 forced migration in Bulgaria of two years prior. Instead, the event is usually referred to by the official (and likewise euphemistic) terms employed by

5670-439: The state-employed Chief Mufti expressed his support for the "Revival Process", declaring that "...There have been no cases of preventing or in any way restricting Muslims from performing religious rites and services." Resistance to the "Revival Process" among the Turkish population itself, however, was strong. For example, in spite of regulations, many Muslims continued to secretly practice their faith and instruct their children in

5751-513: The subsequent re-integration of expellees into Bulgarian society. For instance, in 2000 the EU promulgated the "Race Equality Directive" and later formally requested Bulgaria's compliance with the directive. Bulgaria ultimately acceded to the European Union in 2007 . In 2012, the Bulgarian government (then governed by a coalition headed by the center-right GERB party) officially recognized

5832-518: The support of the United States, the Communist Bulgarian regime insisted that the victims of the "Big Excursion" had left voluntarily on tourist visas and thus could not be properly referred to as deportees. It further insisted that the flow of such people was the result of the relaxation of Bulgarian passport laws – the very same laws that Turkey had often wished for Bulgaria to relax – and that Bulgarian actions were simply in keeping with

5913-453: The use of that official and highly ambiguous term. Polish academic Tomasz Kamusella describes continued use of the term "Big Excursion" as tantamount to acceptance of General Secretary Zhivkov's propaganda, and some Bulgarian Muslims take offense to use of the term "Big Excursion". Conversely, those who wish to belittle the memory of the forced migration of 1989 often do not capitalize the term "Big Excursion". Bulgarian Turks constitute

5994-424: The victims of the "Revival Process" by extension can be difficult. According to the 1975 Bulgarian census , the last taken before the start of the "Revival Process" which recorded ethnicity, "Turks" made up around 8.4% of the Bulgarian population of 8.7 Million. This was down from the final census taken before the start of the Communist era in 1946 where "Turks" comprised 9.6% of the population. The Muslim population

6075-440: Was also gradually made more assimilationist. In 1962, Pomaks were banned from attending Turkish-language schools, and in 1972, Turkish-language schools were banned altogether. Following on from the ban on the Turkish language in schools, the government forced many Slavophone Muslims to Bulgarianize their names in the early 1970s. By 1974, 150,000 "Pomaks" and 200,000 "Turks" had been forced to Bulgarianize their names. In 1978,

6156-475: Was concentrated primarily in the country's northeast and southeast (particularly Kardzhali Province ). The People's Republic of Bulgaria officially practiced State Atheism , in line with Marxist-Leninist doctrine, and religious expression was tightly controlled. However, the state viewed domestic Muslims, whether practicing or not, as either the Bulgarian victims of Ottoman religious and cultural assimilation - wayward Bulgarians - or Turkish interlopers. Though

6237-451: Was extended to a number of Crimean Tatars and Alians (a Shia group, also referred to as Alevi or Kizilbash) mere months before the "Revival Process" began in earnest in 1984. While many Muslims had thus already been forced to Bulgarianize their names, in 1984 the regime in Sofia decided to take the name-changing process to its conclusion. All ethnic Turks were to assimilate by changing their Turkish names. Turks were made to choose from

6318-495: Was forced to resign, and the new Bulgarian government restored the right of Bulgarian citizens to have Turkish names. Not all who had been forced to change their names, however, restored their original names. Today, many Bulgarians of legacy (non-immigrant background) Muslim origin born during or after the "Revival Process" bear Bulgarian names, and as part of the collective trauma from the event, some are left to wonder what their name would have otherwise been. On 11 January 2012,

6399-446: Was not completed prior to the start of the "Revival Process", some name indexes were available by that time. The methods employed by the state to coerce Turkish villages to agree to " Bulgarisation " were particularly violent. According to one eyewitness account by an ethnic Bulgarian: "The [Turkish] village was surrounded by militia and/or special internal troops or regular army trucks or even light tanks . The village thus isolated,

6480-530: Was seen conversing with "'reported people,'" and they also told him that he "was about to emigrate ." He thus prepared to leave Bulgaria and did so once the border with Turkey was opened later that month. Others who did not leave expediently enough were intimidated by agents of the Communist State Security organ known as the DS . Some DS officers directly commanded some Bulgarian Muslims to leave

6561-466: Was taught there. As a consequence, they educated their children only within the bounds of their society, and that has led to a decline among them. The situation, along with the reticence of their esoteric culture, and the urbanization, doomed them to gradual assimilation into Orthodox Christianity or secularism. By the Second World War and the following communism in Bulgaria, many Alians fled in

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