A Bipolar society: Formation of national consciousness among the Turkish minority in Bulgaria (1918-1944)

Abstract

This thesis is written in order to examine one of the most crucial periods in the history of the Turkish minority in Bulgaria. The years after the end of the World War I, until the establishment of the communist regime, became an important turning point for the Turkish community both regarding their citizenship in Bulgaria and for the formation of their Turkish national consciousness. Collapse of the Ottoman Empire, and the emergence of a secular and modern Republic presented two paths for the community to follow. The society socio-politically polarized as the question of applying the reforms of the Republican Turkey in their daily lives or not became more pressing day by day. The unsteady relations between the Ottoman/Turkish and Bulgarian governments also characterized the period. Their perception and attitudes toward the Turkish minority had a massive effect on the formation of national consciousness. The involvement of the Turkish and Bulgarian governments as well as the Office of Grand Mufti in Sofia in the fragmentation of the community made the problem more complicated and harder to solve. At the end, the ordinary people in Bulgaria were subjected to the policies of such state and non-state actors, which were trying to control and influence the Turkish community.