Turkey/Bulgaria: Aftermath of an Exodus | Focus on Europe

30 years ago the communist regime in Bulgaria began an unprecedented assimilation campaign directed at the country's ethnic Turkish minority. People were forced to adopt Christian Bulgarian names. The Turkish language was banned. After protests at the measures grew, Sofia began expelling people to Turkey.The result was a huge panicked emigration wave. Today thousands of Bulgarian Turks still live in Istanbul, Bursa and other Turkish cities. But they have not lost their ties to their old homeland. Many of them maintain contact, without bearing resentment. And many also have Bulgarian as well as Turkish citizenship.
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