Comparing Bulgarian and Greek Policies for the Integration of Turkish/Muslim Minorities: The Cold War Period

Year 2019, Issue: 90, 21 - 41, 30.07.2019

Nuri Korkmaz

https://doi.org/10.12995/bilig.9002

Cited By: 1

Abstract

Comparing political approaches toward Turkish/Muslim minorities in Bulgaria and Greece became a necessity in order to examine the integration of minority groups under different conditions. This study focuses on the policies of integration of ethnic/religious minorities in Bulgaria and Greece during the Cold War period, studies various methodologies adopted by the communist rule in Bulgaria and the liberal democratic rule in Greece. Since Turkish/Muslim minorities in Bulgaria and Greece claim Turkey as their kin-state, the study partially reflects the perception of minority groups by the majority. Several factors such as educational policies, religion and political approaches to integrate minorities have been evaluated in order to give an overview on the peculiarities and similarities in both cases that are compared. There is detailed analysis also on the issue of national identities and how their conditionality has been defined with the co-existence of minority groups in Bulgaria and in Greece.

Keywords

Turkish minority, Western Thrace, Bulgaria, communism, democracy, comparative policy analysis, Greece

Bulgaristan ve Yunanistan’ın Müslüman- Türk Azınlığın Entegrasyonuna Yönelik Politikalarının Karşılaştırmalı İncelemesi: Soğuk Savaş Dönemi

Abstract

Bulgaristan ve Yunanistan’daki Türk azınlıklara yönelik politikaların karşılaştırılması, farklı koşullardaki azınlık gruplarının entegrasyonuyla ilgili durumun incelenmesini gerekli hale getirmiştir. Bu çalışmanın konusu, Soğuk Savaş döneminde Bulgaristan’daki Komünist yönetim ve Yunanistan’daki Liberal Demokrat yönetimin Müslüman-Türk azınlığın entegrasyonuna yönelik benimsediği farklı yöntemlerin değerlendirilmesidir. Bulgaristan ve Yunanistan’daki Müslüman-Türk azınlığın Türkiye’yi anavatanları olarak görmesi nedeniyle, bu çalışma, aynı zamanda o ülkelerdeki çoğunluğun azınlık mensuplarıyla ilişkisini farklı bir açıdan incelemektedir. Türklerin entegrasyonuna yönelik eğitim politikaları, dini ve siyasal yaklaşımlar değerlendirilerek her iki ülkedeki Türklere siyasal sistemlerin etkisinde yapılan muamele karşılaştırılmıştır. Bu çerçevede milli kimlik olgusu kullanılarak, Türk azınlığa tanınan hakların sosyal bağlamda azınlığın kendi kimliğini koruma ve kültürünü geliştirme konusunda nasıl katkı sağladığı veya ne tür sorunlar yarattığı analiz edilmiştir.

Keywords

Türk azınlık, Batı Trakya, Bulgaristan, komünizm, demokrasi, karşılaştırmalı siyaset analizi, Yunanistan

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