THE CLASH BETWEEN LATIN AND ARABIC ALPHABETS AMONG THE TURKISH COMMUNITY IN BULGARIA IN THE INTERWAR PERIOD

Yıl 2018, Cilt: 7 Sayı: 2, 367 - 390, 30.12.2018

Giustina Selvellı

https://doi.org/10.30903/Balkan.504204

Cited By: 2

Öz

In this article, I will address the topic
of the Turkish minority in Bulgaria in the interwar period through the
interpretive lens of
the “linguistic” or better “alphabetic” rights,[1]
placed in the context of the “Latinization” processes taking place in the wide
Eurasian space, as well of the post-imperial sociopolitical dynamics.[2]

To this aim, I describe the interesting
and little known case of the writing practices of the Turkish community in
Bulgaria in the period between the two world wars. In particular, I take into
account the repercussions of Atatürk’s alphabetical reform in Bulgaria,
demonstrating how the adoption of the Latin alphabet in Turkey represented a
significant challenge for the country, triggering the fears of both the
Bulgarian authorities and of the more conservative factions of the local
Turkish community. In this context, I analyze the attitudes towards the Arabic and
the Latin alphabet employed to write the Turkish language in the Balkan
country, illustrating the reasons for the prohibition of the Turkish Latin
alphabet, in an unprecedented combination of interests between Bulgarian
authorities and Islamic religious leaders. I will try to show how in that specific historical
moment, writing systems, far from being “neutral” communication elements, lent
themselves to various manipulations of an ideological and political nature.

My paper does not intend to represent a comprehensive
contribution to the analysis of the complex subject of this community’s
religious or political identity, but it rather aims to shed light on the
limitations faced by the Turks of Bulgaria in terms of their linguistic rights
in a period when other communities in Southeast Europe were encountering
similar difficulties.[3]

---

^[1] See on the topic
Linguistic Human Rights: Overcoming Linguistic Discrimination, (ed.) Tove
Skutnabb-Kangas, Mouton de Gruyter, Berlin 1994.

^[2] See Valeri Stoyanov, “Die Türkische Minderheit Bulgariens
bis zum Ende des Zweiten Weltkrieges”, ВАЛЕРИСТИКА ПОЛИХИСТОРИКА-2. Избрани
приноси към гранични области на историята, Институт за исторически
изследвания при БАН, Sofia 2011, pp. 349-373.

^[3] As in the case
that I will later discuss of the education policies for the Slavophone minority in
Aegean Macedonia, Greece in the 1920s.

Anahtar Kelimeler

Turkish Latin Alphabet, Turks of Bulgaria, Turkish Literacy in Bulgaria, Turkish Newspapers in Bulgaria, Arabic Alphabet

İKİ SAVAŞ ARASI DÖNEMDE BULGARİSTAN’DAKİ TÜRK TOPLULUĞUNDA LATİN VE ARAPÇA ALFABELER ARASINDAKİ ÇATIŞMA

Öz

Bu makalede iki savaş arası dönemde
Bulgaristan’daki Türkler konusunu ele alacağım. “Dilsel” ya da daha doğru
söylemek gerekirse “alfabetik” hakların yorumlayıcı yaklaşımını kullanacağım ve
onları ve “post-emperyal sosyopolitik dinamikleri” ile ilişkilendiren geniş
Avrasya alanında yer alan “Latinizasyon” süreçlerine yerleştireceğim.

Bu amaçla, Bulgaristan Türklerine ait
yazı pratiklerinin ilginç ve az bilinen durumunu tasvir ediyorum. Özellikle de
Atatürk’ün alfabe reformunun Bulgaristan’daki yansımalarını ele alarak
Türkiye’nin Latin alfabesine geçişinin bu Balkan ülkesinde gerek Bulgar otoriteleri
gerekse yerli Türk topluluğunun en muhafazakar kesimleri tarafından korkuları tetikleyen
kabul edilmesi zor bir olay olduğunu göstereceğim. Bu bağlamda bu Balkan
ülkesinde Türk dilini yazmak için kullanılan Arap ve Latin alfabelerine yönelik
tavırları analiz ederek, Bulgar otoritelerle İslam alimleri arasındaki
alışılmadık çıkar kesişmesinde, Latin-Türk alfabesinin yasaklanmasının
nedenlerini ortaya koyacağım. Bu dönemde, “nötr” iletişim öğeleri olmaktan çok
uzakta olan yazı sistemlerinin, ideolojik ve politik türden manipülasyonlara
açık olduklarını göstermek çalışacağım.

Makalem, bu topluluğun dini ya da politik
kimliğinin karmaşık konusunun analizine kapsamlı bir katkı sunmayı
amaçlamamaktadır. Fakat daha çok, güneydoğu Avrupa’daki diğer toplulukların
benzer zorluklarla karşılaştığı bir dönemde, Bulgaristan Türklerinin dil
hakları bakımından karşılaştıkları sınırlamalara ışık tutmayı amaçlamaktadır.

Anahtar Kelimeler

Türk Latin Alfabesi, Bulgaristan Türkleri, Bulgaristan’da Türk Okuryazarlığı, Bulgaristan’daki Türk Gazeteleri, Arap Alfabesi

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