Transnational networks and kin states: the Turkish minority in Bulgaria, 1878–1940

Abstract

This paper focuses on the development of national identity and the formation of political organizations in the Turkish minority in the early years of the formation of the Bulgarian state from 1878 to the 1940s. It studies transnational aspects of nationalism, which is usually considered territorially bounded, by studying the impact of connections between the Turkish minority and the Ottoman Empire and later with Turkey. In addition to studying inter-state relations and their reflection in the legal and political sphere, this paper studies the flow of ideas across borders, transnational networks among political activists, and the resulting cleavage formation. Findings show that transnational connections and actors played dual roles. The circulation of political activists, contributed to the formation of national organizations which played a crucial role in (re)formulating national identity. Transnational connections increased political activity in the name of the Turkish minority. Through these organizations the community was able to make collective demands from the Bulgarian state. However, transnational connections carried debates and divisions in the Ottoman Empire and Turkey to the Turkish minority in Bulgaria. By dividing the community, they decreased the capacity for collective action.

Keywords:

• transnational networks
• kin states
• Turkish minority in Bulgaria
• Ottoman Empire
• Turkey

Acknowledgements

The author wishes to thank Harris Mylonas, Nina Ergin and anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments. An earlier version of this paper was presented at the 14th Annual Convention of the Association for the Study of Nationalities (ASN), New York, 23–25 April 2009.

Notes

Homeland state refers to claims “for shared nationhood across the boundaries of state and citizenship and the idea that this shared nationhood makes the state responsible, in some sense, not only for its own citizens but also for ethnic co-nationals who live in other states and possess other citizenships” (Brubaker, “National Minorities” 117).

Alejandro Portes mentions the fragmentation of the solidarity of immigrant communities as an undesired outcome of transnationalism (468).

The friendship treaty between Bulgaria and Turkey mentioned the “Turkish minority” for the first time in 1925.

“The Treaty of Peace between Bulgaria and Turkey” 27–45.

Tsentralen Darjaven Arhiv, Bulgaria (TsDA), F. 24, op. III, a.e. 49, L. 225 cited in Belgelerle Mustafa Kemal Atatürk ve Türk–Bulgar İlişkileri (1913–1938) 186.

TsDA, F. 176K, op. 6, a.e. 2556, L. 1-23 cited in Belgelerle Mustafa Kemal Atatürk ve Türk–Bulgar İlişkileri (1913–1938) 306–41.

For the analysis of the impact of inter-state relations on minority policies, see Harris Mylonas's forthcoming book.

The decrease in the Muslim population is estimated to range between 1 and 1½ million, including deaths (estimated at around 200,000 people) as well as refugees. See Kemal Karpat (“Introduction” 1–22; Ottoman Population) and Bilal Şimşir (Bulgaristan Türkleri 200–07). Richard Crampton (“The Turks in Bulgaria” 43–78) also provides detailed information about migration waves from Bulgaria to the Ottoman Empire.

According to Şimşir (Bulgaristan Türkleri 23), there were 2700 primary schools (sibyan mektebi), 40 high schools (rüşdiye) and 150 theological seminaries (medrese) in 1875. The total number of schools declined sharply to 1300 in 1894, and to 1199 in 1949, although student numbers were one and a half times greater (from 77,559 in 1894, to 100,276 in 1949).

There were two executive committees for every locality with a Muslim population: the Muslim executive committee and the school committee. The school committee was composed of two people who were responsible for collecting donations, providing salaries for teachers and expenses for schools. The Muslim executive committee comprised three members (the chair, cashier and a member). This committee was responsible for administering Muslim endowments and supported Muslim education with donations. The members of both committees were elected by local people until 1934 (Keskioğlu 75).

This political activity can also be related to the declaration of independence by the Bulgarian state, which in 1908 cut political ties with the Ottoman Empire, ties that could have caused pressure on the Muslim minority.

See Şimşir (Bulgaristan Türkleri 105–06) and Keskioğlu (120–23) for this argument.

See Hüseyin Memişoğlu for more information on the Turkish press in Bulgaria.

Joel Migdal, Atul Kohli, and Vivienne Shue (1–6) have developed the state-in-society perspective emphasizing the mutual effects of interaction on both the state and local groups. Their insights are applicable to the study of minorities.