Author(s): Kader ÃZLEM
By the falling back of Ottoman Empire from Balkans, there stayed an important populated Turkish minority rearward. Even if the rights of Turkish minority in Bulgaria had been guaranteed by bilateral and multilateral treaties, various assimilation policies aimed at Turkish minority were applied during the time, starting from Ottoman-Russia War (1877- 1878) and lasting to the collapse of socialist system in Bulgaria in 1989 and also Turkish population was forced to immigration. A transformation process has become true in Bulgaria by the end of Cold War period. In this process, the democratic system has been established in Bulgaria and Turkish minority has entered the political life of the country. On the other hand, Bulgaria has changed her foreign political route from Moscow to the axis of Washington-Brussels. In this frame, the membership goals to NATO and EU became unavoidable for Bulgaria. The purpose of this study is to examine the transformation of Turks of Bulgaria in historical process and the effects of EU membership process of Bulgaria to Turkish minority.
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