Bulgarian Turks in Turkey

The Bulgarian Turks in Turkey represent a community of Bulgarian Turks who immigrated over the years from Bulgaria to Turkey. They are notable in Turkey for being descendants of Balkan Turks who had to escape persecution.[2][3] and moreover, part of them continue to be dual citizens of Bulgaria and Turkey, which makes them a natural bridge between both countries.

Bulgarian Turks in Turkey
  • български турци в Турция (Bulgarian)
  • Türkiye'deki Bulgaristan Türkleri (Turkish)
Born in Bulgaria372,000[1]
Languages
Turkish · Bulgarian
Religion
Islam · Christianity
Related ethnic groups
Bulgarian Turks · Turks
Turkish immigrants from Bulgaria arriving in Anatolia in 1912.

Origins

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Bulgarian Turks are descendants of Asian settlers who came across the narrows of the Dardanelles and the Bosporus following the Ottoman conquest of the Balkans in the late 14th and early 15th centuries, as well as Bulgarian converts to Islam who became Turkified during the centuries of Ottoman rule in Bulgaria.[4][5] It has also been suggested that some Turks living today in Bulgaria may be direct ethnic descendants of earlier medieval Pecheneg, Oğuz, and Cuman Turkic tribes.[6][7][8] The Turkish community became an ethnic minority when the Principality of Bulgaria was established after the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–1878.

History of resettlement in Turkey

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Notable Bulgarian Turks from Turkey

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Place of Birth Statistics, 2014". Turkstat.gov.tr. Retrieved 28 August 2017.
  2. ^ Howard, Douglas A. (Douglas Arthur) (2001). The history of Turkey. Internet Archive. Westport, Conn. : Greenwood Press. ISBN 978-0-313-30708-9.
  3. ^ Caucaso, Osservatorio Balcani e. "The "big excursion" of Bulgarian Turks". OBC Transeuropa (in Italian). Retrieved 2021-11-23.
  4. ^ Stein, Jonathan. The Politics of National Minority Participation in Post-communist Europe, p. 238. M.E. Sharpe, 2000. ISBN 0-7656-0528-7
  5. ^ R.J.Crampton. "A concise history of Bulgaria", p. 36. Cambridge University Press, 1997.
  6. ^ Hupchick, D.P. (2002). The Balkans: From Constantinople to Communism. Palgrave. p. 11. ISBN 1-4039-6417-3.
  7. ^ Nicole 1990, pp.45
  8. ^ Norris, Islam in the Balkans, pp. 146-47.