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“BULGARİSTAN TÜRKLERİNİN SON SOYKIRIMININ 15. YIL DÖNÜMÜ” DERLEMESİNİN İKİNCİ BÖLÜMÜNÜN İÇERİĞİNİ, 17 TEMMUZ 2004 AKŞAMI ALMIŞ OLDUĞUM ALTTAKİ İLETİ NEDENİ İLE, DÜŞÜNDÜĞÜM TARİHTEN ÖNCE SUNMAYI UYGUN GÖRDÜM.TABİî Kİ, ÇOK PARLAK BİR ÖĞRENİM SÜRECİ DİLEĞİ İLE, ÖRNEK BİR GENÇ OLAN SEVGİLİ KANKAM, A.Y.B.’ya İTHAFEN.
SEMRA KANAT19 Temmuz 2004
From: To: Sent: Saturday, July 17, 2004 9:03 PM Subject: Malta
Hocam nasılsınız?
Ben de sizi özledim. Mesajınızı aldım.Telefonum sadece gelen aramalara açık; ben sizi arayamıyorum veya mesaj gonderemiyorum. Malta çok sıcak ve cok pahalı. 1 malta lirasi 2.5 yuroya denk. Bence güzel bir yer de değil. Osmanlı İmparatorluğu’nda sürgün yeriydi zaten. Türkiye cennet, ayak basar basmaz toprağı öpeceğim. Size kart gonderdim, inşallah benden önce gelir. :) Kendinize iyi bakin. Anne babanıza cok selâm.
ÖZEL TEŞEKKÜR:
Malûm, 16 Haziran 1989 tarihinde Bulgaristan'dan ailemle birlikte sağ salim Türkiye’ye ayak basabilen şanslı Türklerdenim. On beş yıldır beni bağrına basıp, özgür yaşama mutluluğuna kavuşturan Ana Vatanıma sevgi ve bağlılığımı betimlemeye gerek yoktur. Bizler, yangından kaçarcasına, gözümüzü kırpmadan eski ata topraklarında her şeyimizi bir çırpıda bırakıp, yalnızca Şkoda marka arabamızla gelebilmiş idik. Ve o gün elimizde kalan tek maddî varlığımız olan bu araba, ne yazık ki, akşamüzeri, Kırklareli - Babaeski yolunda arızalandı. Bizlere kucak açıp yardım eden, arabamızı tamir ettiren ve o esnada bizi yemeğe götürüp karnımızı doyuran, güven verip rahatlatan, otoyolda devriye gezen iki trafik polisimiz idi. Âmir olan Çerkez asıllı komiserin adını maalesef hatırlayamıyorum; fakat yanılmıyor isem, diğer memurumuzun adı Mehmet olup, üç çocuk babası idi. “Nerelisiniz?” sorusunu, “Yeni Pazarlı” diye yanıtladığımda, bana döndü ve şivesiz bir Bulgarca ile, “Ot Novi Pazar li (Yeni Pazar’dan mı)?” dedi. Doğal olarak, şaşkınlığımı gizleyemedim. Meğer, kendisi 100 yıl önce Yeni Pazar’dan göç edip, evde Bulgarca konuşan Pomak asıllı bir ailenin oğlu imiş. Her ikisinin de artık emekli olduğunu tahmin ettiğim bu iki değerli büyüğümü ve arabayı tamir eden arkadaşları hiçbir zaman unutmayacağım: Onlara duacıyım. Benim için çok değerli bu iki kişiye ulaşabilmeyi çok isterdim; bundan duyacağım mutlululuk tarifsizdir. Ancak bunu nasıl gerçekleştireceğimi bilemediğimden, şimdilik onları yâd etmekle yetiniyorum. Allah razı olsun, kendilerine ömür boyu minnettarım.
The General Directorate of Press and Information of the Turkish Republic
THE NEW BREED OF “TOURIST”
I am a Turk! I want to keep my name, speak my language and preserve my religion and culture!
FOREWORD
A placid and hard-working ethnic minority which had never contested the state's authority used to live in a certain country. Its rights and status had been safeguarded by international treaties. Its existence had been established through official censuses, statements by the Head of State and countless documents. It had schools which offered education in its own language and its own publications. It could sing its own songs and enjoy its own folklore. Though of a different religious faith from the majority in the country, it could practise its own religion. One day in December 1984, the authorities in the country began to implement a policy of assimilation seeking to eradicate the rights and status of this minority as well as its ethnic, religious and cultural identity. As part of this policy of assimilation, all forms of violence were resorted to. Many were killed, tortured, detained, imprisoned, confined to concentration camps or banished to internal exile. The names of all members of the minority were changed at gunpoint. They were also prohibited from speaking their mother tongue, wearing their traditional outfits, singing their own songs and enjoying their own folklore, observing their religious practices and burying their dead in their own cemetiers in accordance with their traditions. Their cemeteries and mosques were either closed or demolished and their newspapers began to appear in a different language. Thus, an age of darkness descended upon this minority. An entire community disappeared altogether from public registers. One day in May 1989, members of the minority sought to raise their voices through peaceful means in order to secure the restoration of their rights and to lead a dignified life. They staged hunger strikes and demonstrations. The authorities in the country suppressed these hunger strikes and demonstrations through bloodshed. The demonstrators were fired upon from tanks and helicopters and set upon by police dogs. More than 60 people were massacred. Mass arrests took place. A new development followed in the wake of these bloody incidents. The country's administration began to deport members of the minority en masse and to force them to leave their homes. It chose to expel its own citizens under inhumane conditions to a neighbouring country. In so doing, it created many divided families by holding hostage some family members, especially the young. Moreover, it attempted to present this policy of expulsion as "touristic movements". The number of deportees exceeded -100,000 within a fortnight. Scenes of human suffering which should have been left behind in the darkest periods of history and which at any rate have not been seen since World War II are now being revived. The world is once again witnessing a major crime against humanity. This country is insisting on extending the already long list of her crimes in sheer defiance of the entire world. This country is Bulgaria. The minority subjected to oppression and assimilation is the Turkish muslim minority in Bulgaria. The community of nations is duty-bound to help to end this oppression. Such policies of coercion and assimilation have no place in our age. This crime against humanity must not be tolerated any longer. Failure to take a principled stand on the issue will in fact encourage the commitment of similar crimes in other parts of the world. This is a humanitarian cause which should be adopted by every country, every institution and every individual.
THE TRAGEDY ENCOMPASSES ALL
TEMPORARY ACCOMODATION CENTERS, KIRKLARELİ and EDİRNE JUNE 1989
Extract from the press conference on the 1st July, 1989 of Mr. A. Mesut Yılmaz, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Turkey:
"The Bulgarian government persists in portraying the deportees as "tourists". And, through our television screens and the international media, we become more and more familiar with each passing day with this new breed of "tourist" who have been expelled from their country with all their properity and possesions confiscated for insisting on their demands for no more than a dignified life... These individuals, who are graciously presented to the world by the Zhivkov (Jivkov) administration as "tourists", are not simply a new breed of "tourist", but a brand new phenomenon which, for reasons we do not understand, fails attract to attract the attention of antropologists anywhere. These Bulgarian "tourists", whom, we know, have insistently demanded the replacement of their Turkish names of dubious origin causing them discomfort with Bulgarian-Slavic names and accomplished their desire after much hardship towards the end of 1984; whom, we know, have been changing their direction when coming across one of the meticulously and respectfully maintained mosques despite the counsel of the Bulgarian authorities to the contrary; whom, we know, have resisted the Bulgarian government in order not to utter a single word and even staged demonstrations in recent months; whom, we know, have demolished the tombstones of their ancestors, and whom, we know, do not belong to the in Turkish minority in Bulgaria, as there is no such minority in that country, somehow insist on speaking Turkish and performing prayers with an incomprehensible longing when they cross the Turkish border; strive to have their sons circumcized as if circumcision is prohibited in Bulgaria and as if they would not soon return to that country after completing their touristic visits to Turkey; claim that their names are "Recep" and not "Rushi", "Fatma" and not "Fani", "Tevfik" and not "Todor" in spite of their identity documents. İt is obvious that it would be a gross over-simplication to label tens of thousands of people as mentally or morally disturbed. I therefore deem it appropriate to take this opportunity to declare that our borders are open to all anthpologists from Argentina to Japan. I would guess that this unprecendented cultural metamorphosis might be of interest particulary for Bulgarian anthpologists."
BULGARIA, IN DEFIANCE OF WORLD PUBLIC OPINION, HAS DEPRIVED THE TURKISH MINORITY IN THE COUNTRY OF ALL BASIC RIGHTS AND FREEDOMS SINCE 1984. THEIR OUTRAGEOUS CAMPAIGN OF ASSIMILATION STARTED WITH CHANGING THE NAMES OF THE TURKISH MINORITY. THE CAMPAIGN WAS FOLLOWED BY A WAVE OF SEVERE BANS AND RESTRICTIONS AIMING TO DESTROY THE ETHNIC, RELIGIOUS AND CULTURAL IDENTITY OF THE TURKISH MUSLIM MINORITY. IN MAY 1989, THE BULGARIAN AUTHORITIES BLOODILY QUELLED INNOCENT DEMONSTRATIONS OF TURKS PROTESTING THIS INHUMAN TREATMENT. MORE THAN 60 DEMONSTRATORS WERE KILLED BY THE BULGARIAN MILITIA. SHORTLY AFTER, BULGARIA STARTED YET ANOTHER MASS DEPORTATION OF ITS TURKISH MINORITY. MORE THAN 100,000 ETHNIC TURKS ARRIVED IN TURKEY WITHIN A FORTNIGHT. AND THE EXODUS CONTINUES...
According to the 1956 official census the number of ethnic Turks was 656,025 According to the 1965 official census the number of ethnic Turks was 780.928
Till 1959 there were 1118 Turkish Schools in Bulgaria
"The Bulgarian Communist Party has pursued a policy of paying full respect to the national characteristics and rights of the Turkish national minority." 28 May 1962
"The Bulgarian citizens of Turkish descent are equal citizens of the People's Republic of Bulgaria." 31 May 1976
"The children of Bulgarian Turks...... Optional study of the Turkish language from the first to the ninth grade has been adopted...... Special text books in the Turkish language and literature are published for this purpose". 24 January 1982
"There is not a Turkish minority nor ethnic Turks in Bulgaria!" December, 1984
OF THE BULGARIAN COMMUNIST PARTY AND PRESIDENT OF THE STATE COUNCIL FROM THE SPEECHES OR INTERVIEWS OF MR. TODOR ZHIVKOV, GENERAL SECRETARY
THE BULGARIAN GOVERNMENT PERSISTS IN COMMITTING A CRIME AGAINST HUMANITY. THE TRAGEDY OF THE ETHNIC TURKS IN BULGARIA IS, THEREFORE, A CONFLICT BETWEEN THE ZHIVKOV ADMINISTRATION AND HUMANKIND!
BILATERAL AND INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENTS GUARANTEEING A MINORITY STATUS AND RIGHTS TO THE MUSLIM-TURKISH MINORITY IN BULGARIA
A. BILATERAL AGREEMENTS
1. Protocol annexed to the Treaty of Friendship between Turkey and Bulgaria, October 18, 1925. Chapter A. 2. Convention of Establishment between Turkey and Bulgaria, October 18, 1925. Article 2: First paragraph. 3. Agreement on the Emigration from the People's Republic of Bulgaria to Turkey of Bulgarian Citizens of Turkish Origin Whose Close Relatives Emigrated to Turkey Before 1952, March 22, 1968.
B. INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENTS
1. Treaty of Peace signed at Neuilly-sur-Seine, November 27, 1919. Section IV. - Protection of Minorities 2. Paris Peace Treaty, February 10, 1947. Article 2. 3. Universal Declaration On Human Rights, December 10, 1948. 4. International Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Racial Discrimination, December, 1965. 5. International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, December 16, 1966. 6. International Covenant on Economic Social and Cultural Rights December 16, 1966. 7.- Conference On Security and Co-Operation in Europe Final Act, August 1, 1975. 8. CSCE Madrid Concluding Document 1983. 9. CSCE Vienna Concluding Document 1989
CONVENTION OF ESTABLISHMENT BETWEEN TURKEY AND BULGARIA SIGNED IN ANKARA ON 18 OCTOBER 1925 Article 2 of the Convention: "The two contracting parties have agreed not to obstruct in any way, the optional emigration of Turks in Bulgaria and of Bulgarians in Turkey."
Turks were thus prohibited from speaking their mother tongue, wearing traditional clothes, performing their religious practices in peace, celebrating religious festivities, fasting during Ramadan, having their sons circumcized, making pilgrimages to Mecca, having the Koran or other religious books in their homes and burying their dead in accordance with Turkish Islamic traditions. The majority of the mosques have been closed or demolished. Muslim Turkish cemeteries have been desecrated.
Heaps of rubbish dumped on the grounds of the Imaret Mosque in Plovdiv
REUNION IN TURKEY
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