64 · Ömer Turan
Turks of Dobrudja began to migrate to Turkey. Including the war period
migrants, Müstecip Ulküsal claims that 100,000 Muslims of Dobrudja mi-
grated to the Ottoman lands between 1877 and 1886.^59
Romania recognized the political rights of the inhabitants of Dobrudja
in 1909. It also gave some rights to the Muslims. The Balkan Wars, World
War I, and the Turkish National Struggle prevented Turks from migrating
to Turkey. In 1921, the Romanian government put a new land law into ap-
plication. Generally in Romania one-third of the land was nationalized,
but in Dobrudja half the land was taken from the owners, most of whom
were Muslims. Heavy taxes followed. Romanians from the other regions
and Vlahs of Macedonia were settled in Dobrudja. Sometimes conflicts
arose between new settlers and the Turks. The Romanian officers sup-
ported the newcomers. Bulgarian revolutionaries also attacked the Turks.
Their aim was to force the Turks to migrate to Turkey. The Romanian
government could not protect the Turks. As a result, Turkey and Roma-
nia signed a migration treaty in September 1936. Between 1936 and 1939,
30,000 Turks moved to Turkey. During World War II, migration stopped.
After the war, the Communist regime did not allow the Turks to migrate
to Turkey.^60 Under Communist rule, the educational system of the Turks
changed several times. The Turkish press was banned. Religious life was
limited. Properties of the Turkish pious foundations were taken. Turk-
ish social and cultural institutions and associations were closed.^61 After
the collapse of the Communist regime in Romania, the Muslims, like the
other minorities, gained the rights of publication and education in Turk-
ish, establishing cultural and political organizations. However, they are
one of the least prestigious groups in the country.
Bulgaria
As a result of the 1877–78 Ottoman-Russian War, the Berlin treaty was
signed and the Bulgarian Principality was established. Even though the
aim of the war was the extermination of the Muslim presence in the Bal-
kans, the total number of Muslims in Bulgaria and Eastern Roumelia in
1880–84 was 802,587, and Muslims constituted 26.9 percent of the popu-
lation. The Berlin treaty guaranteed religious, political, social, economic,
and cultural rights to Muslims, but their rights were circumscribed. Mus-
lim refugees were not allowed to return to their homes. Their homes were
set on fire or given to Bulgarians, and they had to return to Turkey in