Sharing the Same Fate: Muslims and Jews of the Balkans · 67speaking the Turkish language was banned, and Turkish names were
changed to Bulgarian ones. Their Turkish identity was denied. The Turks
who objected to these actions were either sent to prison or killed.^71 In
the summer of 1989, the Bulgarian government was obliged to open its
doors, and about 350,000 Turks migrated to Turkey. Because of the un-
rest in the country, the Communist Jifkov regime collapsed in November
- Turkish names as well as political and cultural rights were given
back. Despite the fact that their number is more than one million and the
Turkish Party “Rights and Freedom” has been a coalition partner of the
Bulgarian government for a long time, the Muslims are the least pres-
tigious and most neglected ethnic group in Bulgaria after the Gypsies.
They are far more backward than the Bulgarians in many fields.^72
Conclusion
This work is an attempt to draw parallels between the histories of Jews
and Muslims of the Balkans during the Ottoman and post-Ottoman peri-
ods. The Jews never constituted the majority in any part of the Balkans.
They lived in the city centers, dealing mainly with trade, finance, and
industry. The Muslims constituted a large portion of the total population,
even the majority in many places. They were administrators, landown-
ers, and army members in the cities during the Ottoman period and farm-
ers in the countryside afterwards.
It can be claimed that Muslims and Jews were living in the Balkans
in peace for hundreds of years while the Muslims, the Ottoman Turks,
were able to keep the peace and protect them from attacks by Christians.
When the Ottomans weakened and had to leave the Balkans, both the
Muslims and Jews were attacked, and they were obliged to leave. The
last two hundred years show that whatever the name of the regimes in
the Balkan countries—principality, kingdom, Communist dictatorship,
or democracy—the degree of pressure on the remaining Muslims and
Jews changed but never completely disappeared. Depending on internal
sociopolitical conditions or the international political climate, of course,
sometimes the Jews and sometimes the Muslims had “untouched years”
in different parts of the peninsula at different times. However, these ex-
ceptions did not change the rule. Generally they were unwanted inhabit-
ants of the countries. They were considered a potential danger for the
countries’ existence. Their religious and ethnic identities were denied,