Regions, minorities and European integration: a case study on Muslim minorities (Turks and Muslim Bulgarians) in the SCR of Bulgaria.

• Author: Lozanova, Galina
• Position: South Central Region

Abstract

The objective of this paper is to assess the impact of the European regional policy and the European integration of Bulgaria on the political mobilisation, social-economic status and the perception of two compact Muslim groups--Turks and Muslim Bulgarians (Pomaks), who are the local majority in the Kardzhali and Smolyan districts of the South Central Region of Bulgaria--about their place within united Europe.

Key words

Muslim, EU, minorities, local economy

Two basic factors influence the changes in the two districts, namely: the liberalisation of minority rights and the restructuring of the local economy. These factors stimulate the political and cultural mobilisation of the two Muslim minorities, change their economic status, and create new foundations for their attitude towards the state and the Bulgarian national majority. The penetration of the pre-accession funds in the region has been perceived in the same context: as part of the new political situation, and yet, it is probably too early to assess their overall impact.

The results of the fieldwork show that the members of the local elites tend to idealize the situation in the region. The "ideal" model they wish to achieve is characterised by: extensive regional co-operation, support for decentralisation, as well as increasingly institutionalised regional-local alliances across political parties and across national-ethnic communities; local-subnational government increasingly operating as a representative of the region rather than of the ethnic or national community; minority-majority interests and politics defined by growing convergence around economic and regional development objectives; declining politicisation of cultural identity issues and their re-orientation away and dissociation from the state; widespread identification with Europe, with the EU seen as an entity where various cultural identities can flourish and primarily as a source of more efficient government, economic competence and regional competitiveness.

1. Introduction

   The focus of the research is on two compact Muslim groups in Bulgaria: Turks and Muslim Bulgarians (Pomaks), living in the Kardzhali and Smolyan districts of the South Central Region of Bulgaria, near the Greek border. The objective is to assess the impact of the European regional policy and the forthcoming European integration of Bulgaria on the political mobilisation, social-economic status and the perception of the two Muslim minorities of their place within united Europe.

   As European integration represents a part of large-scale historical changes in Eastern and Southeastern Europe over the last fifteen years, it is necessary to outline other internal and external factors which influence the ongoing processes in the border regions with a predominant Muslim (Turkish and Bulgarian) population. These factors are examined in sections two and three of the report and include the following issues:

1. The legacy of the Bulgarian state policy towards Muslim minorities in the period after the Liberation from Ottoman rule and to the end of socialism. This policy is characterised by two basic features: firstly, the attempts to solve the minority problem by (forced) assimilation and/or expulsion of the Muslim population, viewed as a threat for the territorial integrity of the state (this issue is more extensively discussed in the State of the Art Report, see Lozanova et al. 2005), and secondly, the regional economic policy and especially the impact of nationalisation, collectivisation of land and industrialisation on the social-economic development of the border regions;

2. The impact of the liberalisation of the human and minority rights, and of the transfer from totalitarian to a rule-of-law state after 1989, on the political mobilisation of minorities and their participation in the political processes and the government;

3. The impact of the economic reforms and the transition from state to private property (privatisation and restitution) on the social-economic status of the border minority regions;

4. Acceleration of the reforms after the beginning of the negotiations for Bulgaria's accession to the EU and the significance of the regional planning and European pre-accession funds for the neutralisation of the heavy social-economic effects of the economy reconstruction and for the preparation of administrative, political, and economic potential in the minority regions.

   Section four of the report presents data on the current socio-economic situation in the minority regions, their prospective development, and the cultural mobilisation of the two Muslim groups. It is based on documents, statistical data, experimental analyses and published studies. Despite all this information, it is still insufficient to answer the question about the role of European integration, and particularly of the pre-accession funds on the status and perceptions of Muslim minorities. This is due at least to three factors: 1) Since the Bulgarian Constitution of 1991 does not recognise the existence of "minorities", no official statistics exist on the economic and social status of the population with respect to ethnic and religious characteristics. Most "minority" surveys constitute representative sociological excerpts for the country as a whole. 2) Most development analyses and strategy plans refer to the South Central Region as a whole. Among the six districts of the region, Kardzhali and Smolyan occupy the last places with regard to all socioeconomic indicators, i.e. the border minority regions appear to be the most underdeveloped and problematic ones. However, it has become possible to evaluate the concrete parameters of their backwardness only after the publishing of basic data on the so-called "target zones", inclusive of the two minority districts. 3) Finally, the data on the amounts of the pre-accession funds, allocated to Kardzhali and Smolyan districts, turned out to be collected not on a district or regional level but by the Ministries which distribute the money and monitor the implementation of the projects. Furthermore, some projects (under PHARE and ISPA) are sometimes implemented on the territory of more than one district or planning region, and the Ministry of Agriculture and Forests reports do not always specify the location of the project-winning company under the SAPARD program.

   All of the above enhances the importance of the fieldwork results, summarised in section five of the report. They supplement the official data with information on how the minorities and the majority perceive the effects of the ongoing processes on the economic situation of the border regions, the practical aspects of the EU integration policy, the altered role of the local people and their prospects for the future, when a part of united Europe.

2. Background of the case

   Two main factors determined the development of Bulgaria during the 20th century and to a great extent the idiosyncrasy of the Bulgarian democratic transition after 1989: the incomplete nation- and state-building processes after liberation from Ottoman rule, and the post-communist heritage characterised by the totalitarian state, coalescence of the Communist Party with all levels of power, state-regulated economy and prevailing state property.

   The belated, in comparison to Central and West European countries, and the unfinished restoration, from the viewpoint of the national ideal, of the Bulgarian state within its "historical" boundaries incorporating all territories inhabited by Bulgarians, left a grave imprint on the domestic and foreign state policy in the late 19th and the first half of the 20th century. The fact that the boundaries of the country were recognised not through bilateral negotiations but at a number of international conferences--the Congress of Berlin (1878), the London Conference of Ambassadors (1912), the Treaty of Bucharest (1913) and the Versailles system of 1919--entailed the feeling that "somebody outside" determined the development of Bulgaria. (Atanasova 2004: 359). The ceaseless endeavours of the Bulgarian governments to achieve the unrealised territorial claims had determined the external political orientation of Bulgaria to those countries that tried to re-design the European map over two World Wars.

   The lack of stable democratic traditions should also be noted--the multi-party political system experienced a number of crises (1924, 1934, 1935). The idea of the nation-state, according to which there should be a correspondence between a territory and a people, predetermined the attitude of the state towards the "living heritage" of the Ottoman Empire--compact masses of Turkish populations in Southeastern and Northeastern Bulgaria and Pomaks (Muslim Bulgarians) along the southern border of the country (the Rhodope Mountains).

   The state policy towards the Turkish and Bulgarian-Muslim minorities during the first half of the 20th century was marked by the following trends (Lozanova et al. 2005): 1) In general their political and cultural-religious rights were observed, which were guaranteed by a number of international treaties and by the fundamental law of the country--the Western-type Constitution of the Principality (the Kingdom after 1908) of Bulgaria, adopted in 1879 (Art. 41, 43). However, the minorities did not have political representation except through the national political parties. 2) The policy towards the two minority groups was differentiated: thus, the Turks were isolated; some insignificant attempts were made to integrate them into Bulgarian society. On the other hand, considerable efforts were directed to the integration of the Muslim Bulgarian population but they did not bring substantial results. What is more, open assimilation measures were occasionally implemented (1912-1913 and 1943). At the same time successive Bulgarian governments sought solution of the "Turkish problem" mainly by encouraging the emigration of Turks and Pomaks to...