The Bulgarian Turks in Turkey represent a community of

Bulgarian Turks Bulgarian Turks ( bg, български турци, bŭlgarski turtsi, tr, Bulgaristan Türkleri) are a Turkish ethnic group from Bulgaria. According to the 2021 census, there were 508,375 Bulgarians of Turkish descent, roughly 8.4% of t ...

, who immigrated over the years from

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

. They are notable in Turkey for being descendants of Balkan Turks who had to escape persecution. and moreover, part of them continue to be dual citizens of Bulgaria and Turkey, which makes them a natural bridge between both countries.

Origins

Bulgarian Turks are descendants of Asian settlers who came across the narrows of the

Dardanelles The Dardanelles (; tr, Çanakkale Boğazı, lit=Strait of Çanakkale, el, Δαρδανέλλια, translit=Dardanéllia), also known as the Strait of Gallipoli from the Gallipoli peninsula or from Classical Antiquity as the Hellespont (; ...

and the

Bosporus The Bosporus Strait (; grc, Βόσπορος ; tr, İstanbul Boğazı 'Istanbul strait', colloquially ''Boğaz'') or Bosphorus Strait is a natural strait and an internationally significant waterway located in Istanbul in northwestern T ...

following the Ottoman conquest of the

Balkans The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the who ...

in the late 14th and early 15th centuries, as well as

Bulgarian Bulgarian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Bulgaria * Bulgarians, a South Slavic ethnic group * Bulgarian language, a Slavic language * Bulgarian alphabet * A citizen of Bulgaria, see Demographics of Bulgaria * Bul ...

converts to

Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...

who became Turkified during the centuries of Ottoman rule in Bulgaria. It has also been suggested that some Turks living today in Bulgaria may be direct ethnic descendants of earlier medieval

Pecheneg The Pechenegs () or Patzinaks tr, Peçenek(ler), Middle Turkic: , ro, Pecenegi, russian: Печенег(и), uk, Печеніг(и), hu, Besenyő(k), gr, Πατζινάκοι, Πετσενέγοι, Πατζινακίται, ka, პა� ...

, Oğuz, and

Cuman The Cumans (or Kumans), also known as Polovtsians or Polovtsy (plural only, from the Russian language, Russian Exonym and endonym, exonym ), were a Turkic people, Turkic nomadic people comprising the western branch of the Cuman–Kipchak confede ...

Turkic tribes.Nicole 1990, pp.45Norris, ''Islam in the Balkans'', pp. 146-47. The Turkish community became an ethnic minority when the

Principality of Bulgaria The Principality of Bulgaria ( bg, Княжество България, Knyazhestvo Balgariya) was a vassal state under the suzerainty of the Ottoman Empire. It was established by the Treaty of Berlin in 1878. After the Russo-Turkish War ende ...

was established after the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–1878.

File:Turkish refugees sumla1877 wiki.jpg, Turkish refugees from the Tirnova district coming into Shumla. The Illustrated London News 1 September 1877. File:Distribution Clothing Turkish Refugees 1877.jpg, War Distribution Clothing Turkish Refugees Shumla. The Illustrated London News 17 November 1877. File:Turkish refugees from Eastern Rumelia in 1885.jpg, Turkish refugees from Eastern Rumelia in 1885. The Illustrated London News, author:

Richard Caton Woodville, Jr. Richard Caton Woodville Jr. (7 January 1856 – 17 August 1927) was an English artist and illustrator, who is best known for being one of the most prolific and effective painters of battle scenes in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. B ...

History of resettlement in Turkey

Famous Bulgarian Turks in Turkey

Naim Süleymanoğlu Naim Süleymanoğlu ( bg, Наим Сюлейманоглу; 23 January 1967 – 18 November 2017) was a Bulgarian-born Turkish Olympic weightlifter. He was a seven-time World Weightlifting champion and a three-time Olympic gold medalist ...

Halil Mutlu Halil Mutlu (born Halil Aliev () on 14 July 1973 in Postnik, Bulgaria) is a former professional Turkish weightlifter with several World and Olympic championship titles. Mutlu is one of the five weightlifters who has achieved three consecutive ...

Ahmet Fikri Tüzer Ahmet Fikri Tüzer (1878, Şumnu, Ottoman Empire, today Shumen in Bulgaria – 16 August 1942, Ankara) was a Turkish politician, who was a member of the Republican People's Party and the acting Prime Minister of the Republic of Turkey ...

* Neriman Özsoy *

Yıldız İbrahimova Yıldız İbrahimova ( bg, Йълдъз Ибрахимова, Yaldaz Ibrahimova, tr, Yıldız İbrahimova; born 1952 in Silistra) is a Bulgarian singer of Turkish ancestry. Besides jazz, she has also recorded Bulgarian, Turkish, Gypsy and Russ ...

Hakan Yıldız Hakan is a common Turkish forename, based on the Turkish language variant of the imperial title Khagan. The name is also spelled Khakan or Khaqan in other parts of the world, with the same etymology. Given name *Ahmet Hakan Coşkun (born 1967) ...

Hulusi Kentmen Hulusi Kentmen (20 January 1912 – 20 December 1993) was a Turkish actor. He was born in Tarnovo, Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe ...

Şaziye Moral Şaziye Moral (1903 – 9 April 1985) was a Turkish female stage and film actress and voice actress. She was the second Muslim stage actress in Turkey. Early years Şaziye Moral was born to ethnic Turkish parents in Kardzali, Bulgaria in 1903. H ...

Ali Osman Sönmez Ali Osman Sönmez (1926 in Momchilgrad – 12 October 2001), is a Turkish politician and businessperson. Life and career Ali Osman Sönmez, who was born in the town of Momchilgrad in Bulgaria in 1926, stayed in Greece for 7 years after compl ...

Gülhan Şen Gülhan Şen (born July 16, 1978) is a Turkish television presenter, producer, and speaker. Biography Gülhan Şen was born in Shumen, Bulgaria and completed primary school there. In 1985, her name changed to ''Galina Hristova Mihaylova'' du ...

Ciguli Ciguli (1957 – 31 October 2014) (born ''Angel Jordanov Kapsov''; bg, Ангел Йорданов Капсов) was a Bulgarian Chalga (pop-folk) singer and accordionist of Turkish-Romani descent, who became popular in Turkey. His real name wa ...

Şoray Uzun Şoray Uzun (born 9 June 1967) is a Turkish comedian, writer and television host. He has been the host of the popular game show '' Cevap Soruda'' on TRT 1 in 2013 and of 7 de 7, the Turkish version of '' Quizz or Buzz'' on ATV in 2014. He is m ...

References

{{Bulgarian diaspora Ethnic groups in Turkey * * Demographics of the Ottoman Empire European diaspora in Turkey Bulgarian people of Turkish descent

Origins

History of resettlement in Turkey

Famous Bulgarian Turks in Turkey

See also

References