Since May. over 160.000 ethnic Turks have left Bulgaria following a series of peaceful protests against the governments forcible assimilation campaign. Initially. many ethnic Turks were expelled. but thousands more have joined them In Turkey to escape Bulgarias campaign to suppress Turkish cultural identity. Many of these refugees have not been permitted to take their possessions with them. Some tell of being given passports without warning and being told to leave Bulgaria within a few days. Many others are taking advantage of the current situation to flee repression. Meanwhile. the Bulgarian Government maintains the pretense that the refugees are tourists. These tourists. however. speak of repression and give chilling accounts of violence in Bulgaria following the May protests. during which a still unknown number of ethnic Turks were killed and hundreds wounded or detained by Bulgarian authorities. The Bulgarian Governments campaign to assimilate its Turkish minority. which constitutes over 10 percent of the population.
Keywords matched
refugees