Turkish names were removed from tombstones and mosques were closed except on the most sacred holidays. In 1985. the Bulgarian Government declared that the restoration of Bulgarian names had been safely completed and declared that no ethnic Turks remained In Bulgaria. In 1989. 4 years later. this brutal campaign sparked a massive flight from the country. Some 300.000 Bulgarian Turks left their homes and livelihoods behind and fled to Turkey. constituting the largest flow of refugees In Europe since World War II. I am repeating this story today because few people outside Bulgaria and Turkey remember this recent history. Few Americans knew about these events at the time they occurred.
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refugees