My family lived in the Balkans, more specifically in today’s Bulgaria, throughout the ages. As you know, the Turks who lived in the Balkans played an important role in the Ottoman Empire. However, after the Ottoman Empire had weakened, they became citizens of the Balkan countries. Although my family had lived in Bulgaria for almost a century, they protected their identity as well as the other Turks. In this project I will tell you the interesting story of my family in the last two centuries.
The Cruel Russo-Turkish War
Most of the men in my family were killed in the Russo-Turkish War in 1877 and 1878. Therefore, the Russo-Turkish War is an important point for my family. These family members fought at the Siege of Pleven under the command of Osman Pasha (Gazi Osman Paşa).
In July 1877, Russian forces moved toward the Danube River unopposed and took the city “Nikopol” easily. After that, Osman Pasha settled on Plevne and two sides battled there. Osman’s army dominated the strategic places in Bulgaria very well. However, at the end of the war the Russians won. Totally, 22000 Russian soldiers and 10000 Turkish soldiers died.[1]
Şerif, who was the grandfather of my grandfather, fought in this war. One day, he got on his horse and went to the war. After he had gone, no member of my family heard anything about him. Probably, he was killed by the enemies. Şerife was his wife. In contrast to men, women in my family lived really long. Şerife was 100 years old when she died.
Mahmut was the son of Şerif and Şerife. He was born in 1907 and luckily, he did not fight. He got married to Mümine. Both of them lived long and they had 7 children. Şerif is one of their sons and he is my grandfather as well.[2]
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| Shipka Field in Bulgaria (Siege of Pleven) |
Gülüstan was the grandfather of my grandmother. He fought in the Russo-Turkish War, too. He was captured by the Russians and he had been a captive for 7 years. As he was a captive, he wrote a letter to home. These sentences are remembered today by my grandmother Fatma:
“I have not changed my clothes and sandals for three months. If you ask me what I have in my pocket: There is only a piece of three-month-old dry bread.”
After 7 years he returned to his home. He was exhausted so much during these hard times. That’s why he died early like the others.
Nazile was Gülüstan’s wife. She lived between 1866 and 1976. In other words, she was 110 years old, when she died. She was only 12 years old when the Russian soldiers had come to her village with white horses. The villagers had hidden into a cave to protect from them. However, the Russians had not destroyed the village and had gone back.
Sergeant İbrahim, who was my father’s grandfather, had a brave heart. He had also a proud story. İbrahim was a sergeant in the Çanakkale War and he was under the command of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. Actually, my surname means “the sergeant’s son” in Turkish and thanks to him for this surname. İbrahim was captured by the English army and years later he was released. However, Sergeant İbrahim had no foul imperession of the English soldiers when he had returned to his home, because all of the captives he saw were doing well. He died also early in life.
Bulgarian Persecution
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| The prison on the Belene Island in Bulgaria |
After Bulgaria had gained its independence in 1908, a new phase started for my family. Until 1984 my family had lived peacefully in the city “Kardzhali”. Both my mother and my father were born in 1965 and they got married in 1989. Although previous generations had fought many times for the Ottoman Empire, my family were attacked by the Bulgarian government and they were not helped until 1989.
The assimilation attempts between 1984 and 1989 affected my family directly. The reason of Todor Zhirkov’s assimilation programme was that the Muslim population was increasing sharply in contrast to the Bulgarian population. [3][4]
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| My father’s class in Kardzhali in 1981 |
The assimilation programme was so cruel that I think it is the real “Genocide”. The first step of the assimilation attempts was clear: My family and the other Turks were forced to change their names, so everybody was given Bulgarian names. However, everybody in the village had chosen the name Martin, says my father. It is probably so that Martin is not an original Bulgarian name and it is the name of “Martin Luther King”. Thus, hard days began for my family again. It was forbidden in 1985 to speak and read Turkish and to watch Turkish television channels. Many Turkish people were punished and most of them were banished to the Belene Island where many inhumane things happened. Eventually, the forced migration to Turkey started in 1989. The reason for the forced migration was that the Bulgarian government believed the assimilation attempts had not worked.
Finally, by the help of Turgut Özal my family emigrated to Turkey in 1989. In 1990, I was born. Luckily, we have been living peacefully in İstanbul since 1989. Today, my family litigates the Bulgarian persecution through the European Court of Human Rights.
Mesut Çavuşoğlu
