30 Nisan 2018 Pazartesi

M-Ray's Improvised Report on Turkishness of Balkans

Bulgarians did most of the killings and Greeks lower in comparison, Serbs killed Turks too but they were mostly focused in killing Albanians and Bosnians as far as I know. Turks mostly lived in northeast Bulgaria and Dobruja and Vardar region, east of today's Macedonia and Southern Macedonia today's Greek Macedonia and western Thrace. The population majorities were cut off. For example Turks were heavy majority in western Thrace but not majority in eastern Thrace (they were about 45%). Turks were also majority in northeast Bulgaria and Dobruja. But it changed in 1878 wars and there were Turks in Serbian cities like Niš. But these Turks left coz Serbia got independent in 1878. There were many killings in this war and it built up even more pressure and ethnic tension. In Balkan wars even more Turks were killed but after that there weren't any Bulgarians left in eastern Thrace, Turks killed all Bulgarians. I wasn't actually talking about the killings but I was talking about the general Turkish identity in Balkans. After Turkey was founded Muslim became Turk. Though you were not ethnically Turk, you started to get identified as one. You must know Yugoslav census results. There are Turks in Bosnia well into the 80s, that's the time they got more into this Bosniak identity.

The Islam had created an identity, even though you were not ethnically a Turk, you were calling yourself Turk. I love how it gathered people around it. Though, the people were mixed in the past 600 years. Either they chose Islam by force or will. All of the Turks with Balkan background must have at least some Pomak, Macedonian, Bulgarian, Greek, Albanian etc ethnicity in them. Some have fully. When people migrated after Balkan wars and world War one, turkey didn't ask them if they knew Turkish or not. Many Bosniaks, Pomaks, Macedonians and Albanian speakers came as well.

The Balkan Turks were always the ruling and most concerning people of Ottomans because Ottoman sultans were like this people over the years of taking many Slavic wives. The revolutions happened in Balkans, the uprisings happened in Balkans, Armenians didn't even do any revolts till 1878 war. There wasn't a significant minority in Western Anatolia (Greeks weren't as numerous as the west likes to claim). Anyway, 1878 war was fought on two fronts, Balkans and Caucasus. Though Ottomans lost, in the east, they only lost Kars, Ardahan, Batum in Balkans Russians were 10 km away from Ottoman palace. Most of the Ottoman pashas were from Balkans, not Anatolia. Ottoman investments focused on East of Salonica-Varna line and west of İzmir-İzmit line. So what I'm trying to say is that Balkan Turks were the core of Ottoman empire, even the young Turks trio Talat, Enver and Cemal were from Balkans, oh yeah not to mention Atatürk.

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