WHATS IN A NAME - MINORITIES, IDENTITY, AND POLITICS IN BULGARIA

From the 1970s until 1990, the Islamic minorities of Bulgaria had no p ublic voice, no organizational infrastructure, and, indeed, few shared visible symbols of community and history. The past three years have s een the emergence and empowerment of an ethnic political movement, the rise of politicized Turkish ethnicity, and the construction of a sens e of a national Moslem community. This paper will examine the backgrou nd and causes for this remarkable transformation from persecuted minor ity to political power brokers. Politicized ethnicity in the case of B ulgaria, rather than being a constant force waiting to surface wheneve r not suppressed, is best viewed as the outcome of specific political and economic policies. While the potential for conflict in Bulgaria re mains, in many respects the present political scene shows that ethnic militancy need not mean conflict.