1)What was the fate of Bulgarians of Turkish origin expelled by Bulgaria in May 1989 and subsequently refused entry by Turkey?Could they return to their places of residence?Jobs?Do they have particular difficulty in obtaining passports for foreign travel?2)Which department issues such passports? [BGR4019]

On 9 May 1989, the Bulgarian government applied a new law, which would not become effective until 1 September for all Bulgarian citizens, to the Turkish minority. This new law "guaranteed the right of Bulgarian citizens to obtain passports for travel abroad." [ Rada Nikolaev, "A Year of Crucial Change in Bulgaria", Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Report on Eastern Europe, Vol. 1, No. 1, 5 January 1990, p.10.] As a result, more than 300,000 ethnic Turks crossed into Turkey between early June and 22 August when Turkey introduced visa requirements. [ Ibid.]

According to the Embassy of Bulgaria in Ottawa, more changes of a democratic nature were made to the citizenship law in December 1989. The source states that several thousand (more than 90,000) ethnic Turks have returned to Bulgaria under the new legislation and have the right to recover their Bulgarian citizenship. The Embassy has provided the IRBDC with a translation of the 1989 changes to the citizenship law which is attached. The changes include acceptance of dual citizenship, the possibility for foreign citizens to obtain Bulgarian citizenship, and the recovery of lost citizenship. [ Chargé d'Affaires, Embassy of Bulgaria, 25 January 1990.]

According to a Minority Rights publication of October 1989, Turkish authorities claimed that most Turkish-Bulgarians who returned to Bulgaria did so because of "fears of reprisals against remaining relatives in Bulgaria. Turkey has also charged that some of those who returned have been denied access to their old homes and sent to labour camps." [ Hugh Poulton, Minorities in the Balkans, (London: Minority Rights Group, October 1989), p.22.] A report in the Christian Science Monitor says that Bulgarians gained from the Turkish exodus by "buying up Turkish apartments and automobiles at bargain prices." [ William Echikson, "Turkish Discrimination Persists", The Christian Science Monitor, 22 January 1990, p. 6.] This is confirmed by a report in The Economist. [ "History Returns", The Economist, 13 January 1990, p. 44.]

Turks who left their jobs without giving notice were to have been punished according to the provisions of the Labour Code with heavy fines or disciplinary dismissal. [ This information on the problems faced by returned ethnic Turks comes from: Rada Nikolaev, "The Social and Economic Problems Caused by the Exodus", Radio Free Europe Research, 5 October 1989, p.17.] Most would be rehired but would lose seniority; others would be transferred to less skilled work.

2) According to an official at the Embassy of Bulgaria in Ottawa, passports for private citizens (non-diplomatic or special) are issued through the Passport Department of the Department of Foreign Travel within the Interior Ministry. [ 2 February 1990.]

ATTACHMENTS


Rada Nikolaev, "A Year of Crucial Change in Bulgaria", Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Report on Eastern Europe, Vol. 1, No. 1, 5 January 1990.
Embassy of Bulgaria, 1989 Changes to the Citizenship Law [translation]
Hugh Poulton, Minorities in the Balkans, (London: Minority Rights Group, October 1989).
William Echikson, "Turkish Discrimination Persists", The Christian Science Monitor, 22 January 1990, p. 6.
"History Returns", The Economist, 13 January 1990.
Rada Nikolaev, "The Social and Economic Problems Caused by the Exodus", Radio Free Europe Research, 5 October 1989.