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    w1 Part3

    Uploaded by

    edwardmunchosse

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    © All Rights Reserved
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    of 9
    Relations with the Balkans 1. FACTORS AFFECTING TURKEY'S BALKAN POLICIES ‘Turkey is atleast geographically a Balkan state, with s86 of its territory consisting of Thrace (located on the Balkan Peninsula). Although this territory is tiny, the Republic of “Turkey has been facing the West since its establishment, and its identity is more Balkan and Mediterranean than Middle Fastern, The Balkans have held an important place for Turkey in its foreign policy from a strategic as, ‘well asa human and cultural point of view. "The importance of the Balkans for Turkey can be ex- amined under the following headings. Historical Ties Historically, the Balkan Peninsula was the main area of expansion of the Ottoman Empire, The region remained under Ottoman domination for about 500 years, which hhas affected the region's religious, ethnic, economic, and cultural character up to present times. This has been re- ferred to as the Ottoman heritage and Pax Ottomanica and has been appraised in different ways, depending on whether the observer was from Turkey or from elsewhere inthe region. Because ofthis historical background, Balkan peoples and ‘Turks have developed a number of prejudices about ‘one another, ‘These prejudices were particularly strong ‘among the Slavs and the Greeks. Turkey had to carry out its Balkan policies against this historical background; and as it became more active in the region during the 1990s, this was interpreted in some quarters as an attempt to re- ‘tum to the Ottoman past. From the perspective of non-Muslims among the Balkan peoples, the Ottoman era was full of dark images and negative features. Those of Orthodox-Slavic extrac- tion perceive Ottoman rule as @ period of political, eco nomic, and cultural oppression. ‘They tend to attribute their present-day problems and their economic and po- litical backwardness to the fact that the Ottoman adminis: oa ‘ration cut them off from the Renaissance and Enlighten- ‘ment that Western Europe experienced. This frame of mind was developed mainly because these peoples conducted their struggle for national lib- eration in the nineteenth century against the Ottoman administration, In the process of building their nation- states by re-creating theit histories, they had to rely on anti-Ottoman/Turkish themes and felt the need to rid themselves of their association with the Ottoman past. Another negative aspect of Ottoman rule for the Orthodox peoples of the Balkans was that it intcoduced Islam into the region, ‘he Albanians, Bosnians, Poraks, and Torbesh (Box 6-23) who converted to Islam (some in part, others in fll) were seen as ethnic or religious groups that were undesirable vestiges ofthe Ottoman heritage in the Balkans, All Muslims, especially in the former Yugo- slavia regardless of their ethnic origin or language, were regarded as Turks. During the wars ofthe 1990s, an effort ‘wasmadenot only to repress the groups perceived asalien but also to destroy buildings like mosques and bridges that recalled the Ottoman past. Foralongtime, Balkan historians dwelton Ottoman/ ‘Turkish oppression, Nonetheless, in the 1980s, especially ‘when the obligatory name-changing campaign was going con in Bulgaria (sce the discussion below) there was some attempt to be objective. twas conceded that the religious/ linguistic identity of peoples was atleast preserved during the Ottoman era. In the 1990s, however, after the demise ofthe socialist regimes, nationalism was once more on the ascendancy and the former line was dropped, In addition to those groups that converted to Islam, the Turkish minorities are another relic of the Ottoman petiod in the Balkans. The Turkish minorities in Bulgaria, Greece, Yugoslavia, and Macedonia are perceived as part ofthe Ottoman heritage and from time to time find them- selves subjected to oppression. ‘Turkey also has negative associations with the Bal- Kans. Duritig the nineteenth century, when nationalism oe Box 6-23. Musiims and Turks in the Balkans Ethnic thre ar tree large usin grup in te alan Ts, ‘Albanian, and Slavs, The Turks he oni) n:Dlgats 00000), Greer {h20,000), Macedonia (100,000), and Kosovo (12000). These ‘agures represent those who iderily themselves as Tush. an ‘objective ethaley eieich (i, ely by bei apple these Figures Indude those who are actually Pomalc sins with Stave fecte ahd Torbsh jn Macedonia (aso ot: Biba and Gee ‘The Miss ith lic etnies are considered Bulgarians by Sofa ane Greeks by hens, whl Skane corscestheretobe Musi Macedonians Staring ithe see0nd bat of the 19905, ‘the Gieee Goverment has Been sternpting ttl an atl fnenstvestone ister : --As-@ ule, those of Pomak: and Tomes acest obi "fold they ate not Take: Pofnaks Westar thrate in Maceachia have requeriy oman a = sor fet at Tucks: (The) io Gat rae ‘was'rampant, there was political and social chaos in the region. The ost battles and the retreats led to mass migra tions of Balkan Turks/Muslits to Anatolia. With these rigrations. the bitterness of the oppression and forced displacement experienced in the Balkans was carried over to Anatolia, to reinforce existing prejudices there. ‘The Balkan region, which was the first area of expansion of the Ottoman Empie, was also the area where the process of disintegration and loss of territory began, In addition, the Balkan region was where Turkish nationalism found its intellectual roots, It was here that the tradition of setting up political organizations among ‘Turks got started. As nationalist currents in the Balkans reached their peak in the last quarter of the nineteenth century, the Turks also began to feel their effects. Jn par- ticulay the Society of Union and Progress was inspired by the Balkan pattern of rebel band and secret revolution- ary society, both in ts establishment and in its structure, Salonica was a highly cosmopolitan city, and its cultural environment could be considered liberal in the Ottoman context. It as therefore natural that Turkish military of- ficers and intellectuals would make their first contact with nationalism in this city. From the establishment ofthe Republic until the end of the 1980s, the Balkans has been a region with mostly negative aspects for Turkey. In the interwat period the Balkan Peninsula was one of Italy’s two areas of expan- thes, when the Turks fel the ainsation he millet 8).

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