Improving the Status of the Turks in Bulgaria?

The ethnic Turks living in Bulgaria had faced discrimination throughout Bulgaria's history. In response to a series of demonstrations in May 1989 for Turkish rights, the Communist government expelled more than 300,000 Bulgarian Turks over the course of the year. With such a large portion of the population affected, Turkish rights in Bulgaria became one of leading human rights issues facing the Bulgarian government in the fall of 1989. On 16 December 1989, a Turkish rally was held in the city of Gotse Delchev, allowing the Bulgarian Turks to air their grievances and gather support from the political opposition to the Communist government. This report from the U.S. Embassy in Bulgaria recounts some of the human rights' violations. Though the Communist Party leadership had changed on November 10 in response to popular protests, the Bulgarian Turks had yet to see any improvement in their own status.