THE BULGARIAN ORTHODOX COMMUNITY IN ISTANBUL: HISTORY AND PERSPECTIVES

Abstract

In comparison to the other Bulgarian colonies around the world, that of Istanbul is a special case. If one compares it with those in America, Australia and Canada, it is small in size, but an important part of the complicated Bulgarian-Turkish relationship. What makes it different are the history of its creation, the role it played during the Bulgarian National Revival and the conditions in which it found itself during the years leading to the present day.The Revival is the period when, in the capital of the Ottoman Empire, the Bulgarians consolidated themselves as an ethnic community in the name of the struggle for ecclesiastical independence. With its multiple donors and the support of the Bulgarian State, the Bulgarian Exarchate bought many properties and built Bulgarian spiritual centres on the territory of present-day Turkey—churches, schools, community centres, bookstores, and other representative buildings. According to contemporary Turkish law, the Bulgarian colony, which now numbers 500 people, cares for the few remaining buildings from the Revival era in Istanbul, with the assistance of the Bulgarian Government.By now, hardly any representatives of the Bulgarian colony remain, and it is being revived by Bulgarians, mostly from Aegean Macedonia, who have never lived inside the boundaries of the Bulgarian state.Since the First World War (from Kemal Atatürk) until now (to Recep Tayyip Erdoğan), the colony has survived within a regime of constant discrimination. The colony does not boast any distinct personalities, it does not publish any printed publications, and has no active political and social life.Its ecclesiastical status introduces additional difficulties to its representatives. As a result of historical circumstances, the focus of our ecclesiastical struggle is concentrated on the Diocese of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, which even now spiritually favours the descendants of those who fought against it.Throughout the years, with different intensity, and subject to many external factors, the colony’s struggle to preserve Bulgarian national self-awareness and the Bulgarian spirit has continued to this day. The community members retain the generic memory of their Bulgarian roots and identify themselves as Bulgarians.The members of the colony were particularly tested during the period of the “Process of Rebirth” and the years of the anti-Bulgarian campaign, when they found themselves socially isolated and suffered the negative aspects of the politics of the Communist Bulgarian government.Throughout the majority of its existence, the Bulgarian community in Istanbul was hostage to contemporaneous Bulgarian-Turkish relationships. However, today it can become one of the elements for the strengthening and development of good relations between the Republics of Turkey and Bulgaria.