The article discusses the origin of the so-called Pomak question in Bulgaria and the relations between this ethnic group, composed of the followers of Islam, and the Orthodox majority of their kinsmen. The author examined the reasons for the conflicts between two parts of the same nation, often based on false premises or outside provocation. Against this backdrop, the author described the tragic plight of the Pomaks, rejected as long as they remained loyal to their faith and the onomastic and costume elements associated with it. The author outlined the history of the titular ethnic group, totalling several hundred thousands, from the conversion to Islam to the present day. He also described the circumstances recognised by a considerable part of Bulgarian society as sufficient to accuse the Pomaks of opting for a stance at odds with Bulgarian national interest. The consequences led to numerous persecutions of the Pomaks and successive tides of emigration to Turkey, followed by the loss of national identity. Finally, he examines the stand of the most enlightened members of the Bulgarian intellectual and political elite, who for more than a century have been defending the Pomaks.
The article deals with the position of Pomaks - Slavic speaking Muslims - in Greece since 1919 when the region where Pomaks live was annected by Greece. Greece doesn't officially recognize Pomaks as an ethnic minority and Pomaks' cultural and religious rights are protected only by their membership in the Western Thrace Muslim Minority, consisting of Pomaks, Turks and Roma people. Despite that fact the Greek State attempted to create a specific Pomak policy in past, especially in years after the Cyprus Crisis of 1974. Appart from Pomaks-state relations, the position of Pomaks within the Muslim Minority is also analysed in the article, with special focus on the Greek Turks' turkifying campaign that seems to have succeeded in case of vast majority of Greek Pomaks.
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