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Bulgaria commemorates victims of "Revival Process"

DPS leader Mustafa Karadayi
Photo: BGNES-archive

Politicians, including the leader of the Movement for Rights and Freedoms Mustafa Karadayi, as well as ordinary citizens honored the victims of the so-called "Revival Process", when hundreds of thousands of Bulgarian citizens of Turkish descent were forced to change their names to non-Muslim Bulgarian names, BNT reported. 

The "Revival Process" (The Process of Rebirth) began in 1984. In 1989, nearly 360,000 people were forced to leave their homes and seek refuge in neighboring Turkey. On December 26, 1984, three people died in a protest against the forced change of names near the village of Mogilyane, Kirkovo Municipality. 17-month-old Türkan Hassan, who became a symbol of the struggle for human rights, was among the victims. A water fountain was built in her memory. Each year, citizens and politicians lay flowers at this place.




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