POMAKS AS A BALKAN COMMUNITY AND EVIDENCE OF TURKISHNESS IN THEIR PERCEPTIONS OF IDENTITY*
POMAKS AS A BALKAN COMMUNITY AND EVIDENCE OF TURKISHNESS IN THEIR PERCEPTIONS OF IDENTITY*

Summary/Abstract: Many nations have been affected by this negative process, but not as much as Pomaks... Because in the geography of the Balkans, there is not any community other than Pomaks that grows by maturing in fierce conditions for the sake of protecting their identity. Pomaks, who were accepted as Islamised Bulgarian, Greek, Macedonian, Serbian etc. in their countries without looking at how they perceived themselves and were under severe pressure, cruelty and policies of assimilation, are unfortunately still grappling over these primitive practices today. This community, called as Pomak, Torbesh, Gorani etc. in the countries where they live, is Muslim in essence and it considers itself Turkish. Therefore, it is a humanistic and scientific necessity to search for elements of Turkishness in the cultural codes and history of this community which has never given up and been deterred from its Muslim] Turkish identity by resisting all kinds of pressure, torment and policies towards their identity in a period of centuries and to put them forward with scientific criteria.Since perception is about the cultural identity, consciousness of relativity and accumulation of an individual or a community above all things, it is necessary to go over Pomak communities from these aspects. If the elements of Turkishness in the Pomaksf perception of identity can be put forward with concrete examples, it can be easily understood why they persistently put emphasis on gTurkishnessh. In this study, the analogy between customs such as birth, death, marriage, food culture etc., and the social and collective memory, of the community which has been discussed in ethnical aspects such as Pomak, Gorani, Torbesh etc. and that of Turkey & Central Asian Turkishness will be pointed out. Thus, it will be seen that claims attributed to them as gIslamized Bulgarian, Greek, Macedonian and Serbianh remain in the air, and on the contrary, the view that they belong to Turkish history and culture, and their Turkishness will grow stronger.

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