Bulgarian Muslims recall communist repression

• published: 30 Jul 2015
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Breznitsa, near Kornitsa 1. Various of Bulgarian Muslims gathered for commemoration ceremony for victims of communist repression 2. SOUNDBITE (Bulgarian) Osman Kurtev, Imam, town of Gotse Delchev: "I'm here to remind you that I'm against the anti-human terror that happened here 39 years ago." 3. Muslim men praying 4. Muslim women and children applauding 5. Mid of women laying flowers and praying for victims of communist repression at monument Kornitsa 6. Close-up of carnations on monument to victims of communist repression in March 1973 7. Wide of carnations and names on monument 8.SOUNDBITE (Bulgarian) Ibrahim Byalk, 64, Muslim Bulgarian victim of communist repression: "I was wounded exactly at that place, I was 20-years-old." 9. Mid of Byalk showing arm, where he has had bullet stuck for nearly 40 years 10. SOUNDBITE (Bulgarian) Bayram Geta, 74, Muslim Bulgarian victim of communist repression: "First the army came to our village with its commander, General Karamfilov, and a division commander by the name of Sabev. They set up training stations around the village for three days, trying to frighten us, but our people didn't give up." 11. SOUNDBITE (Bulgarian) Bayram Geta, 74, Muslim Bulgarian victim of communist repression: "They bound my hands, feet, blindfolded my eyes and pushed me into a van. That's how I was arrested and later imprisoned. Who will apologise to us now?" Breznitsa 12. Wide of Muslim women at ceremony commemorating victims of communist repression 13. Various of women praying STORYLINE: Villagers in traditional colourful dress gathered last week to raise their hands in prayer in memory of the victims of communist repression in a village in southern Bulgaria. The brutal crackdown left five men dead and more than 100 wounded. More than 70 families, including Ibrahim Byalk's, were forced to leave their homes and settle in remote villages. Byalk has had a bullet stuck in his arm for nearly four decades. It adds to his painful memories. Byalk said the wound hurts sometimes when he moves his arm but it is nothing compared to his psychological pain, he explained, looking over the square where he was shot on March 28, 1973. That day, police and army units stormed the village and opened fire on hundreds at people gathered in the square to protest the communist regime's campaign to force Bulgaria's Muslims to adopt non-Islamic names and break up their communities. The events in Kornitsa were long one of communist-ruled Bulgaria's many dark secrets. It was only after the regime fell in 1989, and the rights of Bulgaria's Muslims were restored, that the truth surfaced. Like many other Muslims, Byalk won't reveal the new name he was forced to adopt - he says he has "forgotten." Most often the new names would take the first two initials of the old Muslim one. The forced renaming of Muslims began in 1973 in Kornitsa with its 1,800 ethnic Bulgarian Pomak Muslims and spread across the nation. Ethnic Turks, who form the other large group of Bulgarian Muslims, were equally harshly targeted in the assimilation campaign. The repression culminated in 1985 when 310,000 ethnic Turks were forced to change their names. Protests grew and in August 1989 - as communism was crumbling across eastern Europe - Bulgaria forced 360-thousand ethnic Turks to cross into Turkey. Three months later the regime collapsed. More than 22 years after the end of communism, Bulgarian authorities finally officially denounced the repression of Muslims, who form 10 percent of Bulgaria's population of 7.4 (m) million. In January, Parliament adopted a declaration condemning the violent assimilation of its Muslim population. You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/4cf1399ff96912d310585ff1f5be9b66 Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork