Religion and Ethnicity: Muslim Turkish and Tatar Identity in Dobruja (Romania) throughout the 20th Century

In my study I approached Turkish and Tatar communities in Dobruja (Romania) in the context ofthe ethnic and religious diversity in the Balkans, which Maria Todorova considers to be as theonly continuous traces of a common continuous Ottoman heritage. Using the field research anddocumentary research, I tried to identify the political, economic, cultural and social factors that havedetermined the evolution of the collective mentality of the Muslim Turks and Tatars in Dobruja fromperceiving themselves as a religious community to a self-perception as ethnic community throughoutthe 20th Century. Finally, I tried to identify the present overlays between the two hypostases (religiousand ethnic) in the collective imaginary of the Turkish and Tatar Muslims in Dobruja.

Keywords:

Turks, Tatars, Dobruja (Romania), Religion Ethnicity,

PDF

___

Adanir, Fikret ,Farooqi (2002) Sureya, Ottomans and the Balkans: A Discussion of Historiography. Leiden: Brill Academic Publishers. Florea, Elena (1975) Principiile politicii PCR in problema națională [PCR policy principles in the national question], București: Editura Politică. Hanioğlu M. Șükrü ( 2001) Preparation for a Revolution, The Young Turks, 1902-1908, Oxford: Oxford University Press. Ekrem, Mehmet Ali (1994) Din istoria turcilor dobrogeni [The History of Turks from Dobruja], Bucharest: Kriterion. Fisher, Alan W.(1978) The Crimean Tatars, Stanford: Hoover Institution Press. Ibram, Nuredin (1998) Comunitatea musulmană din Dobrogea: repere de viață spiritual, viață religioasă și învățământ în limba maternă [The Muslim Community in Dobruja: landmarks of spiritual and religious life and mother tongue education], Constanța: Ex Ponto. *** (2011) Comunitatea musulmană din Dobrogea [The Muslim Community in Dobruja], Constanța: Ex Ponto. Kırımlı, Hakan (1996) National Movements and National Identity Among the Crimean Tatars 1905-1906, Leiden, New York, Köln: Brill. Merdjanova, Ina (2013) Rediscovering the Umma. Muslims in the Balkans between Nationalism and Transnationalism, Oxford: Oxford University Press. Popovic Alexandre (1986) L’Islam Balcanique. Les musulmans du sud-est européen dans la période postottomane, Berlin: Otto Hassarowitz Wiesbaden. Maria Todorova (2004) Balkan Identities. Nation and Memory, London: Hurst&Company, London. Williams Brian Glyn (2001) The Crimean Tatars. The Diaspora Experience and Forging of a Nation; Leiden: Brill. Studies and articles Bougarel, Xavier (2003) “Islam and Politics in the Post-Communist Balkans (1990-2000)”, in Keridis, Dimitris; Perry, Charles (eds.) New Approaches to Balkan Studies, Dules: Brassey’s, 245-360. *** (2005) “The role of Balkan Muslims in building a European Islam”, European Policy Center Issue Paper, 43 [online], https://hal.inria.fr/file/index/docid/220374/filename/The_Role_of_Balkan_Muslims_ in_European_Islam.pdf, accessed on 01.03.2016. Bougarel, Xavier; Clayer Nathalie (2001) “Introduction”, in Bougarel, Xavier; Clayer Nathalie (eds.) Le nouvel islam, balcanique. Les musulmans, acteurs du post-communisme (1990-2000), Paris: Maisonnneuve&Larose. 11-75. Brubaker, Rogers (1995) “National Minorities, Nationalizing States and External National Homelands in the New Europe”, Daedalus 124 (2):107-132. Cupcea Adriana (2013) “Construcția identitară la comunitățile turcă și tătară din Dobrogea. Studii de atelier. Cercetarea Minorităților Naționale din România [Identity Construction in the Turkish and Tatar Communities in Dobruja. Working Papers in Romanian Minority Studies]”, The Romanian Institute for Research on National Minorities, 49 [online], http://www.ispmn.gov.ro/uploads/WP49-11-10. pdf, accessed on 15.03.2016. Clayer, Nathalie (2004/ 2005) “Les Musulmans des Balkans ou l’islam de «l’autre Europe»”, Le courrier des pays de l’Est, 1045: 16-27. Dulciu, Dan Toma (2009) “Condiția juridică a musulmanilor în țările membre ale Uniunii Europene. Reglementările comunitare și legislația românească. Studiu comparativ [The legal status of Muslims in European Union countries . Community regulations and Romanian law . comparative study]”, Dionysiana, 8 (1). Constantin Iordachi (2002) “Citizenship, Nation and State-Building: The Integration of Northern Dobrogea into Romania (1878-1913) ”, The Carl Beck Papers in Russian&East European Studies, 1607. Jovanović, Vladan (2015), “Land Reform and Serbian Colonization. Belgade’s Problems in Interwar Kosovo and Macedonia”, East Central Europe, 42 (1): 87-103. Köksal, Yonka (2006) “Minority Policies in Bulgaria and Turkey: The Struggle to Define a Nation”, South East European and Black Studies, 6 (4): 501-521. Iordachi, Constantin (2002) “La Californie des Roumains. L’intégration de la Dobroudja du Nord à la Roumanie, 1878-1913”, Balkanologie, 6 (1-2): 167-197. de Jong, Frederik (1986) “The Turks and Tatars in Romania: material relative to their history and notes on their present-day condition”, Turcica. Revue des études turques, 18: 165-189. Oberländer-Târnoveanu, Ernest – Volker, Adam (2005) “Tătarii din România. Schiță istorică – Secolele XIII-XX [Tatars in Romania. A Historical Sketch]”, in: Andreescu, Gabriel (ed.) Tătarii din România – teme identitare. Tatars in Romania – Problems of Identity, Bucharest: Centrul pentru Drepturile Omului Apador-CH [ The Centre for Human Rights Apador-CH]: 27-57. Omer, Metin (2014) “Mesageri de bună conviețuire: Evoluția presei turcești din România (1888-1989) [Messengers of conviviality: The Evolution of Turkish Media in Romania (1888-1989)]”, Asociația Națională a Tinerilor Istorici din Moldova. Revistă de istorie [National Association of Young Historians of Moldova . Magazine of History], 11: 247-248. Özgür Baklacıoğlu, Nurcan (2015) “Between neo-Ottomanist kin policy in the Balknas and Transnational Kin economics in the EU”, Journal of Ethnopolitics and Minority Issues in Europe, 14 (3): 47-72. Poulton, Hugh (1997) “Turkey as Kin-State: Turkish Foreign Policy towards Turkish and Muslim Communities in the Balkans”, in: Hugh Poulton, Suha Taji – Farouki (eds.) Muslim Identity and the Balkan State, London: Hurst, 194-214. Poulton Hugh (2000) “The Muslim Experience in the Balkan States. 1919-1991”, Nationalities Papers, 28 (1): 47-66. Interviews: Interview with H. A., member of the Tatar community, 29 January 2013; Interview with H. N., member of the Tatar community, October 14, 2013; Interview with E. E., member of the Turkish community, October 17, 2013; Interview with E. M., member of the Tatar community, May 22, 2014. Interview with G. A., member of the Tatar community, 29 January 2013; Interview with M. A. M., member of the Turkish community, May 20, 2014. Interview with M. F., member of the Tatar community, 29 January 2013; Interview with N. U., member of the Tatar community, September 16, 2013; Interview with N. U., member of the Tatar community, September 16, 2013; Interview with O. E., member of the Tatar community, 29 January 2013; Interview with O. F., May 22, 2014, member of the Turkish community. Interview with S.M., member of the Tatar community, 30 January 2013; Interview with S. T., member of the Turkish community, January 31, 2013; Interview with Te. B., member of the Tatar community, July 28, 2014; Interview with Ta. B., member of the Tatar community, July 28, 2014.