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Over 360,000 Bulgarian Turks left Communist Bulgaria to Turkey between 30 May 1989 and 22 August 1989 as part of the so-called Revival Process - a policy of forced assimilation of Bulgaria's Muslim minority. This 1989 expulsion is one of the largest ethnic cleansings in Europe.
As part of the campaign, all Bulgarian nationals who were ethnically Turkish were forced to change their names to non-Muslim names amid much official intimidation, some violence and loss of life. Ethnic Bulgarian Muslims had already been forced to change their names in 1972.
The name-changing campaign was carried out between 1984 and 1985. The repressions lasted unabated from 1984 through 1989. Those who refused were subjected to persecution, including imprisonment, expulsion, and internment in the then reactivated infamous Belene concentration camp.
On 11 January 2012, the Bulgarian Parliament officially recognized the 1989 expulsion as ethnic cleansing. The decisions faced fierce criticism by far-right and the Socialist party supporters.

parliament.bg/bg/declaration…

novinite.com/articles/14001…
One of the violent episodes is in Barutin. Since the beginning of 1972 miners from the nearby uranium mine have faced pressure to change their names, but not successful. This became the reason for the mine to be surrounded by civilian and uniformed militia on 13 March.
Soon after a real hand-to-hand battle began, in which few managed to evade. Most were badly beaten and taken to the city of Devin, where they were forcefully renamed with Slavic names.
For three days the whole village population gathers in the square in vigil and protest. This ends with the deployment of military force. Two women are killed, and many are seriously injured. Dozens were interned or imprisoned.
These events remain for a long time without debate. Nowadays, people from the Socialist Party and their supporters are trying to stop public debates about violent policies against the Muslim minority. "Do not make us feels guilty" is one of the comments.
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