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OSCE / Credit: Curtis Budden

National Minorities in Eastern Europe, Part I: The Turkish Minority in Bulgaria

Members

Hon. Steny Hoyer

Chairman

Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe

Hon. Dennis DeConcini

Co-Chairman

Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe

Hon. John Porter

Commissioner

Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe

Hon. Christopher Smith

Commissioner

Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe

Witnesses

Ambassador Richard Schifter

Assistant Secretary of State for Human Rights and Humanitarian Affairs

Department of State

Halil Ibisoglu

Former Turkish Resident of Bulgaria

Thomas Caufield Goltz

Correspondent

Readers’ Digest

This hearing, chaired by Commissioners Steny Hoyer and Dennis DeConcini, focused on the Bulgarian government’s attempts to forcibly assimilate the sizable Turkish minority in their country. The assimilation campaign began in 1984, and was the most egregious example of the Bulgarian government’s denial of rights to its citizens.  This hearing was the first in a series of hearings in 1987 on national minorities in Eastern Europe.  Witnesses included Ambassador Richard Schifter, Halil Ibisoglu, and Thomas Caufield Goltz.

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