Turkish Roma from Bulgaria and their Migration to Poland

2011–2012

ERSTE Foundation Fellowship for Social Research Should we stay or should we go?

Migration and its effects on demographic and economic development in Central Eastern Europe

Turkish Roma from Bulgaria and their Migration to Poland Yelis Erolova

TURKISH ROMA FROM BULGARIA AND THEIR MIGRATION TO POLAND Yelis Erolova, PhD Balkan Ethnology Department IEFSEM-BAS, Bulgaria Fellow at Generations in Dialogue Program ERSTE FOUNDATION E-mail: kham@abv.bg Phone: +359 885565302 In the early 21st century, the Roma are one of the most numerous and heterogeneous ethnic communities in Bulgaria. Along with many other Bulgarian citizens, a large number of Roma migrated abroad after 1989—mostly to other European countries (Spain, Greece, Germany, the United Kingdom, France, Belgium, Cyprus, etc.) — because of the socioeconomic crisis and high level of unemployment in Bulgaria. Bulgaria”s membership to the European Union (as of January 1, 2007) ensured the rights of Bulgarian citizens in EU member states for free movement and labor activity, and encouraged their labor migrations.

Usually, Bulgarian Roma follow the migration routes and patterns of the majority of Bulgarian citizens. This paper will focus on the lesser-known phenomenon of Roma migrations from Bulgaria to Poland, which indicates a new level of Roma mobility in Europe that has remained unexamined until now. Poland is not a popular destination for labor mobility for the Bulgarians, but in certain Roma communities/groups—especially the socalled Turkish and Bulgarian Roma—it has emerged as a preferred location over the past twenty years.

I will focus on the so-called Turkish Roma or Muslim Roma, who constitute the majority of the migration wave to Poland; in particular, I will try to outline the ethnocultural dimensions of the migration processes among members of the community who live in Dobrudzha region1, northeastern Bulgaria. The Turkish Roma are some of the most visible and colorful cultures in the ethnic tableau of Dobrudzha, but public and scientific knowledge about them is insufficient. They are united in more or less bonding groups, forming divisions and subdivisions in different ways over the years. The Turkish Roma distinguish themselves 1

The historical and geographical region of Dobrudzha is a border area occupying parts of northeastern Bulgaria (including the administrative regions of Silistra and Dobrich) and southeastern Romania (including the administrative districts of Constanta and Tulcea).

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from the majority of society and other ethnic groups through their communal identity and ethno-cultural specificity.

This study is based on the following questions: Who are the Turkish Gypsies in Bulgaria—respectively Dobrudzha—and what do their migrations to Poland say about the ethno-cultural development of their community? What are the specific and general features of the Turkish Roma migration from Bulgaria to Poland in the context of mobility of the surrounding society? Is the adaptation of the Turkish Gypsies in Poland “successful”? The answers to these questions can be analyzed through the development of a number of subquestions: What is the historical destiny and current situation of the Turkish Roma? Why do they prefer to migrate and why do they choose Poland? What are their community and cultural characteristics in their place of origin and in country of migration; how are these characteristics preserved or altered? What are the strategies for adaptation of the Turkish Roma in Poland? How do the Turkish Roma migrants and the host society interact? How does their identity develop as migrants, and how do they feel different and distinguish themselves from other Roma and non-Roma?

RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY: The issues and problems studied in this paper will be analyzed mainly within the theoretical framework of Roma/Gypsy Studies and in particular by the research approach on the Roma applied by Elena Marushiakova and Vesselin Popov2 (Romani Studies). One of the most important characteristics of this approach is that it examines Roma not only as a specific ethnic group or heterogeneous community—which is as an isolated (excluded) social ethnohomogeneous entity—but as integrated into the country where they were born, which they perceive as their homeland. The ethnic processes3 taking place within the Roma community are determined by many factors—history; ethno-cultural characteristics; ethno-social, political, and economic context, etc.—which are neither unique nor spontaneous.

The present research is based on multi-sited ethnography fieldwork, which is the most appropriate approach according to the object and subject of study, as the traditional methodology is used in two or more spatial and temporal dimensions (Marcus 1995: 95-117; 2

See: Marushiakova, Elena and Vesselin Popov. 1997. Gypsies (Roma) in Bulgaria. Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang; Marushiakova, Elena and Vesselin Popov. 2001. Gypsies in the Ottoman Empire. Hatfield: University of Hertfordshire Press; Marushiakova, Elena, Udo Mischek, Vesselin Popov and Bernhard Streck. 2005.

Dienstleistungsnomadismus am SchwarzenMeer. Zigeunergruppen zwischen Symbiose und Dissidenz. In Orientwissenschaftliche Hefte (16), etc.

3 By “ethnic processes” I mean the processes that occur within the ethnic community and lead to certain changes in it. In a general sense, they can be divisive and unifying (Marushiakova/Popov 2004: 145-191).

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Falzon 2009: 1-24). Ethnographic studies were conducted in Bulgaria and Poland between 2006 and 2011. The interlocutors can be divided into two groups: (1) current and former migrant Roma, and (2) relatives and neighbors of the migrants in the home country. The main techniques used were interlocution, ethnographic interview, life-story method, and first-hand observation (Генчев 1989: 55-58, 155-160; Atkinson 1998; DeWalt, K. M., DeWalt, B. R., & Wayland, C. B. 1998: 259-299 Roberts 2002; Stroobants 2005: 47-61). The interlocutors were of different ages and genders, and had different social standings. They live in rural and urban environments. Some are former or current labor migrants to Poland, the Netherlands, Germany, and Turkey. Field information is presented through citation of the field information, retelling, and observations.

I must disclose that I was also born in Bulgaria, where Roma live in almost every town or village. I grew up in a multiethnic environment; contact with Roma people (or in my case, with the Turkish Roma) has been a natural social reality since my childhood and until today (this is not participant observation, although it could be considered participant observation in another context). This is why I perceive the Roma as an integrated part of Bulgarian society, and also why they are of professional interest to me. My preliminary experiences, ideas, and contacts with them largely determined the research approach and methods.

It is also important to note that I cannot give an exact number of interlocutors, but they are more than one hundred people in examined settlements in the region of Dobrudzha. From my point of view, the collected information and its authenticity are most significant; i.e. for the present study, it is more important to use reliable information about the studied processes than to focus on the adequacy of certain theoretical concepts.

I believe that applied ethnographic methodology provides the most opportunities to collect reliable field information. One of the rules during my field studies was that collected information be confirmed at different times by at least five people from the same Roma group/subgroup and neighborhood. The authenticity of the collected information is verified from other sources during the fieldwork.

Interviews were held in Bulgaria with the surrounding Bulgarian, Crimean Tatar, and Turkish populations, as well as with members of the Regional and Chief Mufti organizations (local authorities in Bulgaria who have different ethnic backgrounds). Additionally, the information sources for this paper are data and analyses from the existing scientific literature, national statistical institutes, municipal authorities, and media in Bulgaria, as well as the Internet.

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Since there is insufficient knowledge about Turkish Roma in Bulgaria and their community, I would like to briefly outline who they are, including their historical background and development (since they are very important for a clear, multifaceted overview of their current labor mobility). Ethno-cultural processes do not happen spontaneously, randomly, or independently to the Turkish Roma, which orients the research problem to specific historical periods and particular ethno-social contexts.

Focusing on these contexts provides a realistic picture of the ethno-cultural processes of Turkish Roma in situation of migration. Since the migration of the Turkish Roma to Poland has not been examined until now, field descriptions and materials are leading and basic for any conclusion or generalization, to be adequate to the reality4.

PAST AND CURRENT SITUATION OF THE TURKISH ROMA FROM BULGARIA In order to answer the question, “Who are the Turkish Roma in Bulgaria?” we should go back to when they settled in the Bulgarian lands—including the region of Dobrudzha—and started to form communities; the history of the Roma in Bulgaria as whole, who came here and settled during the Byzantine, and, later, the Ottoman Empire.

Roma in the Byzantine and Ottoman empire The first mention of Roma dates back to the ninth century in the Chronograph of Theophanes Homologet (the Confessor) (Марушиакова/Попов 2000: 15). The Roma in the Byzantine Empire had various occupations and were described as sieve-makers, bear-trainers, traveling artists, merchants, urban artisans, blacksmiths, and fortune-tellers (Soulis 1961: 143165; Rochow/Matschke 1991: 241-254).

Under the Ottoman Empire, Roma in the Balkans—including in Dobrudzha—are most often identified by the name “Chingene” in various documents of the state and local administration. Chronologically, Roma were first mentioned in administrative tax records of the Ottoman Empire in 1430, in the so-called Timar register of Nikopol sandzhak (district). A large number of Roma arrived together in the Balkans with the army of the Ottomans. Their concomitant population were mainly servants in the assistant military forces or artisans serving the army. Some of the Roma continued on with the Ottoman army to other European

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Although the text can be criticized as being devoid of other theoretical interpretation of field data, I prefer to develop generalizations on only empirical material and existing studies with proven reliability.

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lands, while others stayed behind to embark on either sedentary or mobile lifestyles (Kunt 1997; Марушакова/Попов 2000: 28).

The Roma’s civil status in the Ottoman Empire was determined by the ethnic principle, which stood in opposition to the so-called Millet system (communities formed on the basis of religion with its own government), where the religious division of the population was leading. The Roma and the conquered Christian population were treated to similar double standards. According to the body of laws and regulations of 1475 during the government of Mehmed II (1451-80) relating to the population in the Ottoman province of Rumeli (including the Balkan lands under Ottoman rule), all Roma—whether Christians or Muslims—had to pay haradzh tax (tax obligation of the heads of the households) and Muslim Roma were prohibited to mix with Christian Roma (Марушиакова/Попов 2000: 29-30).

The Muslim Roma engaged in various occupations during the Ottoman period. They worked as tinsmiths, sieve-makers, shoemakers, cutters, combers, halva-makers, musicians, servants, couriers, monkey-breeders, stove-makers, blacksmiths, traders in cattle, cowherds, basket weavers, tailors, etc. Roma in the Ottoman Empire—especially in Dobrudzha— experienced several interrelated trends that changed their way of life and culture: orientation to agricultural occupations, transition to a sedentary lifestyle, and Islamization. Some Roma began the shift to agricultural livelihood as a permanent occupation in the fifteenth century (Марушиакова/Попов 1993: 84; 2000: 44-46 74-76).

Islamization and socio-economic policies during the Ottoman rule were important factors in the formation and maintenance of the Turkish ethnic consciousness preferred by some Muslim Roma—a process that continues to this day. The association of ethnicity to religion creates a feeling of closeness and identification to the Turkish ethnic community for some Muslim Roma based on common religion.

When Dobrudzha was divided between Bulgaria and Romania in 1878, the Roma population (one and the same communities, groups, and kinships) in the region was divided by state borders and incorporated into two different states. Although some were carried away to Turkey between 1878 and the 1940s by migrant waves of the local Turks, the Turkish Roma were and still are the largest Roma community in Dobrudzha (Стоянов 1998: 63-89; Маева 2006: 31-35). Descriptions of the Turkish Roma in Dobrudzha region and neighboring lands can be found in foreign written sources (Petulengro 1915-1916: 1-109; Макфий 2007: 18-31).

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State borders divided the Turkish Roma in Dobrudzha as residents of two different countries before the final fixing of the Bulgarian-Romanian border in 1940 (the whole region of Dobrudzha was incorporated into the Romanian state from 1919 through 1940).

Turkish Roma in the socialist Bulgaria (1944-89) The overall policy towards Roma and Muslims in socialist Bulgaria affected the Turkish Roma in southern Dobrudzha. The government applied a number of measures to improve their living standards—increasing their level of health, education, and employment— which led to positive changes in their cultural, educational, and socio-economic development (Марушиакова/Попов 1993: 88-89).

Most of the Turkish Roma abandoned their traditional occupations and took to other labor activities during the socialist period. Turkish Roma in the region of Dobrudzha (as well as all Roma in other parts of Bulgaria) had permanent employment in the spheres of tourism (as serving personnel—cooks, janitors, etc.), industry (as low-qualified workers in the local factories), and agriculture (as permanent or seasonal workers in state-run cooperative farms).

The larger Bulgarian communist policy towards Muslims in the country affected the Turkish Roma. Like the Turks, Crimean Tatars, and Bulgarian Muslims (“Pomaks”), the Turkish Roma joined the migrant movements to Turkey during the periods of 1950-51, 196978, and 19895 (Трифонов 1991, № 16-20; Стоянов 1998; Marushiakova/Popov 2011; Маева 2006: 37). The Bulgarian Communist Party tried to stop the trend of Turkization of parts of the Muslim Roma with a number of measures in the late 1950s and 1960s. During the 1950s, 1960s, and 1984/1985, state policy forced the Turkish Roma to either “voluntarily” change their Arab-Turkish names to Bulgarian ones or face violence (Асенов 1990; Стоянов 1998: 82, 198-199; Бюксеншютц 2000: 36-64; Маева 2006: 40-65). The first name-changes of the Muslim Roma in the southern Dobrudzha region were carried out from 1960 to 1962 in the town of Dobrich, while the remaining Muslims in the region and across the country were forced to choose new Bulgarian names later, between 1984 and 1985. The interlocutors said the so-called “Revival Process” inspired clashes with the military and police (militia) forces in some parts of southern Dobrudzha, as well as mass emigration to Turkey. Although today’s Turkish Roma prefer to keep their official Bulgarian names, they also retain unofficial Turkish names that are only used within the community.

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See: Letters and guidance on deportation of the Turkish population in 1966/1967, - In: ODA-Silistra, f. 582, op.11, a.e. 191.

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The Turkish Roma as a whole are nostalgic towards the socialist period, which they associate with better social conditions—the ability to study, work, and have their own houses—and the governing of Todor Zhivkov (communist leader from 1954 through 1989).

Turkish Roma after 1989 The current situation of the Turkish Roma in Dobrudzha is determined by the preservation of their “internal” traditions and characteristics, socialist government policy, and political and socio-economic changes after 1989.

The imposition of a political system with a certain concept of ethnic minorities inspired democratic changes in Bulgaria, activated the socio-political participation of the Roma at a national and local level, and strengthened their common Roma/Gypsy identity.

According to the 1991 Constitution of Bulgaria, all citizens have equal rights. They have the right to freedom of language, religion, and self-determination by ethnicity and origin (Art. 6, Art. 13 and Art. 37). The Basic Law does not allow the formation of parties on an ethnic, racial, or religious basis (Art. 11, p. 4). Despite this constitutional ban, a number of “ethnic” parties in Bulgaria were established and used to support a particular ethnic electorate.

The most famous of these are the “Democratic Union Roma” (leader: Manush Romanov and later Simeon Blagoev), the “United Roma Union” (leader: Vasil Chaprazov), the “Confederation of the Roma in Bulgaria,” “Euroroma” (leader: Tsvetelin Kanchev), “Free Bulgaria” (leader: Cyril Rashkov, known as “King Kiro”), “Roma” (leader: Toma Tomov), “Drom” (leader: Ilia Iliev), and others (Kolev 2003). Parts of the Turkish Roma from Dobrudzha supported these parties at different times.

The socialist state’s policy toward Muslims led to the post-1989 “affiliation” of not only a large number of Turks, Crimean Tatars, and Bulgarian Muslims (“Pomaks”), but also of the Muslim Gypsies, with the “Movement for Rights and Freedoms”—the strongest political organization condemning (to this day) the “Revival Process” and claiming to uphold the rights of Muslims in Bulgaria (Рагарю/Капелле-Погаджиян 2008: 80). The Turkishlanguage mass media (which has become more accessible in recent years) also enhanced the Turkish influence on Muslim Roma culture and identity. At the local and national level, the Turkish Roma are aligned with the “Movement for Rights and Freedoms” party (MRF), whose electorate is predominantly Turkish, as well as to the “Roma” and “Euroroma” parties, whose electorates are primarily Roma. The Muslim Roma in the region of Silistra—especially those with Turkish identity—are largely adherents of the MRF. Some Gypsy-identified Turkish Roma who live in the Krushari, Balchik, and Kavarna areas of the Dobrich region 7

support the “Roma” and “EuroRoma” parties as they are presented in the local authority by their elected municipal councilors.

Political changes in Bulgaria after 1990 led some of the Muslim Roma to “return” to the Roma/Gypsy identity for (Dobrich, Burgas). The Turkish Roma vote became increasingly distributed between the leading national parties (GERB, Bulgarian Socialist Party, etc.), which was the general trend for Turkish Roma in southern Dobrudzha and other parts of Bulgaria.

The lasting socio-economic crisis, low incomes, and high level of unemployment in Bulgaria since 1989 have inspired permanent emigration to (mostly) other European countries (Spain, Greece, Germany, the United Kingdom, France, Belgium, Cyprus, etc.). Many of the Turkish Roma prefer to go to Poland, Turkey, Germany, Netherlands, etc., due to opportunities for labor employment and higher incomes, as well as help from relatives and friends who have already migrated to these countries. The integration and accession of Bulgaria to the European Union encourages their labor mobility.

I have concluded that political changes after 1989 had a strong influence on the identity of Turkish Roma. The members I studied from this community affirmed their Roma/Gypsy or preferred (Turkish or Tatar) identity, or changed it to a Turkish or Roma by their socio-political participation. Along with these important processes, the long-term economic crisis and high level of unemployment (which especially affects Roma) forces them to change professions. Some go abroad to work at higher incomes. By migrating to Poland, Turkish Roma have the opportunity to improve their standard of living, but their sociopolitical activity remains restricted to their home country while their identity has been developing under the influence of other factors.

TURKISH ROMA AS A META-GROUP COMMUNITY We cannot accurately determine he number of Turkish Roma in the Bulgarian part of Dobrudzha because a large portion of the community preferred Turkish identity at the time of the official population census. On the other hand, there are many cases where members prefer the name “Gypsy” to the ethnonym “Roma.” We always asked the question about ethnic belonging delicately during the field studies, since members with other identity are very sensitive about this issue. In my view (which results from my observations in recent years), there are between 30,000 and 35,000 Turkish Roma in southern Dobrudzha.

Turkish Roma in Bulgaria today have formed a meta-group community, which means there are separate, differing subgroups within the larger population. In certain situations, the 8

subgroups become united by common ethno-cultural elements (religion, language, origin, etc.) and function as a cohesive group.

We can analyze he development of Turkish Roma at the group level based on a hypothetical ideal of the Gypsy group that was described by E. Marushiakova and V. Popov, according to which members of each group maintain their Gypsy subgroup identity and unite around certain characteristics (Marushiakova/Popov 2004: 145-191)6. This classification is conditional and its features occur both at the group level (Gypsies, Turks, Millet) and at the community level because the Turkish Roma are defined as a meta-group community. When most of these features exist, it indicates the existence of a Roma group. Along with these “internal” characteristics, the development of the Turkish Roma in Bulgaria specifically is influenced by “external” political and economic factors.

The Muslim Roma and the Turks shared a common fate in Bulgaria. In the 1980s, during the so-called “Revival Process,” their Turkish, Arabic, and Persian names were replaced with Bulgarian names. A large number of Muslims left for Turkey, which consolidated some Muslims of various ethnic origins, although this failed to unite them completely. A great number of Muslim Roma still remember the forced Bulgarianization of the 1980s and some villages remember similar events that preceded it.

Since 1990, many Muslim Roma have strove for public political activity

by

participating in “Roma parties,” which has in turn changed their ethnic self-identification.

Political orientation sometimes enhances the Roma/Gypsy identity or the preferred Turkish identity or it leads to change.

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The Turkish Roma (groups self-identifying as Gypsies, Turks, Millet) characteristics are relevant to most of the characteristics of the Gypsy group ideal model: “presence of group consciousness”; “use of a common language - Roma language or other language with the Gypsies who lost their mother tongue”; Common traditional lifestyle (sedentary or nomadic); “common means of subsistence (traditional occupation or group profession)”; “strict observance of the group norms and rules”; “common life perceptions (including religion), common value and behavioral patterns, common opinions and moral principles”; “large and strong families regarded as the highest value”; “mutual solidarity and obligation to lend support”; “maintenance of group authenticity and isolation (the rule of non-interference in other groups’ affairs)”; “strict observance of the group prohibitions.”

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Parallel to the political factors, the labor emigration of the Roma to other European countries (typical for Bulgarian society) creates new dimensions of their ethno-cultural development and identity.

MIGRATIONS TO POLAND According to my field studies, more than 15,000 Roma have migrated from Bulgaria to Poland. Most of those 15,000 are Turkish Roma, considering that there are more than 2,000 Turkish Roma migrants from Dobrudzha region alone. These observations are based on data collected from local authorities, Roma organizations, leaders of villages I have visited, towns and settlements in Bulgaria, and markets in Poland.

Migrant stories The interlocutors often start their stories about migration to Poland by discussing the past—specifically, their interactions with Polish people dating back to the period of socialism.

Thirty-four thousand Polish tourists had come to this part of the Bulgarian Black Sea coast in the 1980s, including the part of Dobrudzha, on holiday during the tourist season.7 Many local Roma and Polish tourists established contact during that time. On the one hand, Polish tourists were selling goods that were considered expensive and luxurious for Bulgaria, such as underwear, umbrellas, “Bić Može” perfumes, “Nivea” face cream, etc. The local Roma interlocutors from the town of Dobrich still remember how the Polish tradesmen of spare car parts came to their place to trade and made them realize that they similarly had the right to go to Poland to trade. On the other hand, local men and visiting Polish women established shortterm personal relationships. One story still told in the Old Roma settlement takes place before 1989. There were fears of a cholera epidemic in this Roma neighborhood in the town of Balchik even though it had been proven that there was no epidemic. To prevent spreading the disease, local authorities restricted access to the settlement by placing police (militia) officers around the border: nobody was allowed to enter or exit. Then, a few Polish women were found in the Roma settlement.

The destiny of the Turkish Roma is not mentioned in this story accidentally.

According to the interlocutors, Poland has become a preferred destination for the Turkish Roma from southern Dobrudzha, because:

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According to Krassen Roussev, director of the European Institute of Cultural Tourism.

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“it is a former socialist country, the (Polish) language is not difficult, the Polish people are not alien and accept them well.”

Their attitude about the socialist period in Bulgaria clarifies current perceptions about what defines “the good life” they have in Poland. On the one hand, Turkish Roma are affected by communist policies because of their ethnicity and religion; this leaves them with emotional memories and a tendency to compare their conditions with what they know about other countries. On the other hand, after the fall of the totalitarian regime in Bulgaria and in the terms of the economic crisis, they note that: “before (during socialism), they had a good life and social security.”

Even some interlocutors shared that they would rather have this security now than a particular name.

Migration causes and consequences The fact that Roma migrants can earn higher incomes in Poland than in Bulgaria is a main cause of labor migrations to Poland. On the other hand, the Roma community’s almost twenty years’ experience of labor in Poland made the country a preferred destination for labor mobility.

The migrations to Poland began in 1991. It was difficult to cross the Polish border for a year or two after Poland joined the European Union on May 1, 2004. Some Roma, who were working illegally, obtained black stamps on their international passports and were prohibited from entering Poland. Some changed their (Bulgarian or Turkish) names and tried to enter Poland again. Today, we meet Roma migrants with two personal names (one official Bulgarian and one Turkish) or even three (two Bulgarian and one Turkish). Now, since the accession of Bulgaria to the European Union on January 1, 2007, members of the Roma community explain: “everybody who wants to work in Poland can go.”

Poland does not apply any restrictions on Bulgarian citizens for access to its labor market. They do not need permits to work and have free access to the labor market of Poland.

Poland is a transit country for some Roma migrants—their final destination is the Czech Republic or Germany—but many of them return to Poland and settle permanently.

The Roma migration to Poland mirrors the traditional Balkan labor migration model of “gurbet” (temporary labor migrations)8, where the earned finances are invested in the home

8

Карамихова 2003; 2004; Христов 2004: 48-54, etc.

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(not in the host) country. This type of labor mobility is the result of unemployment or the desire to improve one’s material well-being and prestige in society through more income. It has changed the social, economic, and ethno-cultural characteristics of the Turkish Roma community in their country of migration and in their country of origin. Their labor activities have improved their lifestyle by earning them a higher standing in the social hierarchy of the community. They “invest” the money they make in Poland in their families or communities by purchasing cars, gold and jewelry, and construction and reconstruction of migrants’ houses (Roma neighborhoods in Balchik have changed noticeably in the last couple of years; colored mineral plaster distinguishes migrant houses from the others). The Roma migrants use the money they earn to repay or/and give loans to other Roma (relatives, friends, or neighbors).

Most of the earnings from labor activity in Poland are “invested” in the families of Roma migrants and “left” within the community. This differentiates them from the Bulgarians, who deposit their money into banks, invest it in their children’s education, and so on.

Overall, members of the research community have a positive attitude about the migration to Poland. Even when Roma have bad migration experiences (for example, if a Roma woman’s husband abandons her for a Polish woman), they continue to maintain a positive notion of Polish people and Poland in general. Roma migrants and their relatives in Balchik consider migration to Poland a sign of prestige. Public demonstration of better living conditions has inspired competition within the community. According to the research of Magdalena Slavkova on the Bulgarian Roma in Spain, the labor migration (Gurbet) influences people’s self-esteem and living standards after they return to Bulgaria. “Besides being betteroff than their neighbors and acquaintances, which they never fail to demonstrate, those who have returned from Gurbet start feeling European, because they have left their native neighborhood, have been to the West and have tackled the challenges abroad” (Славкова 2008).

Models and forms of migration Roma migrants organize their own weekly travel to Poland with mini-buses and cars.

They rarely use the air or bus transport lines from Bulgaria to Poland.

The Roma migrations to Poland represent the family or chain model of migration (MacDonald/MacDonald 1964; Boyd 1989: 638-670; Helmenstein/Yegorov 2000: 307-32; Zimmerman 2005: 435-450). The husband and wife most often migrate. They rent a living space upon arriving in Poland. Sometimes two or three families, who travel together in a close social or kin group, share accommodation costs to save money. Over two decades, the Turkish 12

Roma from Dobrudzha (as well as from other parts of Bulgaria) have adapted easily and are a regular presence in Poland. Almost all migrants start to save and assist their relatives after settling and finding a job in Poland. In this way, they maintain their existing kinship group and social networks in the Roma community. The “old” migrants function as “bridgeheads,” helping the “new” migrants gain information, employment, and places to live (Böcker 1994).

In some cases, Turkish and Bulgarian Roma migrate to Poland individually. They usually integrate into the new migrant forms of the kinship and social networks, in which mutual solidarity shapes the specific migrant adaptations.

While the Roma community perceives family migration as normal, the same cannot be said for the solo migration of women (whether single, married, or divorced). Most often, the community will accuse them of prostitution.

“When you see the woman alone – working abroad, returning with gold (jewels), and going (to Poland) again - this means that she is chacharka.”

This term is derived from the name of the female protagonist of the Italian novel “La Ciociara,” by Alberto Moravia (1957). The novel was later made into a film by the same name, which was directed by Vittorio De Sica (1960). The term “chacharka” means an immoral a woman. The community perceives solo male migrants (often young, either single or married) quite differently. Even men who work as pimps are not condemned, which reflects the gender inequality within the community.

I will not focus in detail on generation and gender issues around migration to Poland, since these issues deserve their own separate studies.

Roma migrants usually stay in Poland for an entire year, returning to Bulgaria only for weddings, funerals, and New Year’s Eve. Most often they come back after Christmas because they have a lot of work in Poland around the Christmas holidays. Long-term Turkish Roma migrants visit Bulgaria every three or four years.

Children of the Roma migrants remain in Bulgaria and their grandmothers take care of them. They live and study in Bulgarian schools while they are little. Once the Roma migrants find suitable accommodations and adapt to Poland, they take their children with them. This migration pattern—where parents work abroad and children study and grow up in Bulgaria with the assistance of close relatives—is widespread in Bulgarian society and not unique to the Roma.

Roma children usually go to Poland after they grow up to help their parents. They can often be seen with their parents, playing around their parents’ workplaces. A small number of Roma children attend Polish schools, to the great pride of their parents. There is only one 13

weekend Bulgarian school in Warsaw. According to the interlocutors, this school does offer the same education they had in Bulgaria, so the Roma parents do not use it.

Migrants’ attitude to their migration and nostalgia The general attitude of Roma migrants is that they go to Poland temporarily to work and will one day return home, after the financial situation in Bulgaria improves. Even migrants who have lived in Poland for over ten years have the same desire. They do not buy any property in Poland. They send money to their relatives in Bulgaria and repair their own houses or buy new ones in Bulgaria. The Roma migrants in Poland are aware of the political and economic situation in Bulgaria, and Bulgarian TV channels inform them about everything that happens there. Almost all Roma migrants have Bulgarian digital television; you can identify their houses by the Bulsatcom satellite antennas (the most popular Bulgarian Digital Television).

All Roma are nostalgic for Bulgaria. Even interlocutors who have forgotten how to speak Bulgarian talk happily about their plans to visit Bulgaria.

ETHNO-CULTURAL IDENTITY AND TRADITIONS IN THE HOME COUNTRY AND IN THE COUNTRY OF MIGRATION The cultural characteristics of the Turkish Gypsies are common to all and unite them in a community or maintain the traditional subgroup distinction between them. They can function as markers of Roma/Gypsy or preferred Turkish/Tatar identity, and thus unite or differentiate. Self-identification is a process of self-description according to certain categories and concepts (such as ethnicity, language, religion, nationality, etc.) in different social context (Brubaker/Cooper 2000: 14-15). I will focus on the current ethno-cultural identity and characteristics of the Turkish Roma (in both Dobrudzha and Poland) and the manner in which they use them to maintain group/community unity and development.

Markers Identity

Religion

Bulgaria

Poland

Gypsies, Turkish Gypsies or

Bulgarians,

Turks, (Crimean) Tatars, Milet,

Gypsies or Turks (in contact with

Usta Millet

other Roma or Muslims)

Islam, Orthodox and Protestant

Islam, Orthodox and Protestant

Christianity

Christianity

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Language

Romani or/and Turkish

Romani or/and Turkish,

Bulgarian

Bulgarian and/or Polish

Housing and

Roma neighborhood

Formation of Roma neighborhood

living

Certain living house environment Certain living house environment

environment Occupations

Clothes retail, construction,

Clothes retail, pimping, prostitution

agriculture, tourist sector Holidays

Kurban and Ramazan Bayram,

Hadarlez (Muslim Roma)

Hadarlez (Muslim Roma);

Easter and Christmas (Evangelical

Easter and Christmas (Evangelical Roma) Roma).

Marriage model Endogamious (within the meta-

Endogamious

group community of the Turkish Intermarriages Roma)

Ethnic/group identity Today, we can distinguish two main Turkish Roma groups in southern Dobrudzha by their ethnic identity: (1) Turkish Roma, who identify as “Gypsies [Tsigani]” or “Turkish Gypsies,” and (2) Turkish Roma with preferred identity, who identify as “Turks,” “Millet” (the word “millet” is Turkish for “people”), “Usta Millet” (“craftsmen”), or “Turks from Usta Millet.”

As mentioned above, the term “Turkish Roma” (or “Turkish/Tatar Gypsies” or Muslim Gypsies) refers to the Roma who settled in the Balkans or converted to Islam during the Ottoman Empire. They identify themselves as “Gypsies,” “Turkish Gypsies” (“Xoraxane Roma” in Romani language), or have preferred the Turkish or Tatar identity (i.e. identify themselves as “Turks” or “(Crimean) Tatars”), or Millet identity.

Subgroups exist within each group. They are formed on the basis of professional, regional, kinship, or other similar criteria. The Turkish Roma with Gypsy self-consciousness identify themselves as “Gypsies,” “Turkish Gypsies,” “Xoraxane Roma,” “Millet,” and “Alaydzhak” (used in the region of Silistra, from an exonym converted to an endonym).

The term “preferred identity” refers to a new, more upscale ethnic identity chosen by an individual or community in order to hide their true identity (Попов 1992: 86-99;

15

Marushiakova et al. 2001). By taking (or seeking to adopt) a new ethnic identity (Turkish, Tatar), the Turkish Roma in southern Dobrudzha strive to differentiate themselves from the other Roma, and to raise their comparative social status. However, the Roma with a foreign identity do not integrate into the Turkish or Tatar communities because the Turks or Crimean Tatars do not accept them and continue to relate to them as Gypsies/Roma (even if they do not differ in lifestyle).

Roma with Turkish self-consciousness identify themselves as “Turks” or “Usta millet” (southern Dobrudzha) in front of Bulgarians/Romanians (and within the Muslim community in Dobrudzha). The other Roma call them “charale9,” “feredzhelii,” “laho,” “kyuldzhii10”—all names with negative connotations.

Roma with Turkish identity consider themselves part of the Turkish ethnic community and only recognize membership to their group if an individual was born within the Turkish ethnic community. They distinguish themselves strongly from other Gypsy groups by embracing Turkish cultural elements and ideas. One example of this is in Kaynardzha municipality (southern Dobrudzha), where there was a conflict from 2005 until 2006.

Officials from the Municipality administration named the local Turkish Roma “Roma,” which prompted their protests. The members of the studied community want to be identified as “Turks” in the local authority’s records.

The so-called Tatar Gypsies are another group that settled in the region of Dobrudzha during the Ottoman period. They are included conditionally in the larger Turkish Roma community. They are famous under the name “davuldzhii”11, which probably comes from their traditional occupation of musician. Members of this community typically prefer the Tatar identity, although this preference is more pronounced in the town of Balchik.

Although Tatar Roma strive to make friendships and social contacts with the other Gypsy groups, they distinguish themselves through numerous Crimean Tatar cultural elements, such as language, food, customs, religion, and ethnic belonging.

The Turkish Roma with (Usta) Millet identity live mostly in southern Dobrudzha. In certain situations they identify as “Turks.” They adhere strictly to marital endogamy.

Members of Usta Millet believe they originated from the kinship of the prophet David (Daud): 9

According to interlocutors from Dobrich: “‘Charay’ means something between Turks and Gypsies. They are not pure Turks, they are ash-people because the roofs of their houses are ‘covered with ash.’”

10 The name indicates Roma blacksmiths, who are called so because of the ash (kül: Turkish language, char: Roma language, ash: English), among which they work (Марушиакова/Попов 2007: 312).

11 The name “davuldzhii” is the name as one of the Roma groups living in the Crimea—part of the so-called Daifa/Taifa Roma community (Marushiakova/Popov 2004: 145-191).

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“who was a blacksmith and caught the hot iron with bare hands, and they inherited his craft.”

However, they distinguish themselves from the Turks and the Roma.

As we saw already, smaller units (former groups, subgroups, and kinships) exist within the Turkish Roma groups, although the boundaries between them are fuzzy and awareness of their members pass the level of ethnic or group belonging - (Usta) Millet, Turkish Gypsies. According to El. Marushiakova and V. Popov, a new community of “Turkish Roma – Christians, speaking Roma language can be added to the so-called Turkish Roma and in this case ‘Turkish Roma/Gypsies’ reflects a historical memory of their previous religion” (Марушиакова/Попов 1993: 96-97). The situation of the Turkish Roma in Dobrudzha presents only single cases of the Turkish Gypsies –Christians who speak Romani—and, therefore, I will not discuss them in detail. Here, unlike in other parts of Bulgaria, there is no formation of a group. There is only an unsustainable trend.

The boundaries between Turkish Roma subgroups are not static. In certain situations, they appear together as cohesive group. Regardless of their subgroup affiliation, some Turkish Roma identify within the community as “millet” in order to emphasize that they are affiliated with the Turks or the Muslims or another, separate community. Such self-identification is typical in interactions with other Muslims and does not match the official level of contacts with the Bulgarians or Romanians. I should note that Roma with preferred Turkish identity in southern Dobrudzha use the name “Millet” as endonym and accept its usage as exonym.

Turks living in southern Dobrudzha distinguish themselves from the Turkish Roma by referring to them with the same ethnonym: “Millet.”

Such ethnic and group self-identification often fades during migration (to Poland in particular), but different forms of self-identification arise during interactions with other Roma groups and Polish people.

Turkish Roma in the region of Dobrudzha are very conscious of being among the oldest residents in the area. Regional self-identification is a process by which the members of an ethnic community learn to identify with a cultural and historical region. There are few milestones in the formation of the regional Dobrudzha identity: (1) settlement, (2) utilization of the region, and (3) self-identification with the region. The political-territorial division of contemporary Dobrudzha (into “northern Dobrudzha” and “southern Dobrudzha” in Bulgarian society, and “Dobrogea” and “Kadrilater” respectively in Romanian society) does not alter the Roma’s overall regional identity. On the other hand, their regional identity is influenced by the surrounding population—local or swollen (“settlers” or “colonizers”)—which enhances 17

the Turkish Roma’s self-image as the oldest inhabitants of Dobrudzha. During migration, Roma migrants often stress their regional identity. In Poland, there are many examples of Roma migrants from different parts of Bulgaria (the towns of Dobrich, Silistra, Varna, Burgas, Stara Zagora, etc.) organizing on the basis of regional belonging, even if they are from the same group. For example: they rent houses in the same place, practice the same labor occupation together, and maintain friendships and social contacts with migrants from “their” region in Bulgaria.

The Turkish Roma from Dobrudzha emphasize their Bulgarian belonging and usually identify as Bulgarian during migration. Community members are happy about Bulgaria’s accession to the European Union on January 1, 2007 and feel it confirms their civil Bulgarian and European identity. According to interlocutors, they realize that European citizenship increases their social status in Poland compared to immigrants from non-EU countries (for example: the Vietnamese people). On the other hand, Polish people have a positive attitude towards Bulgarians and Bulgaria because of tourism.

Ultimately, the Turkish Roma’s Bulgarian citizenship enhances their civil (national) identity and gives them the sense that their homeland (Bulgaria) is growing stronger. They perceive such national symbols as central to the formation of civic consciousness.

Religious affiliation The ethnic and group consciousness of the Turkish Roma community carries a certain religious identity or—for the majority of the Muslim Roma—their religion is determined by their ethnicity (I am a Muslim because I’m a Turkish Rom/Millet/Turk/Tatar). On the other hand, religious affiliation strengthens ethnicity. This association between ethnicity and religion dates back to the period of Ottoman rule. A common religion creates a sense of closeness among the Turkish ethnic community.

Belonging to Islam The Turkish Roma in Dobrudzha use religious affiliation as a marker for their ethnoconfessional self-identification as Muslim Roma. Religion has an important function for the Roma with preferred Turkish or Tatar identity, who imagine themselves to be “Turks” or “Tatars.” The Muslim Roma express their religion through visits to the mosque, the practice of circumcision (sünet)12, religious marriage and funeral rituals, and the celebrations of 12

Little boys of a certain age are circumcised by an experienced man from the Muslim community. On the same day, a celebration called “syunet-biav” is organized and the boy is dressed in shiny clothes (made in Turkey). He

18

Ramazan and Kurban Bayram. These practices and rites are social events for the ethnic and the religious community, and serve to strengthen ethnic confidence. Some interlocutors say that, given the chance, they attend mosques abroad during labor migration.

The Turkish Roma in southern Dobrudzha are influenced by active involvement in Muslim community life, which ultimately strengthens their religious identity. Over the past decade, the appointment of imams from the community at the regional Mufti organizations (in Dobrich, Plovdiv, Pleven, Haskovo, Levski, Shumen, Sliven, etc.) has strengthened the Turkish Roma’s ethnic and religious identification. Within the community, religious leadership has its own ethno-group impact beyond its ethnic and political implications.

Within the so-called “Usta Millet” community, maintaining a common group identity requires specific religious beliefs and behavior. They prefer to invite self-educated Hodjas from their community to perform religious rituals instead of educated Turkish or Roma imams. Besides higher standing due to origin, the members of Usta Millet community believe that they are more fervent believers and better Muslims than the Turks and other Muslim Roma.

Mosques built over the last twenty years have revived the organized nature of Muslim communities and strengthened the influence of religion. This directly affects the Muslim Roma, as well.

Members of the community in urban settings began “legitimizing” their marriages with religious ceremonies that some within the community perceive as fashionable, but also as an expression of religious affiliation that demonstrates a desire to integrate into the Muslim community. In villages with a mixed ethnic population (Turkish, Crimean Tatar, etc.) but a common Islamic faith, the Roma imams are not unanimously accepted. In some cases, the Turks and the Tatars prefer self-educated Hodjas to perform religious rituals (i.e. funerals) instead of the educated Roma imams. At the same time, some self-educated Roma Hodzhas (who know Arabic prayers) have become popular within the local population, not so much for their knowledge of the religion, but rather for their skills as fortune-tellers, conjurers of evil spirits, makers of amulets for health and luck, and spell-casting and breaking.

The religious identity of the Muslim Roma has been strengthened in recent years by increased inclusion in local religious and political life. The Muslim Roma continue their common cultural traditions while strengthening their ethnic identity on the community, group,

receives gifts and money from friends and relatives. The syunet is a custom that has significance for socializing in the community.

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and subgroup levels with their active (sometimes demonstrative) religious lifestyles (more frequent visits to mosques, religious marriages, leadership).

Religion does not have the same ethnic and group functions during migration as in the home country, although commitment to Islam is still considered a main ethno-confessional distinction from the surrounding society (Orthodox in Bulgaria and Catholic in Poland).

While there are different levels of religious belonging in Bulgaria (leadership, marriages, etc.), Islam unites all Muslim Roma migrants in Poland, regardless of their group characteristics. When Roma migrants are in Poland, the Netherlands, or Germany, they usually do not celebrate Ramazan or Kurban Bayram, and they return to Bulgaria for their sons’ circumcisions.

In Poland, self-taught female hodzha conduct religious rituals. Although some of my interlocutors know that there is a mosque in Warsaw, they said they never attend it. At the same time, if they have to visit a church, they will go to an Orthodox one, not a Catholic one.

When a Polish Catholic nun tried to convert a Roma migrant, he replied that he already had his church in Poland (referring to the Orthodox Church in Warsaw, attended by Bulgarians).

We observed that neither ethnic nor religious identity is highly stressed during migration, at the expense of a sense of Bulgarian civil belonging.

Conversion from Islam to Protestantism Conversion from traditional Islam to Evangelicalism, which found its way through the new Protestant churches founded after 199013, is other important religious characteristic of the Turkish Roma in Dobrudzha and other parts of Bulgaria. This change in religion is quite common in recent years. Historically, a large number of Roma in the Bulgarian lands converted from Eastern Orthodox Christianity to Islam and vice versa. Some Muslim Roma, as well as the remaining Roma communities, unite in various Protestant congregations and define themselves as “Congregationalists,” “Adventists,” and “Baptists” belonging to the larger “God-chosen” community (Славкова 2007: 256).

Religious conversion from Islam to Protestantism creates new religious boundaries within the Roma community, as well as within the Muslim and non-Roma communities, but they do not alter existing inter-group boundaries. Instead, they create new lines of selfidentification and identification of the other, which become the primary organizing principles of Roma identity. According to Muslim Roma literature, the influence of the Protestant 13

The terms “Protestantism” and “evangelism” can be used interchangeably in Bulgaria (Славкова 2007: 29).

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church

“halts

the

Turkization

process

and

consolidates

Millet

self-conscience”

(Колев/Крумова 2005: 99-100). Although this appears reasonable at first glance, closer observation reveals that the Roma who wish to pass for Turks do not change their preferred identity. They continue to maintain it through group awareness, language, and inherited cultural traditions. In cases where we observe a change in the preferred identity (from Turkish to Roma), the reasons behind it are complex. Such a change in identity is not only due to religious conversion, but also to social and political factors. The Muslim Roma consider Evangelical churches “sects.” Nowadays, some Protestant churches continue to attract Turkish Roma, while other Turkish Roma (who became Protestant temporarily) return to their previous Islamic faith.

Community members who were pastors and believers in Bulgaria continue the Evangelization of the Turkish Roma during Polish migration. Currently, only “home” churches are formed that attract mostly Roma women. Evangelization of Roma migrants is not unique to Poland. Similar examples can be found in Cyprus, Spain, and other popular migration destinations for Bulgarian citizens. Creating Evangelical Roma church in a situation of migration supports Magdalena Slavkova’s thesis, which states that the Roma/Gypsies might socialize into a “new Gypsy community” that will diminish the stereotype of them held by other ethnic communities (Славкова 2007: 256). As a result, the Evangelical (home) church becomes an institution that the Roma migrants (regardless their group membership) use to organize themselves, demonstrating mutual solidarity and assistance.

Language as an identity marker Language distinguishes the Turkish Roma among themselves, from the other Roma, and from the surrounding society14. The Turkish Roma in southern Dobrudzha, as well as in Romanian northern Dobrudzha, speak a common dialect (Turkish, Roma, or Crimeantatar), which contributes to the unity of their community. The spoken dialect is a signal of consolidation. The Turkish Roma with Gypsy self-consciousness speak Romani and Turkish, and Bulgarian respectively.

Dialect is a defining marker of Roma/Gypsy or preferred Turkish (Tatar) identity.

Members of each group consider themselves better and more advanced than other Roma, and

14

Classification of the Roma dialects is developed in: Matras, Y. (2002) Romani: A linguistic introduction.

Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

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each perceives their own dialect as the purest Romani, while the other is “corrupted” (Marushiakova/Popov 2001: 423-430).

The knowledge of a language (Turkish or Crimean Tatar) can maintain one’s preferred ethnicity, but the ignorance of Romani language is also a mark of distinction for Roma. Roma with preferred identity consider language the most powerful indicator of their preferred selfidentification. Thus, a foreign language (Turkish, Crimeantatar) becomes the mother tongue the Roma use as a proof of their ethnic origin.

Nowadays, the majority of Muslim Roma with Turkish identity speak Turkish, not Romani. They usually emphasize the fact that they only know Turkish and Bulgarian/Romanian, and take offense if somebody asks whether they speak Romani, which would indicate Roma/Gypsy ethnicity.

The Tatar Roma are Muslims, which unites them with other Turkish Roma. At the same time, they not only speak Turkish but also Crimean Tatar language, which is a strong marker of ethnic distinction from them.

Turkish Roma generally speak Turkish, which further unifies community, especially in migration. Roma migrants in Poland preserve their mother tongue (Romani or Turkish) as the primary means of communication within the community. The Turkish language unites the various subgroups of Turkish Roma. If the members of Usta Millet in Bulgaria distance themselves from other Turkish Roma, the situation in Poland is different. In some cases, they identify only on the basis of language: “that they are those who speak Turkish.”

Members of the Roma groups with different mother tongues (Romani or Turkish) use Bulgarian to communicate. In some cases of long-term migration, the Bulgarian language began to be replaced by Polish. The use of Romani, Turkish, or Bulgarian languages is an important factor for maintaining Roma or preferred Turkish identity, as it demonstrates affiliation with the Bulgarian state.

Roma migrants say they learn to speak Polish quickly through daily communication with Polish clients and because it is similar to Bulgarian. Speaking in Polish is an important factor in their adaptation and integration in Poland.

Housing and living environment The majority of Turkish Roma houses in Dobrudzha are single-story and unsightly.

They are made of cob or brick and sometimes sealed with cement. They usually have one or two rooms. A house is a sign of prestige among some Turkish Roma, but much more so 22

among Kaldarar/Kaldarash Roma. In recent years, some Turkish Roma have begun to take pride in the size and appearance of their dwellings. Some houses in Roma neighborhoods of Dobrich, Kavarna, and Balchik are good examples of this shift. In recent years, municipal development of the Roma neighborhood “Hadzhi Dimitar” in Kavarna has inspired the local Roma to improve the appearance of their houses. Now, they proudly call their neighborhood “Beverly Hills.” Most Turkish Roma houses have satellite antennas that enable them to watch Turkish television programs.

The Turkish Roma in Dobrudzha form separate neighborhoods, as do the other Roma groups that live in the area. Examples are: Silistra (“Sary Bair” to the bus station), Shabla, Dobrich (sq. “Izgrev,” “Keremidchiyskata mahala,” “Iglikite,” the neighborhood around the mosque), Kavarna (“Hadji Dimitar” and the neighborhood to the bus station), Balchik (“Kvartalyt,” “Dere mahala,” “Tsiganskata mahala”), etc.

The Roma migrants in Poland usually live in rental houses. Two or three families often rent a big two- or three-floor house together. Roma neighborhoods tend to follow the model of Roma neighborhoods (“mahala”) from Bulgaria. In some places, they all rent houses on the same street.

The Turkish Roma and other Roma strive to maintain a high standard of cleanliness in their common living spaces. At the same time, common areas adjacent to the dwellings are left untended because they are located outside the “boundaries” of the homes (Erolova 2010: 333-358)15.

Occupations The contemporary labor occupations of the Turkish Roma after 1989 are construction (workers), the clothing trade (buying cheap and re-selling to Turkish and Chinese buyers at higher prices), agricultural work, tourist sector jobs (as cooks and cleaners), and musician.

The clothing trade, construction, and musician have become the most popular. These activities are practiced on a local level, but they became more profitable abroad in the 1990s.

Musician is a popular occupation among the Turkish Roma. Roma musicians are members of various groups, such as Davuldzhii and Mehter Millet. They play at family and holiday celebrations in the surrounding society, and perform songs in Romani, Bulgarian, 15

Such an attitude towards the common areas was observed in Bulgarian society, and was well-illustrated by the panel neighborhoods with apartment buildings. While a family will keep its apartment clean, the common areas between the blocks are not considered part of the home space, even though they are part of the living environment. Smaller trash is often thrown out of windows or off terraces behind the building.

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Turkish, and Crimeantatar language according to the customer’s wishes. Their work in terms of migration is most often associated with family occasions and celebrations of the Roma migrants. Roma musicians will travel between countries—Poland, the Netherlands, Spain, and others—when migrants invite them. Roma musicians never settle permanently in a country.

They prefer to be invited by migrants from the same place of origin: for instance, the Turkish Roma migrants from Dobrudzha prefer to invite Turkish Roma musicians from their region.

Opportunities for profitable work help Turkish Roma migrants in Poland adapt to the foreign country. Men and women go to Poland primarily to work as street-traders. Later, they rent workspaces in the so-called Russian markets (where the traders are from Belarus, Ukraine, and Vietnam) to resell dresses and shoes purchased at cheap stores (“hurtovni”) in Warsaw suburbs. The compact settlements of Roma migrants from Bulgaria can be found in Warsaw and in the border regions of the Czech Republic and Germany. Most often, Roma migrants settle in the capital of Poland, or in villages or small towns. Roma migrants who live in small towns and villages travel daily to other nearby villages on their market days. In some cases, they have regular Polish clients with whom they become friendly.

Roma pimps take Roma girls from Bulgaria to Poland. Once established in Poland, they can continue to work with Roma or Polish prostitutes in major cities. Most Roma prostitutes work on the main roads in Poland.

In rare cases, Roma migrants and Poles have common business interests. For example, one of the markets has a small cafe that is run jointly by Polish and Roma women.

Strong contemporary migratory movements abroad are typical for the Turkish Roma in Dobrudzha, who seek employment and higher incomes. Furthermore, the labor activities of Roma migrants have improved their lifestyle, which results in higher positions in the community’s social hierarchy. Roma migrants emphasize that they worked in Poland once they return to Bulgaria, especially in their interactions with non-Roma.

Customs and holidays The Turkish Roma perform different family, calendar, and religious customs that are consistent with their ethnic and cultural traditions. Family traditions are an important part of Roma culture that contributes intra-community/group cohesion and distinguishes them from the majority of society.

Hadarlez, Ramadan, and Kurban Bayram are the traditional holidays of the Turkish Roma. Ramadan and Kurban Bayram are associated with the religious community and— according to the interlocutors—traditional rituals must be performed on specific days. I will 24

focus on the Hederlezi holiday, which is the biggest holiday for the Turkish Roma in Dobrudzha and for all Roma in Bulgaria (famous as St. George’s day, Baro ges). The Turkish Roma observe Ederelez/Hederlezi on May 6 with a kurban/sacrifice, which is the most important part of the holiday. The sacrificial animal is a lamb, which can be slaughtered or bought slaughtered already. Community members too poor to slaughter a live lamb instead buy a few kilograms of lamb chops. Preparatory sacrificial rituals are performed before the lamb is slaughtered: its head or forehead is painted with henna, and its eyes are closed with a towel (“not looking at how they kill it”).

Another typical custom that all Muslim Roma in Dobrudzha perform on St. George’s day is the jumping of bonfires for health. A fire is lit on almost every street in southern Dobrudzha, and young and old members of the community jump over it three times.

Turkish Roma migrants in Poland observe the holiday of Hederlezi with feast rites. In areas where they are densely settled, they light fires and jump them for health. Hederlezi is the biggest holiday for the Turkish Roma, whether they are at home or in their country of migration. It is an ethno-cultural marker that consolidates their community and distinguishes them from others.

Each family performs the same customs and thus maintains the ethnic group’s traditions. Nowadays, a Turkish Roma “family” refers to parents, their married and unmarried children, and their grandchildren. “Nuclear family” refers to parents and their children.

Marriage endogamy and intermarriages All members of the studied community seek to marry within their group/community.

When asked the preferred origin of a marriageable woman—Bulgarian, Roma, Turkish, or foreign (Polish)—the interlocutors answered, “Roma.” Although the Turkish Roma group with Gypsy identity prefer endogamy, there are many mixed marriages to the other Turkish Roma, but rarely to Christian Roma or Turks. Roma with preferred Turkish identity consider it prestigious to enter the Turkish community via friendship and marriage. A member of the Millet who is married to a Turkish woman will proudly state that his wife is a “true, pure Turk.” At the same time, the Turks consider such a relationship to be somewhere between Turk and Roma. The Tatar Roma (including the Crimean Tatar community) prefer marriage endogamy, but this is more idealistic than realistic: the Turkish Gypsies are currently assimilating the Tatar Gypsy community through intermarriage. Roma in southern Dobrudzha with a Turkish or Tatar preferred identity feel included in the Turkish/Tatar community. They take offense to anti-Roma ethnic stereotypes and try to avoid contact with the Roma. An 25

interesting example of this is the marriage between Tatar Roma men and Turkish Roma women. When a girl’s father found out that she was having relations with a Roma man, he would cut her long hair as punishment (even though her lover is a Muslim).

On the other hand, Turkish Gypsies have started entering into intermarriages in their country of migration. Transnational intermarriages are common, and their circumstances as families whose members live in different countries but stay in touch have been widely studied (Fouron/Sciller 2001; Bashi 2007; Goulbourne/Chambarlain 2001; Grillo 2008; Goulbourne et all 2010; etc.).

The first intermarriage The local Turkish Roma in the town of Balchik consider the first mixed marriage unsuccessful but the following marriages smooth. The first Roma marriage to a Polish woman end fatally. A Roma man went to work in Poland, while his Roma wife and two children stayed in Balchik. In Poland, he fell in love with a Polish woman and moved in with her. He left his Roma wife and took the Polish woman to Balchik, where they had two children.

According to members of the Roma community, the Polish woman could not get used to life in the Roma neighborhood. She took her children and returned to Poland without him. He committed suicide.

Today, we know of more than fifteen intermarriages with Polish women (more than intermarriages with Bulgarians) in southern Dobrudzha. The community considers this very prestigious, even though is does not preserve the traditional endogamous marriage pattern.

“New” families live in Poland and usually come to Bulgaria for New Year’s Eve. The parents’ attitude towards intermarriages.

The Roma community support men marrying Polish women. The male interlocutors often mention jokingly that Polish women prefer darker men (like them). Some members of the researched community think that it is better for a Roma man to marry a Turkish rather than a Polish woman because they share the common religion of Islam. At the same time, they suggest that the popularity of Polish women proves that they, though Catholic, are better: “When the Polish woman marries a Roma man, she becomes a Roma woman, while the Turkish woman is mulish and keeps being a Turkish woman.”… “When the Polish women come here, they learn Turkish and sometimes Romani”…

The parents of a Roma man often brag that their Polish daughter-in-law originated from a family with a high social status in Poland. One story I heard is about a Polish woman who was an only child. Her father was a retired judge. The Polish woman fell in love with a Roma migrant from Bulgaria. She became pregnant, but her father did not allow her to marry 26

the Roma man and she was forced to abort the pregnancy. She continued her relationship with the Roma man and got pregnant again. At this point, her father allowed the marriage.

Usually, the relatives of Polish women do not support their marriages Roma men.

They do not attend weddings and or visit their daughters’ “new” families in Bulgaria or Poland. Although the Roma say that this reaction only lasts for the first few years of a marriage, close relationships with the Roma’s in-laws are rarely established at all.

The community’s attitude towards intermarriage Members of the Roma community think that marriages between Roma men and Polish women are successful because “the Polish daughters-in-law are good house wives, “they help their men’s business in Poland,” “they respect their mothers-in-law.”

Polish daughters-in-law observe the common group moral norms. Their new Roma families speak of them with pride.

“Some of them organize their weddings in Bulgaria,” and they participate in the custom of “Kinna gecesi” (Evening of the henna). This wedding custom includes females gathering to joke, sing, and belly dance. The hands of the bride are colored in red henna.

“The Polish women are dressed modestly” …as are the other women in the Roma community. While the Polish women resided in Balchik as summer tourists in socialist times, today their presence is the result of marriages to local Roma. Although Balchik is a seaside resort, and the first contacts between Roma men and Polish women were established at the beach, neither the Roma’s Polish wives nor the Roma women go to the beach anymore because it is considered shameful.

The Polish daughters-in-law do not convert to Islam—the religion of their “new” families—but preserve their Catholicism. A Polish woman married to a Roma man told me that she visited the local mosque once, but she preferred to remain Catholic. The children of these mixed marriages are brought up Muslim rather than Catholic. The Roma community appreciates that the Polish wives do not impose their religious beliefs on the next generation.

“They do syunet (circumcision) of their children (of the boys)[…]” …which further strengthens the community’s good will towards them, even though they subscribe to a foreign religion. Different confessional affiliations cause no conflict in the family.

27

Children of intermarriage Members of the community stressed (during my visits to them) that children in these families speak only Polish and Romani (or Turkish)—not speak Bulgarian—and form a multidimensional mixed identity: they know that Bulgaria and Poland are their native countries, and that their paternal ethnicity is Roma (respectively Turkish). Migrant children’s language changes because they rarely return to Bulgaria. They learn Polish and forget Bulgarian, but their mother language (Romani or/and Turkish) is preserved because they speak it at home and do not need to use Bulgarian. They speak their father’s language (Romani or Turkish) when they are in Bulgaria and their mother’s in Poland. These children still do not go to school because they are too young, but their Polish identity will probably be enhanced when they start studying at Polish schools.

The intermarriages (except as a result of the migration process) can be seen as a strategy for adaptation and integration into non-Roma society in the host country. Currently, this strategy is probably successful due to the lack of anti-Roma stereotypes, which they face in their home country.

Funeral customs The funeral rites of the Turkish Roma in Dobrudzha are performed according to the religious and cultural tradition of the community. The Muslim Roma bury their dead without a coffin. The dead person is wrapped in white sheet (kefin). Traditionally, only men attend funerals in the Muslim cemeteries. If the deceased had migrated to a different country, he is transported back home and buried in his native place.

Seven days after the funeral, the family of the deceased invites the imam—or so-called hodzha (male or female)—to their home to “read” (or repeat) prayers from the Koran. The closest relatives attend these prayers. The family of the deceased performs memorial services on the seventh, thirty-seventh, and fifty-second day after death. They are known as “struvania” (southern Dobrudzha) and “Mevlid” (among all Muslims in Bulgaria). Seven types of dishes (halva, stew and soup (with meat, but not pork), pie, corn, rice milk, etc.) are cooked. All the women from the Roma community attend the memorial service and bring sweets in memory of the dead.

The women can visit the grave of the deceased on the first Saturday after the funeral.

Even if a Turkish Roma has converted to Protestantism, they can receive a Muslim burial at the request of their family. In the event of migration, Turkish Roma migrants in Poland do their best to perform all memorial services in accordance with the rules of Islam.

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CONCLUDING REMARKS: Mobility has always been an important part of life for the Roma people. After the Turkish Roma settled in the so-called Bulgarian lands, the majority of them embarked on a sedentary lifestyle while others migrated to Turkey during socialism. A large percentage of Roma migrated to other European countries after 1989. Today, the Roma in Bulgaria use their right to free movement and labor mobility to access the European Union countries. The ethnocultural development of the Turkish Roma has two lines: one was developed in the home country, and the other during migration. This was illustrated by the example of the Turkish Roma from Dobrudzha.

The Turkish Roma in Dobrudzha form their own heterogeneous community, in which different groups segment and consolidate, but also integrate into the Roma and Turkish communities in Bulgaria. Community development is determined primarily by external factors: the policies towards them and their surrounding ethno-social environment (at home or abroad) combine with internal traditions and characteristics of their community (unique in the process of self-identification) to unite them in a meta-group community and distinguish them from non-Roma. In general, we observe the following processes in the development of the Turkish Roma from Dobrudzha: (1) Consolidation and/or segmentation of the Roma community/group (Gypsies, Turks, Milet); (2) Integration into the Roma community in Bulgaria since 1989, through political participation and a “return” to “Roma/Gypsy” identity; (3) Separation from the non-Roma (Bulgarians); and (4) “Adherence” to other ethnicities (Turkish, Crimean Tatar).

The Turkish Roma construct their identity through a common ethnic origin, ethnocultural traditions and heritage, policy, and an ethno-social environment. Community members imagine their identity through their historical destiny; civic, ethnic, religious, and regional affiliation; and multiple cultural elements (labor occupation, housing, environment, clothing, family and calendar customs, customs and holidays). All of these are determined by a long and complex history of community values, perceptions, and practices.

They maintain their identity through recognition of ethnic boundaries that differentiate them from “the others.” Their priority in different socio-economic and legal situations is to retain their Gypsy/Roma identity and to distinguish themselves from the non-Roma. The field material we collected shows that culture creates identity not only within their community, but also in their adherence to other foreign ethnic communities. In every case, a common 29

Gypsy/Roma identity forms in relation to contemporary social and political conditions, and this unites the members of different Roma groups into a community.

In spite of permanent emigration and the large number of Roma with preferred ethnic identity (Turkish, Tatar), the number of the Roma is increasing. A main reason for this is that Roma are trading ethnic mimicry and/or preferred identity for Gypsy/Roma identity: they are starting to identify as “Gypsies” or “Roma.” On the other hand, the civic identity (Bulgarian) of some of the studied population—mostly migrants—has strengthened, especially since Bulgaria acceded to the EU. This multidimensionality of the Turkish Roma identity, caused by external and internal factors, will continue to determine the ethnic development of their community in the region of Dobrudzha.

Migration of the Turkish Muslim Roma from Bulgaria to Poland presents new dimensions of the Roma labor mobility in Central and Eastern Europe. Regarding migration abroad, the boundaries between different groups of Turkish Roma are becoming less apparent.

In contrast, members of various groups with Gypsy, Turkish, or (Usta) Millet identity maintain other ethnic boundaries based on a Bulgarian citizenship; the region belonging to Dobrudzha (even to a certain village); and common ethnicity, religion, and linguistic characteristics. Different versions of the Turkish Roma identity (in their native country versus as migrants) confirm their classification as a meta-group community, in which different groups can be separated by different criteria (identity, language, occupation, marital endogamy, etc.). The boundaries between these groups are not static; they appear to be one, homogeneous group in certain ways. The interplay between Turkish and Gypsy (Roma) renders the Gypsy identity dynamic and complex.

Roma migrations as a whole are not different from the migrations of the majority of society. The connection between the cause and the impact of migration illustrates two main tendencies. On the one hand, the migration model is connected with a traditional form of mobility for the majority of the society: Gurbet. The cause and the result of labor migration are economic. On the other hand, Roma migration to Poland is different than the traditional Gurbet. Transnational marriages (between Roma men from Bulgaria and Polish women) impact the local Roma community. Intermarriages with Polish women, who become new members of the Roma community, indicate the dissolution of marriage endogamy. At the same time, the continuity of community traditions is ensured by preservation of certain ethical norms, as well as by the education of the children in the paternal culture.

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Roma migrants continue to recognize and respect traditional Roma values. Although migrants live abroad and return to Bulgaria only for for short visits, they consider Dobrudzha their home, and maintain that someday they will return to Bulgaria forever.

Despite differences between the Turkish Roma migrants and those in their home country—which are visible primarily in relation to one another—we can observe a number of commonalities, such as religion, language, a sense of belonging to a specific region, and other cultural characteristics. Common history, intermarriages (despite the endogamy tradition), contemporary socio-political activity, emigration abroad, and “awareness” of a Bulgarian and European citizenship unite them in different way. Through socio-political participation in their native country, the Turkish Gypsies enhance or modify their identity (from Turkish to Roma/Gypsy), but migrants prize their Bulgarian identity.

The Roma migrations to Poland point to a positive impact of free movement and labor mobility within the European Union. The adaptation and integration strategy of the Turkish Roma is successful at this point. The Turkish Roma organize themselves around a shared labor occupation, religion, and new consciousness of Bulgarian European citizens. This parallels the ethno-cultural changes in their traditional characteristics. The next generation, spawned by intermarriages between male Roma migrants and Polish women, will present new versions of identity based on their mixed origins.

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