Muslim Identity and the Balkan State

HUGH POULTON SUHA TAJI-FAROUKI editors

Muslim Identity and the

Balkan State

I.B.U. LIBRARY i.B.O. KUTUPHANESi

HURST & COMPANY, LONDON in association with the Islamic Council

First published in the United Kingdom by C. Hurst & Co. (Publishers) Ltd., 38 King Street, London WC2E 8JZ © Hugh Poulton and Suha Taji-Farouki, 1997 All rIghts reserved. Printed and bound in Great Brita1l1 by BiddIes Ltd, GuiIdford and King's Lynn ISBNs 1-85065-276-7 (cased) 1-85065-348-8 (paper)

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The editors would like to thank all those whose efforts or support contributed to the production of this book. Special thanks are due to the various authors; to H.R.H. Crown Prince EI-Hassan bin Talal of Jordan; to Saleha Mahmoud-Abedin, editor of the IMMA book series, of which this is the third publication; to Christopher Hurst and Michael Dwyer of Hurst and Co., the publishers, and to Professor Harry Norris for his comments. The editors, of course, accept full responsibility for the opinions expressed, and for any errors. April 1997

S.T.-F. H.P.

v

CONTENTS

Acknowledgemmts

page v

TtlC Contributors

IX

Suha Tclji-Pal'Ouki and HU,lSh Poulton 1 Islam. EthmClty and State m the Contemporary Balkans Hugh Poulton 13 Strategies for Sustaimng a Vulnerable Identity: The ~ Case of the Bulgarian Pomaks Yulian Konstantilwv '~ From Religious Identity to Ethnic Mobilisation: The Turks of Bulgana before, under and smce Communism Wo!&al1g Hiipkel1 ~~ Changing Notions of National Identity among Muslims in Thrace and Macedonia: Turks, Pomaks and Roma Hugh Poulton 82 The Muslim Population in FYROM (Macedonia): Public PerceptIOns Natasha Gaber 103 Islam, State and Society in Post-COlmnunist Albania Nathalie Clayer 115 The Kosovo Albanians: Ethnic 'Confrontation with the Slav State Hugh Poultol1 and Miral1da Vickers 139 The SandZak: A PerspectIve of Serb-Muslim Relations Milan Al1drejevich 170 Turkey as Kin-State: Turkish Foreign Policy towards Turkish and Muslim Communities m the Balkans Hugh Poulton 194 Sustaming Turkish-Islamic Loyalties: The DiyQ11et in Western Europe Nico Umdl1lal1 214 After Dayton HU,lSh Poultol1 232

1. Introduction

J 2. 3. 4.

J 5.

J 6.

e

j 8. 9.

rl0.

11. 12.

243

Index VB

THE CONTRIBUTORS

Milan Andrejevich, formerly a research analyst and special assistant to the director of Radio Free Europe for Southeast European affairs, Munich, is currently an international affairs and media consultant specialising in Southeastern Europe in Washington DC. Nathalie Clayer is on the staff of the Centre d'Histoire du Domaine Turc, Ecole des Halltes Etudes en SCIences Sociales, Paris. Natasha Gaber is deputy director of the Centre for Inter-Ethnic Relations at the Institute for SocIOlogical and Political Research, SkoPJe, FYROM. WO![f?allg Hopken is professor of Balkan History at the University of Leipzig.

Yuliall K011St(//1tillov is head of the Bulgarian Society for RegIonal Cultural Studies, Sofia. Nico Lam/mm/ IS a specialist on Muslim religious affairs in Turkey and Western Europe at the speCIal group on oriental languages and cultures in the Faculty of Letters, UniversIty of Lei den, Netherlands. Hugh Poultol1 is the author of IiVho are the Macedonians? (1995) and Top Hat, Grey fMJlf and Crescent: Turkish Nationalism and the 1hrkish Republic (1997). He is a consultant on the Balkans to the Minority Rights Group. Suha Taji-Farouki is lecturer in Modern Islam at the Centre for Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies, University of Durham, England. Miranda Vickers IS co-author (with James Pettifer) of Albania: From Anarchy to a Balkan Identity (1997); her Between Serb (//1d Albanian: A History of Kosol/a is due for publication in 1988. IX

1 INTRODUCTION Suha Taji-Farouki and Hugh Poulton Following the collapse of the former Yugoslav state, the conflict there focused world attention on the Muslims of Bosnia-Hercegovina, which Norris 1 has described as 'the historical heartland of the world of Islam in the Balkans'. Significant among the causes of the tragedy was the collapse into war of the states in which they lived - both the former Yugoslav state and the incipient Bosnian one. The Bosnian tragedy has made very clear the importance of examining the relationship between the Balkan Muslim communities and the states in which they live, as well as their self-definition in relation to these states. This forms the primary focus of this study. The appalling bloodshed and destruction in Bosnia-Hercegovina, the impact of which was felt throughout Europe and beyond, graphically illustrated the potential for conflict in the Balkans involving Muslim populations. Before the Dayton settlement there were clear indications that the war there might spread to other predominantly Muslim regions, such as the Sandzak or Kosovo, or erupt into a wider Balkan war. While the settlement has brought a peace of sorts, continuing evidence of conflict between the region's ethnically and religiously diverse populations presses home the need for vigilance and the importance of a serious academic focus on this complex ethnic and sectarian mosaic. The Muslim communities of the Balkan states have rarely been the subject of comprehensive scholarly research, and only at infrequent intervals have the world's media taken an interest in bringing their circumstances to the attention of the general public. While the Bosnian Muslims have for understandable reasons attracted much attention,2 many of the other Muslim population 1 H. T, Norris. Islam ill Ihe Balkalls: Religioll and Society belWeetz Europe and tile Ami, T¥orld. London: Hurst. 1993. p. 254. 2 For a comprehensive discussion of the history and circumstances of the Bosnian Muslims see Mark Pinson. The Muslims I!f BOSllia-HcrccgoIJina. Cambridge. MA:

1

3

Sulra Taji-Farouki ami Hugh Poulton

Introduction

groups in the Balkans have not been examined in such great detail, a gap this volume aspires to fill. However, it does not address the Bosnian Muslims because its focus IS on the relations between Balkan Muslim communities and the states 111 which they live, and the nature of the state in wl1lch the Bosnian Muslims live IS uncertain. In contrast the SandZak Muslims, also SerboCroat-speaking, are discussed since theIr position in relation to the state in which they live (i.e. in Serbia and Montenegro 111 rump YugoslaVIa) can be predicted more easily. The Muslim commUl1lties ofKosovo, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM), Greece, Bulgaria and Albania are included within the volume but not that of Romania - a country traditionally counted as within the Balkan region but whose Muslim population IS numerIcally small. Islam in the Balkans has never been monolithic, having always had a broad varIety of forms and expressions. While the book provides detailed studies of less well-known groups, like the Pomaks, it also examines the situation oflarger more visible groups such as the Muslim Albanians. This serves to hIghlight the diversity among the Balkan Muslim populations. However, the chapters are mainly concerned WIth minority Muslim communities, because Muslims 111 the Balkans live predominantly as minOrItIes in Orthodox Christian states, each of wl1lch is seen as the national territory of a particular ethnic group to which they often do not belong. In such situations the Muslim communities face a compounded problem by virtue of their presence as a m1110rity that is defined in both ethnic and religious terms. Even in Albania, where the Muslims form a majonty, their presence in what till the fall of Communism was a militantly atheistIC state where all religious communities were severely repressed makes their position comparable to that of Musiim commuI1lties 111 potentially hostile states. Furthermore, as a l11~oritarian Muslim country Albania is central to the ethl1lc dynamics of the region - for example, with its impact on FYROM and Kosovo. In addition to a chapter on Albama, there are also two chapters

relating to Turkey. Of several reasons for this the most important is that the presence of about one million Muslims in the Balkans creates a responsibility for Turkey as a neighbourmg Muslim country compounded by the historical legacy of Ottoman rule in the region. There has been considerable evidence since the 1980s of an attempt by Turkey to strengthen its role and extend its political and economic influence 111 the Balkans. This includes, for example, the conclusion of military agreements with Albania 111 1991 - under which Ankara agreed to help train and modernise the Albanian armed forces - and FYROM in 1995; preparatIOns for a parallel agreeinent with Bosnia (a Turkish consulate was opened in Sarajevo in 1991); and the East-West corridor project, which aims to link Turkey with Bosnia and FYROM, and through them with Western Europe. In addition, there has been a warming of relations with Bulgaria, Ankara's arch-enemy during the Cold War. Turkey casts a paternal eye over ethnic Turkish communities in Bulgaria, Greece and FYROM, and a large number of other Muslims who are not ethnic Turks look to it as a kin-state for histOrIcal, relif,>1ous and other reasons. And it is illuminating by way of comparISon and contrast to examine Turkey's relationship not only with these but also with ethnic Turkish Muslim communities in Western Europe. Turkey's interest in Turkish Muslim communities beyond its borders brings to the fore the Issue - cruCIally important in the Balkans and highlighted throughout this book - of the relationship between religion and ethl1lcity. Before exploring this it IS necessary to define what we mean here by the term 'Muslim'. Where the indiVIdual is concerned, it includes any persons who believe in or practise some form oflslam, consIder themselves to be culturally Muslim whether or not they practise Islam, or one of Muslim ancestry. The definition of Muslim communities raises certain complications. The long period of Ottoman rule and the millet system - whereby religIOn defined communal identity rather than ethnicity or language - nurtured a strong sense of bel 0 ng111g which was determined exclusively by religIOn. The coheSIve nature of Islam as a social force emphasising the notion of a universal Islamic community or ul11ma re111forces this. At the local level the teachings and daily practICe of the faIth, and the aSSOCiated customs, serve to create a consolidated sense of commul1lty; these customs and the dis-

2

Harvard University Press, 1994; Robert J. Donia, Islalll IIllder tlze DOllble Eagle Boulder. CO: Westview Press, 1981. Alcxandrc Popovic, L' Is la III I)(/Ikatliql/(~. Lcs 1I11ISSIIIIIUlI1S dll Slid-est ellropeet! dat/5 la J)(:riode post-ottO/llalle, Osteuropa-Institut an cler Freicn Universitat Berlin. 1986; R.J. Doma and John V.A. Fine, BOSlllil[-[ercegol';/lil: .II Traditioll Betrayed, London: Hurst, 1994.

4

SlIha Taji-Farollki and Hugh Poulton

11ltroductioll

tinctive way of the life that goes with them separate Muslims from their non-Muslim neighbours even where faith has been eroded. The erosion of religious belief in Balkan societies can be attributed to a number of forces; these include the penetration of competing ideologies such as nationalism, Commumsm with its attendant secularising influence, and the transfonllation of traditional Balkan socIal structures. A particularly important consequence of such intrusions and the accompanyll1g changes has been the emergence of new perceptions of Identity defined according to ethnic and nationalist constructs. These have both been adopted by Balkan Muslim communities and imposed upon them. Self-identification as Muslim bv Balkan Muslim communities themselves takes on a meaning n~arkedly different from that intended when the label is applied by their foes and those who see them as sectarian survivals from the Ottoman age who pose an intractable problem for the successor-states. Taking this into account, thIS volume views the Muslim communities of the Balkans as groups that can be defined socially and ethmcally on the one hand, but also as specific religious groups on the other, characterised by distinct inner lives centred upon specific religious conVIctions, practices and ll1stitutions. While the importance of this inner Islamic life is accorded due recognition It is not the focus of this study, and thus there is no attempt to offer a systematic overview of Islamic conVIctions and rituals among Muslims in the Balkans, or to discuss specifically Islamic institutions and administration, religious education, Islamic publications, or the celebration of religious events. While these issues are adequately addressed 111 existing literature,3 they all need further research, which should aim particularly to document and analyse the impact of Communist

rule and secularisation on individual and collective religious life in terms of both belief and practice, as well as developments in these areas since the collapse of Communism. This raises a question WIth sIgnificant and diverse implications: what does it mean to be a Muslim in the contemporary Balkans? The impact of CommUI1lst rule and secularisation both on the ability to practice Islam and on the vitality of Islamic belief and faIth must be taken ll1to consideration: in former Yugoslavia, for example, after fifty years under a very secular and secularising state, one must ask how deeply religious could the Muslim populations remain? On comll1g to power in 1946, the Communist regime in Bulgaria eradicated all Muslim holidays, prohibited the celebration offeasts and festivals and fast111g during the month of Ramazan and introduced restrictions on the perfonllance of the hajj and various religious rites. Under the Zhivkov regime the call to prayer was also restricted. In Albama the Enver Hoxha regIme severely undermined the foundations of Islamic society, Thus 111 these areas the Impact of the Communist period continues to be felt, despite positive changes since 1989-90. Concern has been voiced by several Islamic actors, including the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC): a report on the situation of Muslim communities and m1110rities in non-member states subnutted by the OIC Secretary-General to the Twenty-second Islamic Conference of Foreign Ministers 111 December 19944 includes detailed references to the communities 111 the Sandzak, Kosovo and FYROM (artIcles 61-3), Greece (articles 53-60) and Bulgaria. s As for the former Yugoslavia, the Secretary-General noted with satisclCtion the benefits reaped by Muslim populations from the widespread changes that had swept Eastern Europe since 1989. These included official recognition of freedom of religious expression, making it possible for Islamic schools and 111stitutions to reopen, and the creation of political frameworks providing channels for the lobbying of parliaments. Calling on the OIC's member-states to fulfil their duties to these communities, especially by improving their social and religious conditions, providing ap-

See III particular A. Popovic, VIslmll Balkmziqllc; Ahmed Sm;ulovic, 'Muslims in Yugoslavia', jIMMA (Jollrlwl. tire Illstitlite C?f Muslilll MitlOrity /1ffairs, Jeddah) 2:1, 1980, Pl'. 132-44; M. Ali Kettani, 'Muslims in Southern Europe', jiMMA, 2:1, 1980, Pl'. 145-57; M.l. Qureshi, World Mllslim Millorities, World Muslim Congress, Islamabad, 1993. For more general diSCUSSIOns of Islam and Muslims in the Balkans see the works of Ivo Banac, Smail Balie, Antonia Zhelyazkova, Nathalie Clayer, Ivo Lederer, Petar-Emil Mitev; see alsojIJ\1MA; the contributors here are often Muslim, including Smail13alic, M. Ali Ketta11l, Ahmed Sm;ulovic and Khalid Duran. It should also be noted here that there IS no attcmpt in this study to tracc the historical IslamisatlOn of the communities discussed. 3

5

ICFM122-94/MM/D .1. s Report of the Secretary-General on the Plight of the Turkish Muslim MinOrity in Bulgaria: ICFM122-94/MM/D,3.

4

6

Suha Taji-Farouki and HU,l!,h Poulton

Introduction

propriate religious matenal translated into local languages, and initiating activities among women, he argued that these Muslims,

the latter throughout the Muslim world drew considerable media attention, especially when it was manifested in the forn1 of war volunteers. Western fears of a reassertion of Islam in the region fuelled local prejudices in this respect . The prospect of a Muslim-dominated state in Euro e, which the CrISIS 111 osnia rought to the fore, l~roduced substantial unease in some Western circles, while a ri~ing new 1Sramic factor' figures prominently in emerg~g debates within the Balkans on Balkan and European security. Alballii' Against this background a sens,e ~~ggl~_h~.~er~d. agEn~,J?erceived Muslim threat; this iS~...!10table i!l.9ree~ aI~_~~_~!:,~ has 6~¢com.e~~§t'fal to the perception held by certain circles in thOse countries of t11eIr"roTe'lll em. Wllik.~

.... who have begun to realise anew their belonging to this great religion, look forward with optImism and hope to the Islamic world. They need assistance from every Muslim in the world in order to give them direction and compensate them for the years of repression and deprivation. We have to open our hearts and mmds to these Muslims. They are desperate. to go back to theIr real roots. It is not enough to sympathise wIth them through the media but we have to support them, ideol~gically and materially, and increase the scope of cooperation with them.) >

>

>

>

>

>

The Secretary-General alerted his colleagues to the increasingly widespread notIOn of Islam as a threat to be contained, and acknowledged the contribution whIch the recent political upheavals and economic difficulties in the region had made to the growth of tIllS opimon. Citing hostile anti-Muslim campaigns orchestrated by radical nationalists and constructions of 'Muslim extremism', which have been upheld as a pretext to object to the presence of Muslim representatives in the new parliamentary bodies, he 111sIsted that Muslims in the Sandzak, Kosovo and FYROM face a senous threat of annihilation comparable to that faced by the Muslims in Bosnia. Similarly he highlighted efforts to obliterate Muslim identIty in Western Thrace, and registered concern at the rise of ethnic nationalist sentiment in post-Zhivkov Bulgaria, threatening an anti-Muslim backlash. In particular, he expressed disappointment at the £'lilure of this regime to return lands once owned by Islamic institutIons that had been confiscated by the Conununist regime. The OIC Secretary-General's position on the Muslim minorities of the Balkans, summed up in his urgent call to member-states to be active in protecting them, was echoed in the stance adopted by many governments of Muslim countries during the Bosnian crisis. To distance themselves from Western policy and avoid accusations of not doing enough to help their fellow Muslims, especially over the ending of the arms embargo, many of them joined international IslamIC organisations and Islamist political movements in providing generous aid to the Bosnian Muslims. Support for (, Report ICFMI22-94/MM/D.1. p. 17.

n~-SerbS'-to

7

:X ~:.~..~~::':~ ~:,,_~.!: ~;£.:.?S2>~?~I.;>t,",,~..>.~~,~s.....»!~lg~E~ans

ha~~2~~~E3J?P!~1!~n~!g.!1L~J2.2.\t~>!!:lE~~11,::~~,~ among theI~~OrtQQ.Q9.1LMaceE.£nians'L.Jaced~tl:L!hs:>••tapigI}:".,grQ~in{LE!>::~!>im

.~lbanian.J22Put~!i2!.1..AJ1~~~_~~m~1,!;F.$J~~~~w.For, i art is .a widespr~'ld E.erc~;p.t~Ol~th uslim world th Ire '%'acteffectiVery orpromp~_£1~..~~n!.?3,:,"~~~••_~~9 ~~1Ce to acce t a nce 111 tr~~~l1tt~rd ate e .crt to remove t e ast vestig~s or1Sr~fuEu~~l?i:·- 11 e t11tt;~~trb;1·(}[;l11~rrcr~lng~C'(;~;;fIt(;t bef~siai~'?and 'the West' IS frequently applied to the Balkan case, it is important to look more closely at the two categories counterpoised here. IQ!!!1derstand fears ofIslam and 'IslamIC fundamentalism' among thLC:]1riStIan populations of th~Ui~!§.!.1_. sta~~"L!!....lL!!!cejliJl!y to ~s.iA~_the.J~g~.~.L2.~~~~;an~.:;:l~: For some 400 years, Islam was encountered by these popu1atIOns,~he Jeligion ~1e .~ ~~~ as disadvantaged citizens, Barkanenrrstianswere left with suspicion and dislike of the Turks and Islam. Referring to developments during the Yugoslav Imbroglio, Donia and Fine argue: Though these feelings had greatly decreased over the past century, recent demagogues and media propaganda have made use of colored descriptions of these years, linking the various abuses of that time with Islam. Propagandists can use these themes successfully, because fear ofIslam (encouraged by the way the Turkish period IS depicted 111 school books and folklore)

8

SlIlra Taji-l'arouki and Hugh Pouitcm

Illtroduction

lics just bclow thc Sur£1CC in many semi-educated Christians' minds. . , . TIm legacy IS not a rctaincd centurics-old hatred, but somcthing that can bc played upon and grcatly distorted by publicists.7

world. By contrast, it is characterISed as liberal and tolerant. Many authors note that B~nia's Muslims see no inherent conflict between

~gac~ of the ?,£Uy'sten!.jn~~ BalkaIl§..jL~...Y_t,~~~f2~ !iI11c

~!?al~~_M,!15J~~,,:,g~~ll:!~_ of integra'don wit!liil ~~~~! ~~As the head of Bosnian Islam put it in 1989, 'Those who adopted the Islamic faith m these regions have the good fortune to belong to the long established European inhabitants and to participate in the finest achievements of European culture'.10 In spite of the signing of the Dayton Peace Treaty for BosniaHercegovina in December 1995, aImed at halting Europe's most bloody conflict after the Second World War, the future of Muslims in the Balkans cannot be predicted. Building on US Secretary of State Warren Christopher's comment that the Dayton Agreement would pave the way for other problems 111 the Balkans to be solved, the Kosovo leader Ibrahim Rugova reminded the US State Department that the crisis in the former Yugoslavia had started in Kosovo, and that everythmg must be done to prevent the final tragedy from taking place there. 11 Flashpo111ts in the Balkans involvmg Muslim minoritIes remain. J~[~ara .j;SJ.-pro~~~~~ol~~,e

L

b.e~C;;!!ill.QlLi!!L.~!llil!gl,y-. TraditlOnally, the Orthodox churches have been intimately linked with particular states, nations and ethnic groups. It is generally recognised that they played a central role in the various Balkan nationalist movements and as a result the religious [;lctor became particularly prominent in the construction of.modern national identities in the region, confusing concepts of relIgIon, ethnicity and cItizenship. Forces of ethnic n~Q!~sm have been unleashed in the Balkans ~~of tl:lJ~-..GQ1(L~ra~'{liS1i1tegr:1t:To;;-OftT~~·s9Vit UlitQ!b and the conflict between the various ethno-nationalist groups has proceeded largely along confessional lines. NatlOnaliSllLh~.1l~en dOll,Un;m.~...i!-:. ,E.!~,~~ ~!~,£J?,~li. £~.s,~l,..!:l~,!ieoL