Process of Rebirth

The Revival Process, also known as the Process of Rebirth (Bulgarian: Възродителен процес - Vǎzroditelen proces) was the official name of the forceful assimilation of Bulgaria's Muslim minority (900,000 people or 10% of the population) to assimilate by changing their Turkish and Arabic names to Bulgarian names and forbidding the exercise of their customs, religion and language. It was enacted between 1984 and 1989 under the communist government of Todor Zhivkov. Those who refused were subjected to persecution, including imprisonment.

As part of the campaign, all Bulgarian nationals who were ethnically Turkish were forced to exchange their names for Bulgarian names amid much official intimidation, some violence and loss of life (Muslim Bulgarians had been forced to change their names in 1972). In early 1989, in some areas with large ethnic Turkish populations there were severe clashes with fatalities. Shortly after that, when the border with Turkey was opened, over 300,000 people left Bulgaria for Turkey in the late spring and the summer of 1989.

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