The Myth of Ethnic Conflict: Chap 13 - Diplomatic Institute

508 Maria Todorova
100,000 are Pomaks and 200,000 gypsies (see Elena Trifonova, “Yakoruda—
Golyamoto chakane za edna istins,” Standart, 20 April 1993). Konstantinov
(“An Account of Pomak Conversions,” p. 344, n. 3) cites 270,000 Pomaks
as an official figure of the Ministry of Interior by May 1989 but does not
disclose his exact source.
64. Yanora Grigorova and Yasen Borislavov, “Bîlgarite v Yakoruda styagat
neshto kato vîstanie,” Duma, 15 May 1993.
65. Boika Asiova, “Yakoruda se poturchva spokoino,” Duma, 27 November 1992.
According to the census rules, children over 16 determine their ethnic characteristics
themselves; under this age, it is the prerogative of their parents.
66. Grigorova and Borislavov; Trifonova.
67. Ibid.
68. Grigorova and Borislavov.
69. Trifonova.
70. The IMRO, which had enjoyed a state-within-a-state status in Bulgaria
following World War I and had terrorized the political life of the country
in the interwar period, was banned after the military coup of 1934. It was
revived after the fall of communism in 1989. Despite its shrill and vociferous
nationalism and its great wealth, the organization has not thus far engaged
in any extralegal activities. The mayor of Yakoruda, Naile Salikh, blames
the inflated reports of ethnic tensions in the municipality and the whole
inflamed public debate exclusively on the leaders of the local branch of the
IMRO (Nov Pirinskli vestnik, no. 60 [8–14 December 1992]).
71. Prava i svobodi, no. 22 (28 May 1993), p. 3.
72. Prava i svobodi, no. 24 (11 June 1993), p. 3.
73. Mariana Kirova, “Turtsizirat se Yakoruda i gr. Gotse Delchev,” Demokratsiya,
22 May 1993. A protest against the report of the parliamentary commission
was filed by Naila Salikh and was published in Prava i svobodi, no. 26 (25
June 1993).
74. For different reactions to the parliamentary decision, see Zora, 30 September
1993; 168 chasa, 26 September 1993; Duma, 29 September 1993.
75. The information was gathered on a special card at the same time as the
census data. The pollsters interviewed all males between the ages of 16 and
59 and all females between 16 and 54. The results were published in
Bezrabotni v republika Bîlgariya kîm 4.12.1992 godina (predvaritelni danni)
(Sofia: National Statistical Institute, 1993).
76. Ibid., p. 7.
77. Ibid., pp. 11–12.
78. After 1989 Bulgaria lost its traditional tobacco markets in Eastern Europe,
especially the large market of the former Soviet Union, but also the markets
of Poland and Hungary. At the same time, the local consumer market for
Bulgarian cigarettes has shrunk fourfold because of the low tariffs imposed