Europeanization of minority rights in Bulgaria: Turks of Bulgaria as a case study


Tezin Türü: Yüksek Lisans

Tezin Yürütüldüğü Kurum: Orta Doğu Teknik Üniversitesi, İktisadi ve İdari Bilimler Fakültesi, Uluslararası İlişkiler Bölümü, Türkiye

Tezin Onay Tarihi: 2013

Öğrenci: MUZAFFER VATANSEVER KUTLAY

Danışman: MEHMET FATİH TAYFUR

Özet:

This thesis aims to find an answer to the following question: What are the shifts and continuities of Bulgaria’s minority policy over the last two decades and what is the impact of the EU, thereby Europeanization, in the process, if any? To answer to this question, three sub-periods (1989-1999, 1999-2007 and 2007-2012) are to be investigated separately to reveal the role of the EU in the process. In this context, this study develops a historical perspective on Bulgaria’s treatment of Turkish minority as a case study. The overall conclusion of this study is that the Europeanization of minority rights in Bulgaria has remained fragmented, restricted and limited. The findings of this study confirm other studies in the relevant literature in the sense that EU’s leverage on minority rights is rather limited and non-linear especially in comparison to other standardized policy areas.