Bulgarisation

While the Ottomans did not generally require Bulgarians to convert to Islam,[1] the empire did enforce the Jizya tax and other forms of inhuman discrimination and practices on non-Muslims (such as the Devshirme).

[3] In spite of treaty obligations requiring Bulgaria to protect its Muslim subjects, Islamic buildings of many kinds were destroyed (including mosques, schools, and homes).

[8] Following the death of Stalin in 1953, Todor Zhivkov rose to leadership of the Bulgarian Communist Party and the country by extension.

[9] The regime in Sofia often fell back on claims that the Ottoman Empire had planned and executed the "Islamization" and "Turkification" of Bulgaria.

[10] Notable among the Bulgarianisation campaigns of the Zhivkov era was the "Revival Process", a 1980s attempt to assimilate the Turkish population of Bulgaria.

The "Revival Process" was followed by the "Big Excursion" which saw the expulsion of over 300,000 Bulgarian Turks from the country (and subsequent return of some of the victims).