ROUND-UP OF BULGARIAN TURKS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SOFIA 03382 SIPDIS E.O. 12356: OADR TAGS: PHUM PINR BU TU SUBJECT: ROUND-UP OF BULGARIAN TURKS REF: (A) SOFIA 3356, (B) SOFIA 3170 ¶1. C - ENTIRE TEXT. ¶2. EMBOFF CALLED AUGUST 8 ON XXXXXXXXXXXX, TO SEEK CONFIRMATION OF AND ADDITIONAL DETAILS ON A REPORTED RECENT ROUND-UP AND ARREST OF ETHNIC-TURKISH BULGARIANS (REF A). WITHOUT REFERENCE TO REF A REPORT, EMBOFF STEERED DISCUSSION OF OTHER TOPICS (SEPTELS) AROUND TO WHETHER THERE HAVE BEEN SIGNIFICANT DEVELOPMENTS IN RECENT WEEKS REGARDING BULGARIAN TURKS. IN HIS RESPONSE, XXXXXXXXXXXX MADE NO REFERENCE TO A SUDDEN WAVE OF ARRESTS. - ¶3. IN FURTHER CONVERSATION, XXXXXXXXXXXX DID REFER TO BULGARIAN TURKS RECENTLY RELEASED FROM BELENE ISLAND PRISON AND THEN EXILED TO KYUSTENDIL AND VRATSA (EVIDENTLY THE CASES ALSO MENTIONED BY SOURCE OF REF A). HE SAID THAT NO SPECIFIC TERM OF YEARS FOR SUCH EXILE HAD BEEN STATED. IN ENSUING DISCUSSION OF WHETHER BULGARIA WAS PURSUING A POLICY OF RESETTLING SIGNIFICANT NUMBERS OF ETHNIC TURKS, XXXXXXXXXXXX INDICATED HIS BELIEF THAT SUCH FORCED RESETTLEMENTS ON A LIMITED SCALE HAD BEEN CARRIED OUT SINCE EVEN BEFORE THE BEGINNING OF THE 1984-85 NAME-CHANGING CAMPAIGN. HE SAID THAT ON A 1985 TRIP TO XXXXXXXXXXXX, HE WAS TOLD BY ETHNIC TURKISH CONTACTS THAT TWO HUNDRED FAMILIES (PROBABLY 800-1000 PEOPLE) HAD BEEN UPROOTED FROM THE TURKISH QUARTER OF THAT CITY AND RESETTLED ELSEWHERE. HE HAD BEEN SHOWN THE VACANT HOUSES OF SOME OF THE FAMILIES INVOLVED. HE ALSO REFERRED TO A MORE RECENT CASE OF A YOUNG ETHNIC TURK WHO, ALONG WITH OTHER FAMILY MEMBERS, WAS FORCIBLY RESETTLED FROM THE PLOVDIV AREA AFTER ATTEMPTING TO CONTACT THE TURKISH CONSULATE IN PLOVDIV. ¶4. COMMENT. XXXXXXXXXXXX DIRECT CONTACT WITH ETHNIC TURKS WORKING INVOLUNTARILY OUTSIDE THEIR PLACE OF ORIGIN REMAINS LIMITED TO TWO CASES (REF B). THUS ALTHOUGH A POLICY OF RESETTLING ETHNIC TURKS, ESPECIALLY "TROUBLE-MAKERS," IS PLAUSIBLE AND WAS INDEED THREATENED IN A 1985 INTERVIEW GIVEN BY BULGARIAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCES CHAIRMAN ANGEL BALEVSKI, WE CANNOT YET CONFIRM THAT SUCH A POLICY HAS BEEN IMPLEMENTED IN MORE THAN POSSIBLY ISOLATED CASES. A CURRENT SERIES OF TRIPS BY EMBOFFS TO "NON-TURKISH" REGIONS OF BULGARIA MAY PROVIDE OPPORTUNITIES TO INQUIRE WHETHER ANY MOVEMENT OF ETHNIC TURKS HAS OCCURRED. ¶5. XXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXX