Emigration To Turkey - Balkan Muslim

Turkish Review of Balkan Studies
Annual 2004 - 9
EMIGRATION FROM YUGOSLAVIA TO TURKEY

(1923-1960)
Hikmet OKSÜZ*
Ülkü KÖKSAL**
1. Introduction
The First World War resulted in the dissolution of the Austro-

Hungarian Empire on the one hand and paved the way for the establishment of
the kingdom of Serbia-Croatia-Slovenia on the other. During the First World
War, the Serbian administration worked hard to create a Slavic union in the
Balkans. For this purpose, it established relations with the political Slavic
emigration organizations that were operating within the Austro-Hungarian
Empire, and supported the Yugoslavian Committee that had aimed the union
of southern Slavs1. The expatriated Yugoslavian Committee and the Serbian
Government made an agreement on Korfu Island on 20 June 1917. They
decided to establish the kingdom of Serbia-Croatia-Slovenia under the
administration of the Black Yorgi Dynasty2.
The Union of Southern Slavs, the preparations of which were

completed on Corfu Island, was realized during the dissolution of the Austro-
Hungarian Empire. Yugoslavians under the administration of Vienna and
Budapest declared their separation in October 1918. Montenegrans, too,
dethroned their king and joined this formation. Consequently, they announced
* Associate Prof. Dr, Karadeniz Technical University, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Department
of History, Trabzon, Turkey.
** Historian (M.A).
1 Tanil Bora, Milliyetciligin Provakasyonu, Bolgeler-Sorunlar, Yugoslavia, Istanbul, 1995, p. 38.
2 Georges Castellan, Balkanlarin Tarihi, Translated by: Aysegul Yaraman Basbugu, Istanbul 1991,
p. 415.
EMIGRATION FROM YUGOSLAVIA TO TURKEY (1923-1960)
the Kingdom of Serbia-Croatia-Slovenia in December 19183 However, the real

factors that formed the state of Yugoslavia were the Versailles, Neuilly, Saint
Germain and Trianon agreements signed after the war.
The Kingdom of Yugoslavia was as ethnically diverse as the dissolved

Hapsburg Empire.4 The population of the kingdom was more than two million.
As well as the main founders of the kingdom – Serbs, Croats and Slovenians –
there were Germans, Hungarians in Voyvodina, Albanians in Kosovo and
Macedonia, Romanians in Banat, Turks and Muslims in Bosnia-Herzegovina
and Macedonia, and Czechs, Slovenes, Italians, immigrant Russians and others
in different regions, which constituted 17% of the population. The first census
carried out on 31 January 1921 clearly unveiled the diversity of the kingdom in
terms of language and religion.
The distribution of the population according to the census carried out on 31

January 1921.
Source: CASTELLAN, 1991, pp. 425-426.
3 Aleksandre Popovic, Balkanlarda Islam, Istanbul, 1995, p. 215.

4 Bora, Ibid., p. 39.
146
Hikmet ÖKSÜZ - Ülkü KÖKSAL
In the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, the diverse ethnic structure of the

population and the exclusion of other communities in the power struggle
between the Serbs and Croats created a continuous atmosphere of turmoil.
Instead of trying to take the necessary precautions to prevent the chaos, the
Serbs, which became the dominant power in the kingdom, made some new
laws and put some unjust applications into practice to confiscate the lands of
non-Serbian minorities and put more educational and cultural pressures on
them in order to deprive them of their national identities. All these contributed
to the acceleration of the tension in the area. Having been subjected to such
unjust practices, many Turks emigrated to Turkey.
2. Emigration from Yugoslavia between 1923 and 1940.
2.1. Reasons for emigration
With the announcement of its republic, Turkey entered into a new

process of political and socio-cultural transformation and unification. The
political process brought about the notions of “nation” and “nation-state”. The
“socio-cultural” process, on the other hand, ended the notion of the
“worldwide Muslim community” and brought about the notion of “a nation
based on a common culture” on the basis of “Turk”. In other words, “nation”
is the entire people who are the citizens of the Republic of Turkey, the “nation-
state” is the Republic of Turkey, and the “nation” is all the groups inside or
outside Turkey,5 whether or not they are the citizens of Turkey or whether or
not they live in Turkey.6 Considering all these and the number of immigrants
5 Article 3 of the Settlement Bill clearly shows Turkey’s attitude towards this issue. Article 3 of
the Settlement Bill: “Inhabited or nomadic individuals or tribes of Turkish origin who wants to come to Turkey
from abroad, individually or in groups, for the purpose of permanent settlement are accepted by the order of the
Ministry of Internal Affairs according to the requirements of this law…” Dustur, Tertip 3, Vol. 15, Istanbul,
1934, pp. 1156-1157.
6 Halim Cavusoglu, Bursa’da Yerlesik Yugoslavya-Makedonya Turklerinin Sosyo-kulturel Yapisi ve Sosyal
Butunlesme Durumu, Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation, Hacettepe Universitesi Sosyal Bilimler
Enstitusu, Ankara, 1999, p. 5.
147
since 1923, Turkey has always been a country which “receives” or “accepts”
immigrants.7
After the announcement of the republic in Turkey, the factors of the

emigration of Turks from Yugoslavia to Turkey were not different from the
factors during the Balkan Wars and the First World War. The ethnic cleansing
operations applied by the Serb-Croat-Slovene Kingdom took the form of
political, religious, cultural and economic oppression. As a result, the only way
for the Turks in Yugoslavia to get rid of the problems was to escape from the
lands which belonged to them for centuries to the newly established Republic
of Turkey and start everything from the very beginning.
In the emigration from Yugoslavia, some factors were more prominent

than the others in different periods. They were sometimes economic,
sometimes political, sometimes religious and sometimes national. But, the
emigration from Yugoslavia between the two world wars did not happen in
masses. It happened mostly as the emigration of individuals or of families.
However, the total number of the immigrants cannot be neglected.8
Lessening the Turkish population in Yugoslavia was the ultimate aim

and this aim was accomplished by adopting a long-term policy.9 Consequently,
through various administrative practices, the Turks were weakened
economically, politically, and culturally resulting in the acceleration of their
emigration.
7 Cevat Geray, Turkiye’den ve Turkiye’ye Gocler ve Gocmenlerin Iskâni 1923-1961, Ankara, 1962, p. 7.
8 The number of the immigrants from Yugoslavia is the third after number of immigrants from
Greece and Bulgaria. For statistics, see: Geray, Ibid., p.11.; Koy Hizmetleri Genel Mudurlugu,
Iskan Sube Mudurlugu, 1923-1998 Yillari Arasinda Dis Ulkelerden Gelen Gocmenlerin Yil Ulke
Aile ve Nufuslarini Gosterir Liste.
9 Altan Deliorman,Yugoslavya’da Musluman Turk’e Buyuk Darbe, Istanbul 1976, p. 246.
148
2.1.1. Economic Reasons
Those who owned huge amounts of lands suffered most harm from
the land reform applied during the early years of the kingdom (1919). It also
affected the Turkish population who were living mostly on agriculture. This is
one of the reasons for their emigration.10
The “big crisis” in 1929 was a real shock for Yugoslavia, which was
based on agricultural production. Due to the enormous decrease in the
agricultural income, the buying power of 75% of the population in Yugoslavia
decreased to zero.11 Given the fact that most of the Turks in Yugoslavia made
their living on agriculture, we see that the most affected section of the
population was Turks. The Agricultural Reform Act of 193112 resulted in an
economic collapse of the Turks. In the early years of the Kingdom, the Turks
constituted the majority of the population and owned more than half of the
lands. Most of these lands were farms and they were expropriated without
charge according to the above-mentioned act, thus allowing non-Turk citizens
to own them.13 Most of the Turks who lost their lands and farms according to
this agricultural reform had to emigrate to Turkey.14 The act was applied only in
Bosnia-Herzegovina, Macedonia, Kosovo and its environs. Serbia, Croatia and
Slovenia where Christian elements lived were excluded from the act.15 This
made the aim of the act clear. The lands owned by Muslim elements were given
to the Christian elements free of charge and all these were done without any
10 Deliorman, Ibid., pp. 205-206.

11 Castellan, Ibid., p. 432.
12 The Land Reform was put in practice in Macedonia, Kosovo and Southern Serbia with a bill
dated 5 December 1931. This bill was amended with a bill dated 24 June 1933 (Deliorman, Ibid.,
pp.208-209.)
13 Under the name of Land Reform, Turks in Macedonia and Kosovo lost their lands. The lands
were given to the villagers who were brought to the region from Serbia and Montenegro. (Turk
Gocmen ve Multeci Dernekleri Federasyonu Dis Turkler Konusundaki Raporu, Istanbul, 1974, p. 8.)
14 Cavusoglu, Ibid, p. 130.
15 Deliorman, Ibid., p. 209. The above mentioned reform deepened the crisis in Yugoslavia and
caused unrest among people in Croatia and Slovenia (Castellan, Ibid., p.429.)
149
written document. In addition, many entertainment places were built in Skopje

in order to encourage Turks to spend their money. Besides, the Yugoslavian
banks did not give any loans to Turks who wanted to start businesses. There
were no Turkish tradesmen. Later on, some Turkish craftsmen appeared in
some areas. All these were part of a policy aimed at collapsing Turks
economically. Consequently, some of the economically-collapsed Turks had to
emigrate.
Because of the shaking effects of the worldwide economic crisis in

1936-1937, the Turks in Yugoslavia wanted to emigrate to Turkey in order to
find new opportunities.16 As a result, the second wave of emigration started in
1936.17 The emigration based on economic factors continued until the Second
World War.
As well as the economic pressures, Turks were subjected to some

cultural and religious pressures. From time to time the severity of these
pressures increased and this became one of the main reasons for their
emigration.
2.1.2. Social and Cultural Reasons
In the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, Turks were also subjected to

educational and cultural pressures. Although they were given the rights of
voting and education in their own language, these were not practiced after 1923
because of the oppressive policies of the kingdom. In addition, the kingdom
was anxious that Turks living the area were to be affected by Ataturk’s
Principles and Revolutions in Turkey. In order to prevent this from happening
and to prevent possible nationalistic movements among the Turks, the
16Amiran Kurtkan Bilgiseven, Yugoslavya’da Turk Kulturu, Istanbul 1987, p. 60.

17 Emel Osmancavusoglu Oktay, Cozulemeyen Dugum Makedonya Sorunu ve Makedonya
Turkleri, Balkan Turkleri: Balkanlarda Turk Varligi, Collected by: Erhan Turbedar, Ankara 2003,
pp. 135-136.
150
Kingdom did not allow The Turks to use the Latin alphabet that was used in
the newly established Republic of Turkey. The effects of all these, of course,
were very negative on the Turks in the region.18
The 350,000 Turks that remained in Macedonia during the Kingdom

were deprived of the right of using their own language in education.
Macedonian Turks only had the right of education in Serbian language in the
four-year primary schools. Families who were rich enough to send their
children to high schools and universities had to send their children to Turkey
and some other European countries. However, most of them never went back.
The Serbian administration did not want Turkish children to attend

schools, develop themselves and get diplomas. In such a case, they would get
important positions in the society, would help their society and would hinder all
attempts of the kingdom to continue its pressure on them. There was only one
Turk studying law in Belgrade University between 1920 and 1925. Turks tried
to solve their educational problems on their own and helped Turkish students
through various scholarships until their graduation. However, after graduation,
they encountered a new problem: unemployment. The kingdom gave Christian
students of Serbian, Croatian, Montenegrin and Macedonian origins all
opportunities for employment after their graduation, but they closed all the
doors for the employment of Turkish students who successfully completed
their education.19 In this way, they encouraged and accelerated the emigration
of Turks, who were economically and psychologically collapsed.
18 Oktay, Ibid., p. 135.

19 According to Yugoslavian laws, parents who did not send their children to schools were to be
punished, but Turkish parents were excluded from this law. In this way, they were encouraged
not to send their children to schools. Children attending schools regularly encountered various
difficulties. From time to time teachers gave them lower marks with the orders of educational
inspectors. For more detail, see: Deliorman, Ibid., pp.202-204.
151
Maximum effort was made to prevent the development of nationalist

thoughts among the Turks in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. They thought it
would be more suitable to consider the Turks as Muslims. With the “January 6th
Dictatorship” announced in 1929, all political and cultural activities among the
Turks were banned, the already restricted rights and freedoms were annulled.
All political parties abolished, and all newspapers published in Turkish were
closed.20 Fugitives from Turkey were protected, and primary schools were
opened in Turkish areas in which ignorant imams served as administrators.
During the Serbian period, the medium of instruction was Serbian until 1940.
The main schools that the Turkish children attended during this period were
“Tefeyyuz” boys school, “Irfan” girls school, and “Sefkat” vocational girls school,
each of which had four-year curriculums. In these schools, the medium of
instruction was Serbian except for three hours of Turkish instruction per week.
Instruction was available only in Serbian at the “Grand King Medrese” and in
“Isa Bey Medrese”. In addition to the instruction in Arabic, in the first four years
of the 8-year instruction in the Alexander Medrese trained staff mostly for
Muslims in Sanjak, Kosovo and Montenegro. The majority of students were
chosen from among Albanians, and the majority of teachers were chosen from
among Bosnians. The education in Isa Bey Medrese was carried out mostly by
teachers of Bosnian origin. The only schools where medium of instruction was
Turkish were the primary schools that could be found almost in all villages and
that were like “religious village schools”. All of these schools were closed down
during the Second World War. In the post-war period, the Tefeyyuz, Irfan and
Sefkat schools were reopened in the Federal Republic of Macedonia. The
number of lessons in Turkish increased, and Serbian language was replaced by
Macedonian language. As a positive development, lessons in Turkish language
20 Oktay, Ibid., p. 135.
152
were taught in Latin alphabet used in Turkey. The Macedonian government did
not allow the reopening of the medrese.21
The two factors that directly affected the economic and social
conditions of the Turks between the two wars were the land reform and the
conditions of the religious and charitable foundations. The land reform struck
the land owners, and the properties of the religious and charitable foundations
were harmed by the decentralization of the administration of the religious and
charitable foundations.22 The negative effects of the land reform and the
confiscation of the properties of the religious and charitable foundations can be
seen in a complaint made by the Turks and Albanians to the League of the
Nations in 1930. The Ghazi Mustafa Mosque in Skopje was an aid organization
and used to give regularly 200 loaves of bread to the people in need in the city.
However, all the properties of Sevket Bey, the administrative executor of this
mosque, were confiscated. Again, the Burmali Mosque in Skopje was
confiscated without the consent of the congregation and without any
compensation. It was demolished and a club for the officers was built on its
place. In addition, they tried to demolish some other mosques, and some
cemeteries were appropriated for nurseries.23
2.1.3. Political Reasons
Turks in Yugoslavia were also subjected to political pressures and this

made it impossible to unite and struggle. They had been gathered around the
“Cemiyet Party” established by the Muslims around 1920s. But the king of
Yugoslavia banned this party and its publications because the leaders of this
21 Cavusoglu, Ibid., p. 133-134.

22 Until 1930, there were two different organizations, one for Bosnia and the other for
Macedonia and Kosovo (the central office being in Skopje). A decision taken by the King in 1930
urged that Yugoslavian Muslims be collected under a Chief of Ulema and a council, and the
headquarters of the Chief of Ulema be moved to Belgrade. And the newly appointed Chief of
Ulema was a pro-Serbian (Noel Malcolm, Bosna, Istanbul 1999, pp. 272-273.)
23 Popovic, Ibid., p. 240.
153
party supported the Croatian leader Stefan Radic, From then on, the
Macedonian Muslims did not have any political organizations.24 All these
political pressures and second-class citizen treatment also contributed to the
emigration of Yugoslavian Turks.
Another factor that contributed to the emigration of Turkish and

Muslim societies was the political tension between Turkey and Kingdom of
Serbia-Croatia-Slovenia. This political tension between the two countries
originated from the Lausanne Peace Agreement. Yugoslavia was one of the
parties of the First World War but it did not sign the Lausanne Peace
Agreement. Therefore, Turkey and Yugoslavia were still in a state of war.
However, this state ended with a Friendly Agreement signed in Ankara on 28
November 1925. From this date on, the mutual relations between the two
countries continued positively.25
2.1.4. Other Reasons
The massacres carried out by Yugoslavians on Turks between the two

world wars were another reason for the emigration of Turks. In 1924, when the
Democrat Party was in power, the Montenegrans carried out a massacre known
as Chukovic around Plav and Gusine. They murdered hundreds of people
including men, women and children. Again, around the same date, a much-
loved Turkish MP named Nazmi Gafur was murdered by a Serb in Pristine.26
In the late 1930s, some uproars broke out in Europe. Yugoslavia was
influenced by these uproars. This was another factor that affected the Turks
and Muslims living in Yugoslavia.
24 Turk Gocmen ve Multeci Federasyonu Raporu, p. 9.

25 Hikmet Oksuz , ‘Ikili Iliskiler Cercevesinde Balkan Ulkelerinden Turkiye’ye Gocler ve Goc
Sonrasi Iskân Meselesi (1923-1938)’, Ataturk Dergisi, Vol. III, No. 1 (2000), pp. 183-184.
26 Turk Gocmen ve Multeci Federasyonu Raporu, p. 9.
154
There are some political, economic, social and cultural factors in the
emigration of Turks from the foundation of the Yugoslavian Kingdom until the
1930s. The Muslims were not among the founders of the Kingdom, and,
therefore, they were treated as second-class citizens by the Serbs and Croats. Of
course, the Turks got their share from this. During the Kingdom, the lands of
Turks were confiscated systematically through some acts and practices. This
was especially the case in Macedonia and Kosovo. Besides, the struggle
between Serbs and Croats, which was present from the foundation of the
Kingdom, was harmful for both as well as for Turks and Muslims. Many Turks
could not stand the political turmoil and economic pressures and had to
emigrate.
When the kingdom dictatorship was announced, thousands of Turks

prepared for emigration. The immigrants were mainly from Southern Serbia
and the number of them amounted to 200,000. Later on, they set off in groups.
These immigrants arrived in Izmir via Saloniki and they and the previously
arrived ones were sent to different parts of Turkey.27
According to the official statistics, 5,894 people in 1,449 households

emigrated from Yugoslavia to Turkey between 1923 and 1949 as permanent
immigrants. In addition, 111,318 people in 27,030 households came to Turkey as
free immigrants in the same period. Between 1949 and 1960, 151,889 people
emigrated to Turkey as free immigrants. A total of 269,101 people emigrated
from Yugoslavia to Turkey between 1923 and 1960.28 According to Filiz
Doganay, a total of 305,158 people in 77,341 households immigrated to Turkey
in the republican era. The Republic of Turkey settled 14,494 people of the
households that arrived until 1950. The rest of the households were settled in
27Cumhuriyet, 5 Ocak 1929, p. 1.

28Koy Hizmetleri Genel Mudurlugu, Iskan Sube Mudurlugu, 1923-1998 Yillari Arasinda Dis
Ulkelerden Gelen Gocmenlerin Yil Ulke Aile ve Nufuslarini Gosterir Liste.
155
Turkey as free immigrants.29 According to Barkan, 8,969 people in 2,340

households immigrated to Turkey between 1934 and 1949.30 In the first ten
years of the Republic of Turkey – between 1923 and 1933 – according to Cevat
Geray, 108,179 people emigrated from Yugoslavia to Turkey as free
immigrants. The proportion of the 269,101 immigrants from Yugoslavia
between 1923 and 1960 is 22.4% of all immigrants.31 Although these data may
show diversity, the fact is that the population of Turkish origin in the area
decreased or was decreased by emigration for various reasons.
The number of immigrants from Yugoslavia between 1934-1941.
Source: D.I.E.Y., 1941, p. 90.
3. Turkey’s attitude
During the early years of the republic, Turkey accepted all immigrants
according to its population policy, the only condition being that the immigrants
were of Turkish origin. Therefore, the immigrants from Yugoslavia were
welcomed as permanent immigrants and were settled in the agriculturally fertile
regions. Those who did not want help from the Turkish government were free
to settle anywhere they wanted. After their emigration from Yugoslavia, the
Turkish government encountered the problem of estates left in Yugoslavia by
the immigrants.
29 Filiz Doganay, ‘Turkiye’ye Gocmen Olarak Gelenlerin Yerlesimi’, www.genet.sitemynet.com/

tarih34. htm
30 Omer Lutfu Barkan, ‘Turkiye’de Muhacir Iskâni ve Bir Kolonizasyon Plânina Olan Ihtiyac’,
Istanbul Universitesi Iktisat Fakultesi Mecmuasi (Vol. X, No: 1-42’den Ayri Basim), Istanbul,
1951, p. 4.
31 Geray, Ibid, p. 11.
156
The problem of estates was one of the most important problems

between Turkey and Yugoslavia. The estates of Turkish population in
Yugoslavia were confiscated unjustly by the Yugoslavian administrators. In
1929, upon the applications of the Turkish ambassador to Belgrade, the
Yugoslavian authorities declared the lifting of expropriation and advised that
the owners of such estates apply to the government offices in their cities.32
However, the Yugoslavian authorities continued to use brutal policies on Turks
and Muslims in order to make them leave the country.33 In the 1930s, the
Yugoslavians started to sing songs like “Cita Turzi Asia” (Turks, go to Asia).34
Due to the emigration of Turks from Yugoslavia, the immigrants had

to leave all their belongings and estates in Yugoslavia. Consequently, Turkey
put the solution of the problem of estates on its agenda. According to an
agreement between Turkey and Yugoslavia, immigrants going back to
Yugoslavia to solve their estate problems were to be given a 6-month visa, and
this period could be extended if necessary. However, this started to change in
the 1930s.35 The Yugoslavian Kingdom dictatorship created many difficulties
for Turks. These problems were of two kinds:
1. According to the agreement between Turkey and Yugoslavia, the

Yugoslavian government had to give a 6-month visa to those who wanted to go
back to Yugoslavia to solve their estate-related problems. However, contrary to
the agreement, the Yugoslavian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the
32 Cumhuriyet, 14 June 1929, p. 8.

33 The Cita Turzi Azia (Turks Go to Asia) song was recited like a motto in the 1930s. Sebahattin
Zaim, ‘Turk Dunyasinda Balkanlardan Hatiralar’, Yeni Turkiye, Turk Dunyasi Ozel Sayisi, No: 16
(1997), p.1763.
34 Zaim, ‘Turk Dunyasinda…’, p.1763.
35 Turkey warned the Yugoslavian government about their harsh measures in the settlement of
Turks in Yugoslavia and stated that if they did not correct the situation Turkey would practice the
same measures against the Yugoslavians living in Turkey. Basbakanlik Cumhuriyet Arsivi
(B.C.A.), Muamelat Genel Mudurlugu ( M.G.M.), 030.10.0.0/250.691.7., Dosya: 432/5.,
16.16.1927.
157
Yugoslavian Consulate in Istanbul gave them visas differing from 1 month to 6

months.
2. Those that had 6-month visas went to Yugoslavia. As soon as they

arrived in Yugoslavia they had to register their passports, but during the
registration process the Yugoslavian officials sometimes created difficulties for
them.
The Turkish ambassador to Belgrade dealt with this problem at the

government level and urged that the agreement be applied to the Turks going
to Yugoslavia to solve their estate problems. Upon this, the Yugoslavian
authorities issued an order to different governmental offices urging that the
procedures be facilitated as much as possible, that the expired visas be extended
up to one year, and that if they couldn’t solve the estate problems at the end of
this period officials apply to the government for new instructions.36
The then Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs pursued the solution of

the estate problems of the immigrants in Yugoslavia, and made plans about
how many more immigrants could be accepted and settled in the eastern part of
Turkey. A telegram sent by Tevfik Rustu Aras, the Minister of Foreign Affairs,
to the Prime Minister shows the works done related to the problem.37
The real solution came with the “Agreement for Friendship,

Nonaggression, Legal Settlement, Arbitration and Reconciliation” signed in
Belgrade (27 November 1933) followed by the “Agreement between Republic
of Turkey and Kingdom of Yugoslavia about the Mutual Demands” signed in
Ankara (28 November 1933).
In later periods, more agreements were signed between the Turkish

governments and Yugoslavian Kingdom in order to secure the rights of Turks
36 B.C.A., M.G.M., 30.10.0.0/250.691.18., D: 43216., 20.1.1930.

37 B.C.A., M.G.M., 030.10.0.0/250.691.23., D: 43221., 13.8.1930.
158
in Yugoslavia.38 A contract was signed between Turkey and Yugoslavian

Kingdom on 28 October 1936 in order to solve the problems of residence of
the citizens of both countries. According to the Article 2 of the contract, the
citizens of each country would have the right to live in their own country and
could visit the other country freely according to the laws in that country. Article
3 of the contract stated that the citizens of one country would have the right to
buy, sell, donate and transfer all kinds of estates and real estates through
marriage, will, and inheritance in the other country according to the laws and
regulations in that country. In such a case, the then present tax and duty rules
would apply. The last sentence of Article 7 read like this: “… No expropriation
will be carried out without prior notification.”39 Both before and after this
agreement, the Yugoslavian authorities went on confiscating the houses and
lands of Turks in Yugoslavia. In short, there were times when government
administrators and local administrators in Yugoslavia did not comply with the
agreements.
The positive relations between Turkey and Yugoslavia continued

during the process of Balkan Entente led by Turkey. However, the imminent
war and disorder heralded the new disasters for Turks in this area. In this
period, the evacuation of Turks was documented officially. A project presented
to the Stojadinovich government formed on 7 March 1937 mentions a forced
emigration of 300-400.000 Turks from Southern Serbia to Turkey.40
38 A “Protocol and Its Annexes About the Compensation of the Estates and Interests of the
Turks in Yugoslavia” was signed between Turkey and Federal republic of Yugoslavia in 1950.
Dustur, Tertip 3, Vol. 31, Ankara, 1950, pp. 1760-1762. In 1969, the Turkish Council of
Ministers passed the “Law About the Clearing of the Centralized Estates and Interests of the
Turks in Federal Republic of Yugoslavia”. Dustur, Tertip 5, Vol. 8, Ankara, 1969, pp. 1688-
1694.
39 Dustur, Tertip 3, Vol. 17,1936, pp. 2-3.
40 This text was read in Paris in 1981. It is believed that it was distributed by Albanians after the
killings in Kosovo Popovic, Ibid., p. 289.
159
The Turkish administrators in Turkey did not pay enough attention to

the Turks outside Turkey especially after 1938. The Yugoslavian authorities
noticed this and, officially and unofficially but always as a national policy, they
applied their policy of sending Turks to the Middle Asia.41
The 1930s are the years when dictators took power in Europe which
affected the small states, and when the temporary peace began to disappear. As
part of the losers in the First World War, Bulgaria started to adopt a revisionist
policy and began to be a danger for its neighbors with the dream of Grand
Bulgaria given to it by the Ayastefanos Agreement. In order to achieve its
ambitions, Bulgaria tried to approach Yugoslavia for some time and even
attempted to form an alliance with it. Similarly, the dictators in Italy and
Albania also followed revisionist policies. This worried the countries in the
region, which led to the consideration of forming alliances. In addition to all
these developments, the fear caused by the Hitler’s Germany in Europe and
especially in the Balkans made the anti-revisionists worry about their protection
against a possible war to be caused by the revisionists.
As well as the worries about a possible Slavic union42 in the Balkans,

Turkey, Greece, Romania and Yugoslavia, which were for the protection of the
status quo, formed the Balkan Entente on 9 February 1934 as opposed to the
German, Bulgarian, Albanian and Italian revisionism.43 This entente was
formed especially against Bulgarian revisionism. However, the crises in Europe
deepened after 1936 and the Berlin-Roma axis started to have a stronger
influence. This weakened the Balkan Entente. In this period, Yugoslavia
preferred to make agreements with Italy and Bulgaria against Berlin-Roma axis.
41 Zaim, “Turk Dunyasinda…”, p. 1763.

42 The above-mentioned union is the union of Bulgaria and Yugoslavia. Bulgaria started to
pursue a revisionist policy after 1927 and wanted to act with Yugoslavia. Oral Sander, Balkan
Gelismeleri ve Turkiye (1945-1965), Ankara, 1969, pp. 10-11.
43 Sander, Ibid., p. 9-14.
160
Although Yugoslavia got the consent from the members of the Balkan Entente
before the Bulgarian-Yugoslavian agreement was signed, this was against the
underlying principles of the Balkan Entente because of the fact that the Balkan
Entente was signed against Bulgarian threat. Therefore, the Balkan Entente
became invalid in 1939.44 This period marked the onset of lack of confidence
among the Balkan states, the first signs of a new war appeared, and Germany
occupied Czechoslovakia in March 1939. This meant a direct German threat
spreading to the Balkans. German armies started to go forward swiftly in
Europe. Hitler, who had always wanted to ally with the Balkan states, signed an
agreement with Yugoslavia on 25 March 1941. Yugoslavian general Simovic did
not recognize this agreement and he even signed another agreement with the
Russians. This development made Hitler organize a campaign in the Balkans.
German occupation of Yugoslavia started on 6 April 1941.45 Consequently, the
Turks in the region, who had already been collapsed politically, economically,
socially and culturally, faced a new disaster. The most affected group of the
population was the civil and unprotected Muslim-Turks. Thousands of Turks
were either murdered or exiled by the occupiers, or by the resisting groups or
by the civil Christian population, who wanted to get their properties.
4. Emigration from Yugoslavia during and after the Second

World War
4.1 Reasons for emigration
The story of the Balkans during the Second World War can be
presented as the story of a region where the competition and conflicts between
fascism and communism ended first in favor of the former and then in favor of
44 Fahir Armaoglu, 20. Yuzyil Siyasi Tarihi 1914-1995, Istanbul 1995, p.340.
45 Armaoglu, Ibid., p. 374.
161
the latter.46 During the conference for the Balkan Entente in Bucharest before
the war in 1939, the Turkish Minister of Foreign Affairs draw the attention of
other participating delegates to the German threat for the Balkans, but he could
not convince the Balkan statesmen.47
Like some other Balkan states, Yugoslavia did not take the side of the
axis before the war began and continued its westward tradition.48 This is why
Hitler’s Germany occupied Yugoslavia. Germans started to bomb and occupy
Yugoslavia on 6 April 1941 and completed the occupation on 17 April when
Yugoslavia surrendered. Hitler divided Yugoslavia among its satellite states: He
gave Banat to Hungary, Macedonia to Bulgaria, and Slovenia to Italy. Croatia
separated from Yugoslavia and became an independent state.49 During the
occupation, various resistance groups were formed that used guerilla wars. Of
these, Mihailovic50 and Tito’s51 guerillas attracted attention in the resistance.52
4.1.1. The effects of Mihailovic and Tito troops.
The Croats formed their own state during the war. It was now the time
for the Croats to take their revenge on Serbs. However, it was again the Turks
46 Sander, Ibid., p. 15.

47 Sander, Ibid., p. 16.
48 Yilmaz Oztuna, Devletler ve Hanedanlar (Avrupa Devletleri), Cilt IV, Ankara, 1996, p. 68.
49 Armaoglu, Ibid. p. 374.
50 In 1941, Mihailovic started the resistance against the Germans in Herzegovina. He was
appointed as the Minister of War by the royal government, which were in exile in London.
Because he was an extreme Serbian nationalist, because he hated the Croats and communists,
because he was hostile to anti-monarchists, He was dismissed from office by the allied powers.
After the war he was accused of treason and executed by shooting. This marked the end of the
Kingdom in Yugoslavia. Oztuna, Devletler …, p. 69.
51 Tito was a Croatian worker. He was taken as a POW when fighting against the Russians in
Hungaro-Austrian army in 1915. He joined the Red Army in 1917. He worked for the
dissemination of communism in Russia and Yugoslavia and was jailed by the king for 6 years. He
was appointed as the First Secretary of the Yugoslavian Communist Party in 1937. Tito had no
education, and he formed resistance groups to war against the Germans during the German-
Italian occupation. He entered Belgrade with the Red Army in 1944. He declared himself a
Marshall. He announced the republic and ended the monarchy on 29 November 1945. Oztuna,
Devletler…, p. 69.
52 Cavusoglu, Ibid., p. 119.
162
who were affected most from this struggle, because the Croats always claimed
that all the atrocities against the Serbs were carried out by the Turks. They were
in fact were carried out by the Croats. In so doing, the Croats wanted to create
a tension between the Turks and Serbs. Serbs escaping from the Croats took
refuge behind Mihailovic and said that Muslims attacked them. Then they
attacked the Muslims.
Mihailovic’s aim was to re-establish the superiority of the Serbs in

Yugoslavia, and to drive not only Germans but also all other nationalities away
from Yugoslavia.53 Therefore, the ever-present Serb-Croat conflict was the
onset of the disaster that the Turks and Muslims encountered during the
Second World War. Lessening the Muslim population or, at least, forcing them
to emigrate through atrocities during the Serb-Croat conflict accorded with
Serb-Croat plans.54
The atrocities done during the war were brought to light during the
trials in the courts after the war. A document revealed in these courts showed
Mihailovic’s words that he uttered during the war: “Plans about forcing the Muslims
to emigrate to Turkey or to another country should be made ready now. Nobody will stop this.
Be careful, this is our task…” For this purpose, many Turks were murdered in
different parts of Yugoslavia. The King, who was informed of these atrocities,
congratulated those who did the atrocities: “For the benefit of our nation and to
revitalize our country, we approve your efforts with appreciation and praise. Please extend
your organization to all corners of our country.” Another document, which was sent to
the Chetnik troops from Mihailovic’s headquarters and which was about the
53 Bora, Ibid., p. 52.

54 Deliorman, Ibid., p. 113. A Turkish delegation from Yugoslavia came to Ankara after the
atrocity of Mihailovic’s Chetnik forces and visited the Turkish President Ismet Inonu. They
stated that they were subjected to atrocities just because of ethnic origin and wanted protection
against Yugoslavian atrocities. Because of the diplomatic politeness at the time, this innocent request
was rejected. Deliorman, Ibid., p.129.
163
killing of Turks in masses, read as follows: “Kill the Turks little by little. Confiscate
their guns for our men. The King already congratulated us. They will send too much money
soon.” 55
The plan for killing the Turks in masses was put in practice and 16.000
people were killed in Foca. These killings by the Chetniks even disturbed the
Germans and the troops were told not to go any further until a second order. 56
The struggle for power between Mihailovic and Tito continued during
the war, but it was won by Tito. Unlike Mihailovic, Tito talked about and
promised a kind of federation that would embrace all the minorities, which
gave hope to all layers of the population. For this reason, Tito was seen as a
savior. However, Tito’s real face unveiled soon. When Tito’s troops got hold of
Kircevo and Gostivar in 1944, they tortured and killed many Turks. According
to the news obtained from foreign radios two and a half months later, the
number of the murdered people amounted to 19.000. Of the 5.000 killed in
Yenipazar, 20 were Christians and the rest was Muslims. In the spring of 1945,
6.000 youths collected from Ipek, Yakova, Gilan, Pristine and Prozovik villages
and were killed with machine guns. The youths of the villages were executed by
shooting, villages were looted, and houses were destroyed. In addition, the
belongings and estates of the murdered people were confiscated leaving the rest
of the family in misery. Besides, because all these people were in the black list
of the communist organisation, they were always under surveillance.57
During the Second World War, both Mihailovic and Tito’s guerillas
killed more than 250.000 Yugoslavian Turks. Because of the attacks and
atrocities during the war, hundreds of Turks emigrated to Turkey. According to
55 Deliorman, Ibid., p. 116.

56 The Court for War Crimes asked Mihailovic why he killed the Turks. He replied: “Because they
were Turks.” Deliorman, Ibid., p. 140.
57 Deliorman, Ibid., p. 150-165.
164
Deliorman, the number of the immigrants who came to Turkey during the war
was 1.825.58 In the yearbook published by State Statistics institute the number
of the immigrants who came to Turkey between 1940 and 1945 is 1.671.59
According to De Vergottini, a total of 1.641 people emigrated to Turkey
between 1940 and 1945.60 In another source, the annual average of the
immigrants during the war years is given as 300 people.61
The number of immigrants from Yugoslavia between 1940-1945
Source: D.I.E.Y., 1952, p.127.
4.1.2. The effects of Bulgarian occupation
During the Second World War, the Bulgarians occupied Macedonia

and tortured the Turks in the area and applied pressures on them. After
constituting the administration in Macedonia, the Bulgarians pursued the aims
of moving the Serbs to the north and cleansing the Muslims respectively. The
cleansing of Turks was supported by the native Bulgarians. The first step
towards the policy of destruction of Turks was to confiscate the 19 million
dinars of the pious foundations in Yugoslavian National Bank. In addition,
books in Serbian and Turkish were sent to the National Library of Bulgaria, and
the mosques were used as warehouses.62 The properties of the Turks were
seized by violence/usurped, an “–ov” suffix was added to the surnames of the
Turks, education in Turkish language was banned, and many Turks were killed
in mass killings. The majority of the murdered people in Macedonia during the

59 Devlet Istatistik Enstitusu Yilligi, Vol. 21, Ankara, 1953, p. 108.
60 M. De Vergottini, Gocmen Hareketleri. Translated by: Nuzhet Yalkut, Ankara, 1949, p. 57.
61 H. YildirimAganoglu, Osmanli’dan Cumhuriyet’e Balkanlar’in Makus Talihi Goc, Istanbul 2001, p.
320.
165
war were Turks. Among the murdered Turks were teachers, doctors, imams,
journalists and scientists.63
4.2. The reasons for the emigration after the Second World War
The occupation in Yugoslavia ended in 1944 autumn. Yugoslavia

ended the occupation without the help of Russia, which made Tito very
popular. With the withdrawal Bulgaria from the region, the same things were
done by the partisans under Tito’s administration. The Bulgarian and
Yugoslavian mentality considered any emigrated Turk as a gain. The main target
of the new communist regime in Yugoslavia, which came to power in 1944, was
to alienate the Turks to their traditions, to remove their religion and religious
beliefs from their daily lives, and to place communism in its place in order to
make them Slavs and, in doing so, to break them away from Turkey and
Turkish world.64
The general elections held in Yugoslavia in November 1945 were won

by the People’s Front with 90% of the votes. They prepared a constitution
which resembled the Russian constitution and established the “People’s Federal
Republic of Yugoslavia”, which consisted of 6 federated states of Serbia,
Croatia, Slovenia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Montenegro and Macedonia.
After the Second World War, the Yugoslavian administrators applied

cultural, religious, economic and political pressures on Turks. Consequently
many thousands of Turks emigrated to Turkey.65
When the Yugoslavian Socialist Federal Republic tried to install

communism in the country, the Tito regime did not want to allow emigration
for fear that it was to be seen as the failure of communism and that the
63 Yusuf Hamzaoglu, Balkan Turklugu, Ankara 2000, p. 322.

64 Ahmet Cebeci, “Balkanlarda Turkculuk Hareketleri”, Turk Kulturu, No. 311 (Mart 1989), p.
135.
65 Hamzaoglu, Ibid., p. 45.
166
immigrants would inform the third parties about the state of his regime. There
were many factors in the new regime, too, which encouraged the emigration of
Yugoslavian Turks.66
As a result of “being expelled” from the Cominform with the

accusations of “corruption” and “nationalism”, the administrators who resisted
against Soviet threats cleaned the party and army. Tito’s Yugoslavia turned to
the West and made use of the aids provided by the West. At the same time,
Tito introduced the “self administration” into the country. But this resulted in a
disastrous economic condition, high unemployment, and problems concerning
local nationalism.67 With its expulsion from the Cominform, Yugoslavia had to
have some changes in its foreign policy. After all these developments, the
relations between Turkey and Yugoslavia entered into a normalization process.
The new policies adopted by Yugoslavia created a partial freedom for Turks but
did not stop the emigration of Turks after 1953.
4.2.1. Economic reasons
The Turks in Yugoslavia were subjected to pressures even after the

communist regime. The communists confiscated the properties of the rich, and
this harmed the Turks most. Because such confiscations were made by the local
administrators, the Bulgarians treated Turks worse than any other minority68
Some of the rich people living in urban areas had already emigrated to Turkey.
60% of those who remained in Yugoslavia were landowners. The confiscation
of more than 25 acres of land put the remaining Turks in a difficult position.
Another measure that was taken to collapse the Turks economically was the
66 Aganoglu, Ibid., p. 320-321.

67 Popovic, Ibid., p. 245.
68 A Turkish delegation visiting Belgrade in 1959 complained about the injustices in the practice
of Land Reform. The complaints were that the reform was not applied in Christian regions and
that the fertile lands owned by the Turks were confiscated almost free of charge while the barren
lands of Christians were paid high amounts of money. Although the Yugoslavian authorities
promised that they would solve the problem, they did nothing. Deliorman, Ibid., p. 214.
167
introduction of compulsory quotas for agricultural products. In order not to be

jailed, Turkish farmers whose amount of land was already reduced, had to buy
products from the black market to complete the quota. While the amount of
land was not enough for their own needs, Turkish farmers were debited and
therefore were forced to leave their villages and to emigrate by69
The compulsory cooperative system (the kolkhoz system), which was

introduced in the socialist system between 1945 and 1950, was not accepted by
many Turkish villagers and was one of the causes of the emigration.70
As an extra pressure, the tax system was also applied differently to

Turks. The immigrating Turks were forced to pay the same tax many times. In
addition, because the communist system banned all kinds of private enterprise,
Turks who previously dealt with handicrafts, agriculture and trade had to work
in state farms as unqualified workers.71
Economic pressures included confiscating the goods of the tradesmen

by limiting trade, ideological discrimination among the workers, applying high
tax rates on Turks, etc.72
As a result of the pressures the rate of emigration from Yugoslavia to

Turkey increased and this was something desirable for Yugoslavian
administrators. Accelerating the rate of emigration of the Macedonian Turks
was of prime importance. The number of immigrants amounted to 280.000
69 Sebahattin Zaim, “Son Yugoslav Muhacirleri Hakkinda Rapor”, Istanbul Universitesi Iktisat
Fakultesi Mecmuasi, Vol. 19, 1958, p. 437.
70 Bilgiseven, Ibid., p. 90.
71 Deliorman, Ibid, p. 236.
72 Aganoglu, Ibid, p. 321. The main income of the Yugoslavian tax system was the taxes taken
from buildings and lands. This taxing system did not record the taxes and put the Turks into
troubles. The taxes of immigrating Turks were repeated. It was even claimed that the
grandparents of some of them did not pay their taxes at their time and that they had to pay those
invented taxes. The same despotic practices were also seen in land taxes. The taxes of many
Turks were twice more than Christians for the same amount of land. Zaim, “Son Yugoslav…”,
pp. 438-440.
168
until 1960. They confiscated the lands under the cover of land reform and with
the skillful application of population and settlement policies they tried to lessen
the Turkish population.73
4.2.2. Social and cultural reasons
The communists tried hard to undo any economic ties which could
lead the public to resist to the regime and system.74 For this purpose, they
applied pressures on Turks in various areas.
The Tito administration wanted to break the unity among Turks

partially by killing the important persons in the Islamic society therefore to
destroy them, and to make them forget their religion and nationality by melting
them among the Serbs and Croats.75 Through various practices the Tito
administration always wanted to make the Turks communists76, to assimilate
the Turks among the Slavs, and to jail or kill those who were known for sure to
be against the regime. The privacy of Turkish houses were not respected, the
extra houses or rooms of Turks were confiscated and populated by Christian
tenants who were believed to be secret agents. In addition, the traditional and
local costumes of Turkish women were changed by force. Turks were forced to
marry with Slavs in order to mix them with the Slavs. The reason for this was
73 The transfers from one region to another in the country were of military character at first
glance. The Muslim areas were populated with Christian communities. In return for this, Muslims
were placed in Christian areas. Deliorman, Ibid., p. 245.
74 Zaim, “Son Yugoslav…” , p. 441.
75 The cruelties against the Turks reached its peak in 1948. Every month hundreds of Turks were
tortured and killed systematically. Basbakanlik Cumhuriyet Arsivi (B.C.A.), Basbakanlik Ozel
Kalem Mudurlugu (B.O.K.M.), 030.01/101.627.1, D:F11, 6.4.1948.
76 For this purpose, the new generations were chosen as the targets. The youths were exposed to
intensive propaganda both in their school activities and social lives in order to prepare them for
communist way of thinking. This danger for Turkish children also contributed to the emigration.
Zaim, “Son Yugoslav…”, p. 441-442.
169
the fear that the Muslim Turks in Macedonia could unite with Albania. They
decided to solve this problem before it happened.77
The medium of instruction of Turkish population between 1912 and

1945 was Serbian-Croatian, while it was mainly Albanian between 1945 and
1951. Many of them were assimilated.78 In order to prevent any influence,
listening to Turkish radios was banned during the early years of the regime.
Mosques were closed and they were made warehouses and workplaces. Those
who attended mosques were sacked from their jobs. Religious schools were
closed down.79
The problems of Turks in Yugoslavia at the time were reported by

Agah Aksel, a retired ambassador, to the president of Turkey.80
4.2.3. Political reasons
4.2.3.1. The Yucel case
Against the communist regime, the Turks in Yugoslavia started the

struggle for freedom and self administration. The young intellectuals in
Macedonia who were subjected to unbearable pressures organized among
themselves.81 These young intellectuals believed that they had to take some
measures against the danger of communism and against the alienation
movement through education and culture. Therefore, they applied to the
Turkish consulate in Skopje and letter to the Turkish embassy in Belgrade and
77 Zaim, “Turk Dunyasinda …”, p. 1761.

78 Erhan Turbedar, Tarihte Degisen Siyasî ve Sosyal Dengeler Icinde Kosova Turkleri, Balkan
Turkleri, Balkanlarda Turk Varligi, Derleyen: Erhan Turbedar , Ankara 2003, p. 77.
79 Zaim, “ Son Yugoslav…”, p.442.; Deliorman, Ibid., p. 257-258.
80 B.C.A., B.O.K.M., 030.01/40.238.17., D: B1, 11.11.1955.
81 At around the same time, the Turks in Bulgaria were exposed to various pressures and formed
a similar organization. But the members of this organization, too, shared the same fate as the
members of Yucel. Ahmet Cebeci, “Balkanlarda Turkculuk Hareketleri”, Turk Kulturu, No. 311
(1989), p. 138.
170
told them about their aims. This group was later called as “Yucel”.82 The Yucel
was founded in 1944 by an intellectual of Turkish origin called Suayip Aziz. The
organization started to publish the Birlik newspaper in 1944. But soon the
communists seized this newspaper and used it as their publication in
Macedonia. Two members of the Yucel organization denounced the
organization and all the members of Yucel organization were arrested. Four
leaders83 of the organization were executed84 on the premise that they were
spying against Yugoslavia85. The process of trial and execution deeply shocked
the Turks in the region. The trial was held in 1948 and it was broadcast through
loudspeakers in all Skopje in order to create a psychological effect on Turks86.
Many other Turks were also punished.
They were tortured in jails. The Yugoslavian authorities confiscated all

the belongings and estates of the ones who could stay alive after they
completed their sentences. They were not employed either. As a result, these
82 The “Yucel Organization” was named Yucel (literally ‘be exalted’) with the aim of saving the
Turks from captivity and making them exalted like in the past. Zaim, “Turk Dunyasinda…”, p.
1760. For more details about the Yucel Organization, see:. H.Yildirim Aganoglu, Yucel Teskilati,
Istanbul, 2003.
83 Of these leaders, Suayib Aziz (Yucel) was a graduate of El-Ezher University. Ali Abdurrahman
(Vardar) was the treasurer of the organization and belonged to a well-known family. Nazmi Oner
(Yucel) was a graduate of School of Law in Belgrade. Adem Ali (Rastak) was another member.
These four people were sentenced to death after a one-week trial in 1948, and were executed by
shooting. Zaim, “Turk Dunyasinda…”, p. 1761.
85 17 Turks were trialed in Skopje with the accusation of spying. In a formal report, Yugoslavians
officials claimed that the spies were coordinated by the old Turkish ambassador, Emin Gercek.
At the end of the trial, some of the 17 men were sentenced to death. Others were sentenced to
serve long years in prisons. Those who were sentenced to death were executed by shooting.
Connected to this, thousands of Turks were exiled to Siberia. Additional 100 Turks were arrested
because they did not join the meeting during the trial. Besides, many Turks were killed without
any trial. Upon the killing of some of the Turks in Yugoslavia, and the rumors about the
involvement of Emin Gercek into the spying case, the then Minister of Foreign Affairs
Necmettin Sadak said the following: “…I learned from the newspapers that some Turks were
taken to courts as a result of a fabricated attempt of assassination, and that one of our diplomats
was also involved in the events. We have never initiated any attempt.” B.C.A., B.O.K.M.,
030.01/101.627.1., D: F11, 6.4.1948.
86 Aganoglu, Ibid., p. 322.
171
Turks had to emigrate to Turkey. After the Yucel operation the Yugoslavian
authorities confiscated most of the belongings of many Turks. These Turks also
had to emigrate to Turkey.87 Bilgiseven claims that after the Yucel case, about
500.000 Turks emigrated to Turkey for fear of a mass killing, which he calls as
the “fourth emigration”.88 However, when compared with the official statistics,
this figure seems quite exaggerated.89
Source: D.I.E.Y., 1959, p. 111. ,
4.2.4. Other reasons
Despite the communist regime, the historical policy of forcing

minorities to convert into Slavs was one of the reasons for emigration. Except
for a very small proportion, no Turks conformed to the new regime. The
Yugoslavian administration believed that Turks in Macedonia would join
Albania and therefore they had to be expelled from Yugoslavia. These practices
were made easy with the agreements between Turkey and Yugoslavia. 90
The “Agreement for Free Emigration” signed between Turkey and

Yugoslavia in 1952 was another blow for the Turks in the area. This was as big
a disaster as the Balkan Wars.91 This agreement gave the communist
administrators a chance to place pressures on Turks in Macedonia to force
them to emigrate to Turkey. This agreement started an intensive wave of
emigration and the number of emigrants between 1953 and 1966 exceeded
87 Zaim, “Turk Dunyasinda…”, p. 1761.

88 Bilgiseven, Ibid, p. 60.
89 D.I.E.Y., 1959, p. 111.
90 Zaim, “ Son Yugoslav…”, p. 443.
91 Hamzaoglu, Ibid, p. 48.
172
80.000 according to Yugoslavian statistics and 150.000 according to Turkish

statistics.92 According to the official records in the Turkish Ministry of Foreign
Affairs, the number of emigrants between 1952 and 1968 is 170.000. These
documents also show that the number of emigrants between 1952 and 1960 is
150.000; between 1952 and 1963 is 165.000. According to the numbers given
by the Turkish Ministry of Rural Affairs during the meeting of the European
Council Fund for Settlement, the number of the emigrants was 175.392, all of
which were “free emigrants”. Between 1954 and 1958, 107.262 of these came
to Turkey.93 One outstanding fact is that 56.4% of these emigrants (151.812)
came to Turkey between 1953 and 1960. It has been claimed that this was the
result of Tito’s attitude towards Turks and Muslims.94
Source: D.I.E.Y., 1962, p. 110.
Although the rate of the emigration after the Second World War
decreased compared to the previous periods, the emigration has continued up
to now. In some years the number of the emigrants is highly low. For example,
only 114 people came to Turkey between the end of the war and 1952.
Emigration from Yugoslavia was banned between 1939 and 1950. However,
after the formation of the Balkan Pact and after the visit of the Turkish
Parliamentary Delegation to Yugoslavia, the Yugoslavian government allowed
92 Turbedar, Ibid, p. 76. Kemal Kirisci, ‘Turkiye’ye Yonelik Goc Hareketlerinin

Degerlendirilmesi, Bilanco 1923-1998: Turkiye Cumhuriyeti’nin 75 Yilina Toplu Bakis
Uluslararasi Kongresi, Vol. I’ (1999), pp. 111-121.
93 Aganoglu, Ibid, p. 326.
173
emigration, which caused it to accelerate.95 As can be seen in the following

diagram, the emigration between 1951 and 1954 was of individual nature while
it was in masses between 1955 and 1960. In 1956, the number increased to
31.969. Between 1951 and 1960, 1952 is the year when the number of
emigrants was the smallest. The number of emigrants was 73 in 1952. The main
reason for this decrease is the fact that Turkey closed all its doors to emigration
between 1952 and 1952.96 These emigrations caused an important decrease in
the population of Turks in the area whose population increase was the highest.
A decrease was observed in the number of emigrants after 1958. However, the
emigration from Yugoslavia continued until the late 1990s.97
40000
30000
20000
10000 No. of immigrants
0
1945- 1953 1955 1957 1959
1951
Source: D.I.E.Y.,1962, p. 97.
It is almost impossible to get reliable Yugoslavian statistics about the

emigration, because it is difficult to say that the censuses in Yugoslavia yield
accurate figures and proportions. The number of Turks was always recorded
less than the actual number. In the classifications according to nationalities, the
Bosnia-Herzegovinans, Albanians and the gypsies were shown as Muslims in
95 Zaim, “Son Yugoslav ….”, p. 445. ; Deliorman, Ibid., p. 248.

97 Koy Hizmetleri Genel Mudurlugu, Iskan Sube Mudurlugu, 1923-1998 Yillari Arasinda Dis
Ulkelerden Gelen Gocmenlerin Yil Ulke Aile ve Nufuslarini Gosterir Liste.
174
general, which made it impossible to find accurate proportions. In the two

censuses carried out in 1921 and 1931, the total numbers of Muslims and
Bosnia-Herzegovinans were not given, and they were shown as Serbo-Croats.
Again, because of some political concerns, the number of the population in
Macedonia was not given, but the only number given was the number of Turks
living in Macedonia. Therefore, it is difficult to make any inferences about the
accurate number of Turks in Yugoslavia and the proportion of the emigrated
people to the total population of Turks. The Turkish population was 150.322 in
1921 and 132.924 in 1931. The number of the emigrants in this period was
108.179. This means that the number of people who lived there in 1934 was
40.000. But even the results obtained from the census showed that the number
was 90.000 more than that number. The 1948 census reported the number of
the Turks as 95.954. However, the number of emigrants that came to Turkey
from Yugoslavia until 1948 was more that 116.000. Therefore, these numbers
are not accurate either. The numbers of Muslims, Macedonians and Bulgarians
were given for the first time in the 1948 census. In this census, the number of
Turks was given as 808.921. On the other hand, in the 1959 census the number
was given as 250.000.98
Between 1950 and 1967, the total number of emigrants from Bulgaria,
Greece, Romania, Turkestan and other countries was 176.360 while the number
of emigrants only from Yugoslavia during this period was 175.392. Despite all
these facts, the emigration from Yugoslavia did not attract the attention of the
public and the Turkish press, and the state did not give any economic support
to them. For these reasons, it was called as the “silent emigration of Turks from
Yugoslavia”.99

99 Aganoglu, Ibid, p. 328.
175
5. Conclusion
During the last 50 years of the Ottoman State and during the first 40
years of the republic, Turkey witnessed an intensive emigration. During this
period, most of the emigrants came from the Balkans. It took the Ottomans
hundreds of years to make the Balkans a Turkish land, but the big emigration
which started after 1878 and which continued during the Balkan Wars caused
millions of Turks to emigrate to the motherland in a very short period time.
Consequently, the ethnic structure of the Balkans changed against the Turks.
Like many other problems, Turkey inherited the problem of emigrants

from the Ottoman State. With the withdrawal of the Ottomans from the region
after the Balkan Wars, millions of Turks in the region encountered pressures in
the states they lived. This pressure was based on the desire of removing Turks
from the Balkans. Consequently, millions of Turks living in Greece, Bulgaria,
Yugoslavia and Romania were forced to emigrate to Turkey.
The Yugoslavian administrators pursued the goal of removing Turks

from Yugoslavia, and they used the same policies in different periods in order
to accomplish this. There were economic, political, social and cultural factors in
this emigration. The Yugoslavian administrators forced the Turks to emigrate
to Turkey by trying to collapse them economically, to assimilate them
politically, to degenerate them socially and culturally and to wear them out
psychologically. They succeeded when they intensified their pressures on Turks.
As a result, many Turks escaped from the lands of their ancestors by leaving all
their belongings behind and came to Turkey, and started everything from
scratch. Between 1923 and 1949 117.212 persons emigrated from Yugoslavia to
Turkey, and 151.889 persons between 1950 and 1960. In other words, about
270.000 people emigrated to Turkey from Yugoslavia in the first 37 years of the
Republic of Turkey.
176
* *
177

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Emigration To Turkey - Balkan Muslim

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Turkish Review of Balkan Studies

EMIGRATION FROM YUGOSLAVIA TO TURKEY

The First World War resulted in the dissolution of the Austro-

The Union of Southern Slavs, the preparations of which were

the Kingdom of Serbia-Croatia-Slovenia in December 19183 However, the real

The Kingdom of Yugoslavia was as ethnically diverse as the dissolved

The distribution of the population according to the census carried out on 31

Source: CASTELLAN, 1991, pp. 425-426.

3 Aleksandre Popovic, Balkanlarda Islam, Istanbul, 1995, p. 215.

In the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, the diverse ethnic structure of the

2. Emigration from Yugoslavia between 1923 and 1940.

2.1. Reasons for emigration

With the announcement of its republic, Turkey entered into a new

After the announcement of the republic in Turkey, the factors of the

In the emigration from Yugoslavia, some factors were more prominent

Lessening the Turkish population in Yugoslavia was the ultimate aim

2.1.1. Economic Reasons

10 Deliorman, Ibid., pp. 205-206.

written document. In addition, many entertainment places were built in Skopje

Because of the shaking effects of the worldwide economic crisis in

As well as the economic pressures, Turks were subjected to some

2.1.2. Social and Cultural Reasons

In the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, Turks were also subjected to

16Amiran Kurtkan Bilgiseven, Yugoslavya’da Turk Kulturu, Istanbul 1987, p. 60.

The 350,000 Turks that remained in Macedonia during the Kingdom

The Serbian administration did not want Turkish children to attend

18 Oktay, Ibid., p. 135.

Maximum effort was made to prevent the development of nationalist

20 Oktay, Ibid., p. 135.

2.1.3. Political Reasons

Turks in Yugoslavia were also subjected to political pressures and this

21 Cavusoglu, Ibid., p. 133-134.

Another factor that contributed to the emigration of Turkish and

2.1.4. Other Reasons

The massacres carried out by Yugoslavians on Turks between the two

24 Turk Gocmen ve Multeci Federasyonu Raporu, p. 9.

When the kingdom dictatorship was announced, thousands of Turks

According to the official statistics, 5,894 people in 1,449 households

27Cumhuriyet, 5 Ocak 1929, p. 1.

Turkey as free immigrants.29 According to Barkan, 8,969 people in 2,340

The number of immigrants from Yugoslavia between 1934-1941.

Source: D.I.E.Y., 1941, p. 90.

29 Filiz Doganay, ‘Turkiye’ye Gocmen Olarak Gelenlerin Yerlesimi’, www.genet.sitemynet.com/

The problem of estates was one of the most important problems

Due to the emigration of Turks from Yugoslavia, the immigrants had

1. According to the agreement between Turkey and Yugoslavia, the

32 Cumhuriyet, 14 June 1929, p. 8.

Yugoslavian Consulate in Istanbul gave them visas differing from 1 month to 6

2. Those that had 6-month visas went to Yugoslavia. As soon as they

The Turkish ambassador to Belgrade dealt with this problem at the

The then Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs pursued the solution of

The real solution came with the “Agreement for Friendship,

In later periods, more agreements were signed between the Turkish

36 B.C.A., M.G.M., 30.10.0.0/250.691.18., D: 43216., 20.1.1930.

in Yugoslavia.38 A contract was signed between Turkey and Yugoslavian

The positive relations between Turkey and Yugoslavia continued

killings in Kosovo Popovic, Ibid., p. 289.

The Turkish administrators in Turkey did not pay enough attention to

As well as the worries about a possible Slavic union42 in the Balkans,

41 Zaim, “Turk Dunyasinda…”, p. 1763.

4. Emigration from Yugoslavia during and after the Second

4.1 Reasons for emigration