site.btaOctober 30, 1989: Bulgaria and Turkiye Meet in Kuwait to Discuss Migration Crisis

On October 30, 1989, the first meeting between Bulgarian and Turkish officials took place in Kuwait following the earlier protests in May for the return of the names of Bulgarian Turks and respect for their rights here, and the subsequent opening of the border in June for those who wanted to go live in Turkiye.

In 1984, the Politburo of Bulgarian Communist Party (BCP) Central Committee adopted a decision "On Further Consolidation and Enlistment of Bulgarian Turks for the Cause of Socialism, for the BCP Policy," launching so-called "Regeneration Process" (internationally condemned campaign to assimilate country's Muslim minority by forcing 720,000-820,000 ethnic Turks and 180,000-250,000 Muslim Roma to adopt Slavic names).

The departure of 300,000 Bulgarian Turks caused deterioration in relations between the two neighbouring countries in the early summer of 1989.

The aim of the meeting in Kuwait was to start talks between the two countries.

The Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs had drawn up a four-step plan for the course of negotiations in Kuwait. In the first phase, the Turkish delegation was to try to get the Bulgarian representatives to recognize the fact that there is a Turkish minority in Bulgaria. In the second and third phases, the democratic civil rights of Bulgarian citizens of Turkish origin, as well as their property rights, were to be discussed. In the fourth phase, Turkiye was to present to the Bulgarian delegation a draft agreement concerning the rights of those members of the Turkish minority who had already left Bulgaria. However, Turkish foreign ministry spokesmen said that the negotiations may not reach the second phase at all if the Bulgarian delegation continued to deny the existence of a Turkish minority in Bulgaria.

In the meantime, Turkish newspapers were harshly criticizing the government for its volatile behaviour on the issue of the Turkish minority in Bulgaria. The newspapers condemned the Turkish government and reproached it for not keeping the promises made to these people, for actually forcing them to return to Bulgaria and for thus making Turkiye lose face in front of the world. The newspapers pointed out that of the 310,000 Turks who arrived in Turkiye, around 50,000 had already returned to Bulgaria.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mesut Yilmaz described the first talks, which lasted two hours, as "encouraging".

Georgi Yordanov, deputy chairman of the Council of Ministers of the People’s Republic of Bulgaria, declined to make a statement, telling reporters to be patient.

"This is the first meeting. We hope that it will be like a bridge to cross the river," said Kuwaiti Foreign Minister Sheikh As Sabah, who hosted the meeting.

Stefan Staykov, head of the Balkan countries department at the Bulgarian Foreign Ministry, said the issues would be discussed openly.

He said that Bulgaria was ready to talk about "humanitarian issues - reuniting separated families, for example (and) providing facilities for those who had crossed the border and travelled to foreign countries".

"We came with the intention of having a serious and constructive dialogue," he told Reuters.

According to officials from the Turkish Foreign Ministry, Turkiye's goal at the meeting in Kuwait was not to pressure Bulgaria, but to give it an opportunity to resolve the issue for which it had lost prestige on the international stage.