As a graduate student in Cultural Studies at Sabancı University, Deniz conducted an oral history interview with Merdiye Abla about her application for Bulgarian citizenship.
Deniz:
“I think that identities regarded as homogenous entities in conflict with one another actually contain various interstices which can only be disclosed through stories. Considering that we live in an era in which faith in truth is deeply shaken, the meaning we are after is couched within these stories. Once I decided that I wanted to listen to stories and to form my own sentences upon them, I came to realize that oral history was one of the ways of achieving this.”
From the interview:
“Every class had a name. Vasil Levski was the hero of our class, for example. He had been hanged by the Turks on February 9. I don’t remember the year. Yet, February 9 is the date that he was hanged, I remember that distinctly. A lament was created for Vasil Levski after his loss. We used to sing it to commemorate him, we were taught the lament in school. I remember crying my eyes out. Clearly- I remember this clearly because I was in fourth or fifth grade. In any case we migrated [to Turkey] after fifth grade. I am 52 years old, and I haven’t forgotten the day of Vasil Levski’s death, February 9.”
“The destiny of [Bulgarian] Turks has always been a source of jokes among us. The insurmountable efforts to come here in the past… I remember the intense desire, the efforts, the traumas people experienced during the migration. When you think of all this, it was unimaginable that one day citizenship rights would be granted, and that many people would desire it. But times are changing, and we are keeping up with it.”
