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Nine country stories

One citizenship. Many histories.

Each card names its evidence, its sources and the conclusion the map cannot support.

People, places and connections to Bulgaria.Sourced historical, cultural, migration and public-service markersPREPISKA · 2024 / 9
TURTurkey
5 · Sourced historical, cultural, migration and public-service markers
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TR6,8102024 applications
Applicant nationalityHistorical settlementMigration or descendant connection

Turkey

Turkey’s connection includes two distinct histories: the old Bulgarian Orthodox institutions of Istanbul and Edirne, and much larger communities descended from people who migrated from Bulgaria, many of them ethnic Turks, including the forced migration of 1989.

Sources4
Official answer on 2024 citizenship applications and pending filesNational Assembly of Bulgaria / Ministry of JusticeBulgarians in Istanbul are historically and culturally linked to the development of modern BulgariaMinistry of Foreign Affairs of Bulgaria30th anniversary of the forced migration from BulgariaRepublic of Türkiye Directorate of Migration ManagementImmigrants acquiring citizenship: 1989 Turkish immigrants from BulgariaAnadolu University

What this map cannot tell you: Applicants with Turkish nationality are not necessarily ethnic Bulgarians. Former Bulgarian citizenship, descent, family migration and historic community membership are different connections and must not be collapsed into one.

2024 applicant nationality

Countries in published 2024 applicant statistics

Counts belong to nationalities in one published legal-route group. They are applications, not approvals or ethnic counts.

  1. 01Turkey6,810
  2. 02Ukraine4,517
  3. 03North Macedonia3,351
  4. 04Albania1,777
  5. 05Russia1,392
  6. 06Moldova1,170
  7. 07Serbia985
  8. 08Israel621
02Every marker declares its evidence type.Nationality ≠ ethnicity ≠ origin ≠ residence.

These facts can overlap, but none automatically proves another. Prepiska stores and displays them as different concepts.

Nationality
A legal bond to a state, as reported in the dataset.
Ethnicity
A person’s cultural or social identity; never inferred by this atlas.
Legal origin
A Citizenship Act concept tested through the route and evidence.
Residence
Where someone lives; it may differ from nationality and family history.
Official applicant service

An official Bulgarian embassy or consular location that publishes citizenship-related applicant services. It does not imply anything about the identity of the surrounding population.

Applicant nationality

The nationality reported in the 2024 application data. It does not establish ethnicity, Bulgarian origin, residence or motive.

Legal minority recognition

The state provides a formal legal or institutional framework for the Bulgarian minority. Recognition still does not determine any individual’s identity.

Census self-identification

People chose Bulgarian identity in an official census. This is a voluntary declaration, not a government assignment or proof of citizenship eligibility.

Historical settlement

Institutional or academic sources document a Bulgarian community in this place over time. A historical map is not a current ethnic boundary.

Migration or descendant connection

Documented movement from Bulgaria or a community of descendants. It can include several ethnic, religious and civic identities.