Islam, Etnicity and the State: the Balkans

The paper examines Muslim identity in the context of interaction between religions and ethnic and national identities within the complex ethnic and religious network of the Balkans, and with a focus on Muslim minority communities in the individual states in the region. Although it proceeds from a historical background, emphasis is placed on contemporary conditions, especially after the fall of communism and the crisis in former Yugoslavia. The paper is based on the book Muslim Identity and the Balkan State, prepared by Hugh Poulton and Suha Taji Farouki and published in London in 1977. Apart from a valuable and interesting introduction in regard to defining the concept of “Muslim” and “Muslim community” in the Balkans, and also an indication of some of the specificities of Islam in this region, the book includes eleven separate studies, the majority of which deal with Muslim minority communities and their status in Balkan countries (Albania, Bulgaria, Greece, Kosovo, Macedonia and Sandţak). The papers also deal with Turkey, as the country whose communities reside in some of the mentioned countries, as well as with the relations between Turkey and the Balkan countries. Besides analysing the historical causes leading to the formation of the Muslim communities, each author attempted to identify the main socio-economic, political and ethno-religious factors “responsible” for their position in the individual political communities in the Balkans. In this paper, the key aspects of the mentioned themes are reviewed, including particular comments on Albania, Bulgaria, Greece, Kosovo and Macedonia