View source for Pomaks

{{Short description|Bulgarian-speaking Muslims}}
{{Distinguish|Pomors}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2020}}

{{Infobox ethnic group
| group            = Pomaks<br />Помаци<br />Πομάκοι<br />Pomaklar
| image            = [[File:Pomak Photos 0006.jpg|250px]]
| caption          = Pomaks in the early 20th century
| population       = {{circa}} 1 million<ref name=pomaks>{{cite book|author=Carl Skutsch|title=Encyclopedia of the World's Minorities|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yXYKAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA974|date=7 November 2013|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-135-19388-1|pages=974–}}</ref>
| region1          = {{flagcountry|Turkey}}
| pop1             = 350,000<ref name=pomaks/>- 600,000<ref name="Türkiye'deki Kürtlerin sayısı!">{{cite web|url=http://www.milliyet.com.tr/default.aspx?aType=SonDakika&Kategori=yasam&ArticleID=873452&Date=07.06.2008&ver=16|title=Türkiye'deki Kürtlerin sayısı!|date=6 June 2008|access-date=17 August 2010|language=tr}}</ref>
| region2          = {{flagcountry|Bulgaria}}
| pop2             = 107,777  (2021 Census)<ref>{{Cite web | title=71.5% are the Christians in Bulgaria - Novinite.com - Sofia News Agency | url=https://m.novinite.com/articles/217761/71.5+are+the+Christians+in+Bulgaria | access-date=2025-04-02 | website=m.novinite.com}}</ref> 67,350 [[Muslim Bulgarians]] (2011 census)<ref name=nsi2011>[http://www.nsi.bg/EPDOCS/Census2011final.pdf 2011 Bulgarian census, p.29] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130727085038/http://www.nsi.bg/EPDOCS/Census2011final.pdf |date=27 July 2013 }} (in Bulgarian)</ref><br /> up to 250,000<ref name=pomaks/>
| region3          = {{flagcountry|Greece}}
| pop3             = 50,000 in [[Western Thrace]]<ref name=pomaks/>
| langs            = [[Bulgarian language|Bulgarian]] (native), [[Greek language|Greek]] (by those resident in Greece) and [[Turkish language|Turkish]] (by those resident in Turkey){{efn|Pomaks are speakers of various [[Bulgarian dialects]] as native language.}}<ref name="ethnologue.com">{{Cite web|url=http://www.ethnologue.com/show_country.asp?name=GR|title=Ethnologue, Languages of Greece.Bulgarian.}}</ref><ref name="ReferenceA">{{Cite web |url=http://www.ethnologue.com/14/show_language.asp?code=BLG |title=Ethnologue: Languages of the World Fourteenth Edition.Bulgarian. |access-date=3 December 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090116140346/http://www.ethnologue.com/14/show_language.asp?code=BLG |archive-date=16 January 2009 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="britannica.com">{{Cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Pomak|title=Pomak &#124; people &#124; Britannica|website=www.britannica.com}}</ref><ref name="ecmi.de">{{Cite web |url=http://www.ecmi.de/fileadmin/downloads/publications/JEMIE/2007/2-2007-Eminov.pdf |title=Social Construction of Identities: Pomaks in Bulgaria, Ali Eminov, JEMIE 6 (2007) 2 © 2007 by European Centre for Minority Issues |access-date=17 October 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170326094257/http://www.ecmi.de/fileadmin/downloads/publications/JEMIE/2007/2-2007-Eminov.pdf |archive-date=26 March 2017 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
| rels             = [[Sunni Islam]]
| related          = [[Bosniaks]] [[Torbeši]]
| footnotes        = 
}}

'''Pomaks''' ({{langx|bg|Помаци|Pomatsi}}; [[Macedonian language|Macedonian]]: Помаци {{langx|el|Πομάκοι|Pomáki}}; {{langx|tr|Pomaklar}}) are Bulgarian-speaking Muslims inhabiting [[Bulgaria]], northwestern [[Turkey]], and northeastern [[Greece]].<ref>{{cite book|author1=Carl Waldman|author2=Catherine Mason|title=Encyclopedia of European Peoples|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kfv6HKXErqAC&pg=PA607|year=2006|publisher=Infobase Publishing|isbn=978-1-4381-2918-1|pages=607–|quote=living in the Rhodope Mountains in Thrace in southern Bulgaria, northeastern Greece, and northwestern Turkey.}}</ref> The {{circa|220,000}} strong<ref>{{cite book|author1=Thomas M. Wilson|author2=Hastings Donnan|title=Culture and Power at the Edges of the State: National Support and Subversion in European Border Regions|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MS25xxY2LKQC&pg=PA158|year=2005|publisher=LIT Verlag Münster|isbn=978-3-8258-7569-5|pages=158–159|quote=The name ... refers to about 220,000 people in Bulgaria ... Pomaks inhabit borderlands ... between Bulgaria and Greece}}</ref> ethno-confessional minority in Bulgaria is recognized officially as [[Bulgarian Muslims]] by the government.<ref>{{cite book|author1=Hugh Poulton|author2=Suha Taji-Farouki|title=Muslim Identity and the Balkan State|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lQqHjwW6XzcC&pg=PA33|date=January 1997|publisher=Hurst|isbn=978-1-85065-276-2|pages=33–|quote=The Pomaks, known officially in Bulgaria as Bulgarian Muhammadans or Bulgarian Muslims, are an ethno-confessional minority at present numbering about 220,000 people.}}</ref> The term has also been used as a wider designation, including also the Slavic Muslim populations of [[North Macedonia]] and [[Albania]].<ref name="Ghodsee2009">{{cite book |author=Kristen Ghodsee |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VZ9FmdPZs2YC&pg=PA38 |title=Muslim Lives in Eastern Europe: Gender, Ethnicity, and the Transformation of Islam in Postsocialist Bulgaria |date=27 July 2009 |publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=978-1-4008-3135-7 |page=38}} </ref><ref>{{cite book|author=P. H. Liotta|title=Dismembering the State: The Death of Yugoslavia and why it Matters|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=h_LBmnBl99QC&pg=PA246|date=1 January 2001|publisher=Lexington Books|isbn=978-0-7391-0212-1|pages=246–}}</ref> Most Pomaks today live in [[Turkey]], where they have settled as [[muhacir]]s as a result of escaping previous ethnic cleansing in [[Bulgaria]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Myuhtar-May|first=Fatme|url=https://catalog.lib.uchicago.edu/vufind/Record/10042010/TOC|title=Identity, nationalism, and cultural heritage under siege : five narratives of Pomak heritage - from forced renaming to weddings /|date=2014|publisher=Brill|isbn=978-90-04-27207-1|series=Balkan studies library}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Haksöz|first=Cengiz|title=Migration in the Southern Balkans. From Ottoman Territory to Globalized Nation States|url=https://www.academia.edu/12755084|journal=Südosteuropa|year=2018 |volume=66|issue=4|pages=603–605|doi=10.1515/soeu-2018-0047 |s2cid=187892002 |issn=2364-933X|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Muslim Minorities in Bulgaria - [PDF Document]|url=https://cupdf.com/document/pdf-muslim-minorities-in-bulgaria.html|access-date=2022-02-19|website=cupdf.com|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Apostolov|first=Mario|title=The Pomaks: A Religious Minority in the Balkans|url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/nationalities-papers/article/abs/pomaks-a-religious-minority-in-the-balkans/3C44B7FC5A44C601498A1E74F3997A0C|journal=Nationalities Papers|year=1996 |language=en|volume=24|issue=4|pages=727–742|doi=10.1080/00905999608408481|s2cid=153397474 |issn=0090-5992|url-access=subscription}}</ref>

Bulgaria recognizes their language as a [[Bulgarian dialect]], whereas in Greece and Turkey they self-declare their language as the [[Pomak language]].<ref>{{cite journal |last=Turan |first=Ömer |year=2007 |title=Pomaks, Their Past and Present |journal=Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs |volume=19 |issue=1 |pages=69–83 |doi=10.1080/13602009908716425}}</ref> The community in Greece is commonly fluent in Greek, and in Turkey, Turkish, while the communities in these two countries, especially in Turkey, are increasingly adopting Turkish as their first language as a result of education and family links with the Turkish people.<ref>[http://www.greekhelsinki.gr/english/reports/pomaks.html] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304030624/http://www.greekhelsinki.gr/english/reports/pomaks.html|date=4 March 2016}} THE POMAKS, Report – Greek Helsinki Monitor</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://minorityrights.org/minorities/turks-and-pomaks/|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150714090323/http://www.minorityrights.org/1533/greece/turks-and-pomaks.html|url-status=dead|title=Turks and Pomaks|date=19 June 2015|archivedate=14 July 2015|website=Minority Rights Group}}</ref>

They are not officially recognized as one people with the ethnonym of ''Pomaks''. The term is widely used colloquially for Eastern South Slavic Muslims,<ref name=pomaks1/> considered [[derogatory]].{{clarify|date=April 2021}} However, in Greece and Turkey the practice for declaring the ethnic group at census has been abolished for decades.{{clarify|date=January 2016}} Different members of the group today declare a variety of ethnic identities: Bulgarian,<ref>{{cite web |title=СТРУКТУРА НА НАСЕЛЕНИЕТО ПО ВЕРОИЗПОВЕДАНИЕ |url=http://www.nsi.bg/Census/StrReligion.htm |website=nsi.bg |trans-title=STRUCTURE OF THE RELIGIOUS POPULATION |access-date=6 April 2020 |language=bg |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091225163107/http://www.nsi.bg/Census/StrReligion.htm |archive-date=25 December 2009 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>Muslim identity and the Balkan State; Hugh Poulton, Suha Taji-Farouki; 1997, p. 102</ref> Pomak,<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.iea.pmf.ukim.edu.mk/EAZ/EAZ_03/EAZ_2004_PDF/EAZ_2003_Iskrenov_Ang.pdf|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303192606/http://www.iea.pmf.ukim.edu.mk/EAZ/EAZ_03/EAZ_2004_PDF/EAZ_2003_Iskrenov_Ang.pdf|url-status=dead|title=Interview With Mr. Damjan Iskrenov* and Mr. Shikir Bujukov* from the Village of Kochan – Pomaks from Chech, Western Rodop Mountains (Pirin Part of Macedonia), R. of Bulgaria|archivedate=3 March 2016}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.sofiaecho.com/article/reading-room-3-raw-deal-for-the-pomaks/id_11428/catid_29|title=READING ROOM 3: Raw deal for the Pomaks}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.dnes.bg/stranata/2008/10/25/pomacite-iskat-da-bydat-priznati-kato-etnos.59620|title=Помаците искат да бъдат признати като етнос &#124; Dnes.bg|website=www.dnes.bg}}</ref> [[Muslims (South-Slavic ethnic group)|ethnic Muslims]], Turkish and other.<ref>[http://www-gewi.kfunigraz.ac.at/csbsc/ulf/pomak_identities.htm ''Histories and Identities: Nation-state and Minority Discourses. The Case of the Bulgarian Pomaks'']. Ulf Brunnbauer, University of Graz</ref>

== Etymology ==
The name "Pomak" first appeared in the Bulgarian Christian-heretical language surroundings of [[Northern Bulgaria]] (the regions of Loveč, Teteven, Lukovit, Bjala Slatina). According to one theory,{{citation needed|date=February 2022}} it comes from the expression "по-ямак" ("more than a [[Yemek]]", "more important than a Yamak", similar to "пó юнак", i.e. "more than a hero"). It has also been argued that the name comes from the dialectal words "помáкан, омáкан, омáчен, помáчен" (pomákan, omákan, omáčeen, pomáčen), meaning "tormented, tortured".<ref>Bulgarian Etymological Dictionary, Sofia</ref><ref>{{cite book | last = Мантран | first = Робер | title = История на Османската империя | publisher = Рива |pages = 472–535 | isbn = 978-954-320-369-7 }}</ref>

== Origins ==
Their precise origin has been interpreted differently by Bulgarian, Greek and Turkish historians,<ref>Fred de Jong, "The Muslim Minority in Western Thrace", in Georgina Ashworth (ed.), ''Muslim Minorities in the Eighties'', Sunbury, Quartermaine House Ltd., 1980, p.95</ref><ref>Vemund Aarbakke, The Muslim Minority of Greek Thrace, University of Bergen, Bergen, 2000, pp.5 and 12 (pp. 27 and 34 in the pdf file). {{Cite web| url=http://www.batitrakya.org/makaleler/doc_download/18-the-muslim-minority-of-greek-thrace.html | title=The muslim minority of Greek Thrace | access-date=7 February 2016 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120423082118/http://www.batitrakya.org/makaleler/doc_download/18-the-muslim-minority-of-greek-thrace.html | archive-date=23 April 2012}}</ref><ref>Olga Demetriou, "Prioritizing 'ethnicities': The uncertainty of Pomak-ness in the urban Greek Rhodoppe", in ''Ethnic and Racial Studies'', Vol. 27, No. 1, January 2004, pp.106–107 (pp. 12–13 in the pdf file). [https://web.archive.org/web/20110904202442/http://www.azinlikca.net/pdfs/thesis/The_uncertainty_of_Pomakness_in_the_urban_Greek_Rhodoppe.pdf]</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Brunnbauer, Ulf|title=Ethnologia Balkanica|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-7nX6hv6k8AC|volume=3|year=1999|publisher=LIT Verlag Münster|pages=38–49|chapter=Diverging (Hi-)Stories: The Contested Identity of the Bulgarian Pomaks|id=GGKEY:X5ZYCWAEE9A}}</ref><ref name="MartikainenMapril2019">{{cite book|last1=Martikainen|first1=Tuomas|last2=Mapril|first2=José|last3=Khan|first3=Adil Hussain|title=Muslims at the Margins of Europe: Finland, Greece, Ireland and Portugal|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=g8CnDwAAQBAJ|year=2019|publisher=BRILL|isbn=978-90-04-40456-4|page=133|chapter=Nation-state, Citizenship and Belonging: A Socio-historical Exploration of the Role of Indigenous Islam in Greece}}</ref> but it is generally considered they are descendants of native [[Eastern Orthodox]] [[Bulgarians]],<ref>{{cite book|author=Richard V. Weekes|title=Muslim peoples: a world ethnographic survey|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aVdIAAAAMAAJ|year=1984|publisher=Greenwood Pr.|isbn=978-0-313-23392-0|page=612}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Ethnic Politics in Eastern Europe: A Guide to Nationality Policies, Organizations, and Parties| date=1994 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=m_AcqFSfvzAC&pg=PA243|publisher=M.E. Sharpe|isbn=978-0-7656-1911-2|pages=243–}}</ref> and [[Paulicians]] who also previously converted to Orthodoxy and Catholicism, who converted to Islam during the [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]] rule of the [[Balkans]].<ref>Любен Каравелов. Мемоари. Павликяни и семейният бит на българите. ([[Lyuben Karavelov]]. Memoirs. Paulicians and the family life of the Bulgarians). http://www.znam.bg/com/action/showBook?bookID=979&elementID=935883124&sectionID=5</ref><ref name="Selian">{{cite journal |author=Edouard Selian|title= The Descendants of Paulicians: the Pomaks, Catholics, and Orthodox|journal= Academia.edu|date= January 2020|url=https://www.academia.edu/6730269}}</ref><ref name="Ivanov">{{cite book | title= Богомилски книги и легенди|last= Ivanov|first = Йордан|publisher= (Bulgarian language) С., 1925 (фототипно изд. С., 1970), с. 36 (Jordan. Bogomil Books and Legends, Sofia, 1925, p. 36: or in: Ivanov, Ĵ. Bogomil Books and Legends. Paris, Maisonneuve et Larose, 1976}}</ref><ref name="Apostolov2018">{{cite book|last=Apostolov|first=Mario|title=Religious Minorities, Nation States and Security: Five Cases from the Balkans and the Eastern Mediterranean|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6MVKDwAAQBAJ|year=2018|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=978-1-351-78441-2}}</ref> Information through Ottoman and Catholic missionaries reports supports this theory.<ref name="Selian"/><ref>Archimandrite Nikodemos Anagnostopoulos, Orthodoxy and Islam: Theology and Muslim–Christian Relations in Modern Greece and Turkey, Culture and Civilization in the Middle East, Taylor & Francis, 2017, {{ISBN|9781315297927}}, p. 128.</ref>

=== Genetic studies ===
A specific [[DNA]] [[mutation]], HbO, which emerged about 2,000 years ago on a rare [[haplotype]] is characteristic of the Greek Pomaks. Its frequency increased as a consequence of high [[genetic drift]] within this population. This indicates that the Greek Pomaks are an isolated population with limited contacts with their neighbours.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.haematologica-thj.org/cgi/reprint/90/2/255.pdf |title=HbO-Arab mutation originated in the Pomak population of Greek Thrace, Haematologica, Vol 90, Issue 2, 255–257, 2005 by Ferrata Storti Foundation |access-date=19 October 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081031112840/http://www.haematologica-thj.org/cgi/reprint/90/2/255.pdf |archive-date=31 October 2008 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |url=https://www.academia.edu/38456259|title=The origin of Greek Pomaks is based on HbO-Arab mutation history|year=2006|journal=Haema|volume=9|issue=3|pages=380–394|access-date=27 February 2009}}</ref> A 2014 study also confirmed high homozygosity and according to MDS analysis the Greek Pomaks cluster among European populations, near the general Greek population.<ref>{{Cite journal|author1=Panoutsopoulou K |author2=Hatzikotoulas K |author3=Xifara DK |display-authors=etal|title=Genetic characterization of Greek population isolates reveals strong genetic drift at missense and trait-associated variants|journal=Nat Commun|year=2014|volume=5|issue=5345|pages=5345 |doi=10.1038/ncomms6345|pmid=25373335 |pmc=4242463 |bibcode=2014NatCo...5.5345P }}</ref>

== History ==
Pomaks are today usually considered descendants of native Orthodox Bulgarians and [[Paulicians]] who converted to [[Islam]] during the [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]] rule of the [[Balkans]]. They started to become Muslim gradually, from the Ottoman occupation (early 15th century) to the end of the 18th century. Subsequently, these people became part of the Muslim community of the [[millet system]]. At that time people were bound to their millets by their religious affiliations (or their [[confessional community|confessional communities]]), rather than their ethnic origins, according to the ''millet'' concept.<ref name="Ortayli 2006 89-8">Ortaylı, İlber. ''"Son İmparatorluk Osmanlı (The Last Empire: Ottoman Empire)"'', İstanbul, Timaş Yayınları (Timaş Press), 2006. pp. 87–89. {{ISBN|975-263-490-7}} {{in lang|tr}}.</ref>

A monk [[Pachomios Roussanos]] (1508–1553), who visited the mountain area of [[Xanthi (regional unit)|Xanthi]], mentioned that around 1550 only six or nine villages had turned to Islam.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://portal.kathimerini.gr/4dcgi/_w_articles_ecom1_1_01/10/2009_300180|title=Greek newspaper "Kathimerini", Column "Exploring the Pomak villages", Athens 12 December 2009|access-date=26 April 2019|archive-date=18 July 2012|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120718024219/http://portal.kathimerini.gr/4dcgi/_w_articles_ecom1_1_01/10/2009_300180|url-status=bot: unknown}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://natpresh.blogspot.com/2009/09/1.html|title=NATPRESH: 1. Η προφορική παράδοση των Πομάκων της Ροδόπης|date=6 September 2009}}</ref> Furthermore{{clarify|date=July 2014}} the documents{{which|date=July 2014}} show that not only had Islam spread to the area at that time, but that the Pomaks had participated in Ottoman military operations voluntarily as is the case with the village of Shahin ([[Echinos]]).<ref>{{cite book |last=Tsvetkova |first=Bistra |script-title=bg:Турски извори за българската история. Том 3:2 |title=Turski izvori za bŭlgarskata istoriya. Tom 3:2 |trans-title=Turkish sources for Bulgarian history. Volume 3:2 |year=1972 |publisher=Българска академия на науките |location=София |language=bg |pages=416 |oclc=405458491 |isbn=978-0-439-01834-0}}</ref>

In North Central Bulgaria (the regions of Lovech, Teteven, Lukovit, Byala Slatina)<ref>{{cite web|last=Gozler |first=Kemal |title=Les villages pomaks de Lovca |publisher=Publishing House of the Turkish Historical Society |location=Ankara |date=2001 |url=http://www.kemalgozler.com/villages-pomaks-de-lofca.pdf}}</ref> the Ottoman authorities requested in 1689, after the [[Chiprovtsi Uprising]], for military reasons{{clarify|date=July 2014}} Bulgarian [[Paulicians]] (heterodox Christian sect) to convert to one of the officially recognized religions in the Ottoman Empire.{{citation needed|date=July 2014}} One part of them became the ''Bulgarian-[[Christians]]'' by converting to Ottoman recognized Christian denominations, either the [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Eastern Orthodox Christian Church]] or the [[Catholic Church|Roman Catholic Church]], while the other part converted to [[Islam]] and began to be called ''Pomaks''.<ref name="Selian"/> So, in North Central Bulgaria Pomaks became those of Bulgarian Christian heretics, for which it was unacceptable or impossible to convert to the Eastern Orthodox Christian because of dogmatic, economic, family or other reasons.{{clarify|date=March 2022}}<ref name="Ivanov"/>

[[File:Ethnographic map of European Turkey from 1877 by Carl Sax.jpg|right|300px|thumb|Ethnographic map of European Turkey from the late 19th century, showing the regions largely populated by Pomaks in brown.]]
The mass turn to Islam in the Central [[Rhodope Mountains]] happened between the 16th and the 17th century. According to the Codes of Bishop of [[Philippopolis (Thrace)|Philippoupolis]] and the [[Czechs|Czech]] historian and [[Slavic studies|slavicist]] [[Konstantin Josef Jireček]] in the middle of the 17th century, some Bulgarian provosts agreed to become Muslim en masse. They visited the [[Ottoman Turks|Ottoman]] local administrator to announce their decision, but he sent them to the Greek bishop of Philippoupolis Gabriel (1636–1672). The bishop could not change their mind. According to the verbal tradition of the [[Greeks]] of Philippoupolis,{{citation needed|date=July 2014}} a large ceremony of mass [[circumcision]] took place in front of the old mosque of the city, near the Government House. After that, the villagers became Muslim, too. According to the verbal tradition{{clarify|date=July 2014}} of the Bulgarians, [[Grand Vizier]] [[Köprülü Mehmed Pasha]] (1656–1661) threatened the Bulgarians of [[Chepino Valley]] that he would execute them if they didn't turn to Islam.{{citation needed|date=July 2014}} In 1656, Ottoman military troops entered the Chepino valley and arrested the local Bulgarian provosts, in order to transfer them in the local Ottoman administrator.{{clarify|date=July 2014}}{{citation needed|date=July 2014}} There, they converted to Islam. Grand Vizier Mehmed Köprülü, after the mass Islamization, destroyed 218 churches and 336 chapels in these areas.{{citation needed|date=July 2014}} A lot of Bulgarians preferred to die instead of becoming Muslim.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://natpresh.blogspot.com/2009/09/6.html|title=NATPRESH: 6. Λαϊκές παραδόσεις, παροιμίες και αινίγματα των Πομάκων|date=6 September 2009}}</ref><ref>M. G. Varvounis ''Folk tales of Pomaks in Thrace'', Athens 1996</ref> According to recent investigations the theory of forced conversion to Islam, supported by some scientists, has no solid grounds with all or most evidence being faked or misinterpreted. At the same time, the sincerity of the convert is a subject to suspicion and interrogation. Some authors for example, explain the mass conversions that occurred in the 17th century with the tenfold increase of the [[Jizya]] tax.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Горчева |first=Даниела |date=1 February 2009 |title=Балканите: съжителство на вековете |journal=Либерален Преглед |issue=21 |url=http://www.librev.com/index.php/bg/component/content/article/article/23-discussion-bulgaria/457-2009-06-16-06-32-51 |language=bg |access-date=12 December 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100830204222/http://www.librev.com/index.php/bg/component/content/article/article/23-discussion-bulgaria/457-2009-06-16-06-32-51 |archive-date=30 August 2010 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Тодорова |first=Мария |date=4 February 2009 |title=Ислямизацията като мотив в българската историография, литература и кино |journal=Либерален Преглед |issue=21 |url=http://www.librev.com/index.php/bg/component/content/article/article/23-discussion-bulgaria/460-2009-06-16-06-32-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201202130144/http://www.librev.com/index.php/bg/component/content/article/article/23-discussion-bulgaria/460-2009-06-16-06-32-27 |url-status=dead |archive-date=2 December 2020 |language=bg |access-date=12 December 2009 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-7nX6hv6k8AC&dq=Pomaks&pg=PA47|title=Ethnologia Balkanica|publisher=LIT Verlag Münster|via=Google Books}}</ref> Muslim communities prospered under the Ottoman Empire, as the Sultan was also the [[Ottoman Caliphate|Caliph]]. Ottoman law did not recognize such notions as [[ethnicity]] or [[citizenship]]; thus, a Muslim of any ethnic background enjoyed precisely the same rights and privileges.

[[File:Tuhovishta's Mosque(363).jpg|thumb|right|150px|Tuhovishta's Mosque]]
Meanwhile, the perception of the ''[[Millet (Ottoman Empire)|millet]]'' concept was altered{{clarify|date=July 2014}} during the 19th century and rise of nationalism within the [[Ottoman Empire]] begun. After the [[Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878)]], Pomaks in the [[Vacha (river)|Vacha]] valley, apprehensive of retribution for their role in the bloody suppression of the [[April Uprising]] two years earlier, rebelled against [[Eastern Rumelia]] and established an autonomous state, called [[Republic of Tamrash]]. In 1886 the Ottoman government accepted the Bulgarian rule over Eastern Rumelia and that was the end of the free Pomak state. During the [[Balkan Wars]], at 16 August 1913, an Islamic revolt begun in the [[Eastern Rhodopes]] and [[Western Thrace]]. On 1 September 1913, the "[[Republic of Gumuljina|Provisional Government of Western Thrace" (Garbi Trakya Hukumet i Muvakkatesi)]] was established in [[Komotini]]. The Ottoman administration didn't support the rebels and finally under the neutrality of Greek and Ottoman governments, Bulgaria took over the lands on 30 October 1913. The rebels requested support by the Greek state and put Greek major in [[Alexandroupoli]].{{clarify|date=March 2022}}<ref>in Turkish: Biyiklioglou Tevfik, "Trakya' da millî mücadele" Ankara 1956</ref><ref>in German: Peter Soustal, "Thrakien (Thrake, Rodope und Haimimontos)" Wienn 1991</ref><ref>in Greek: General Administration of Eastern Macedonia and Thrace, "Thrace" Komotini 1994</ref><ref>in Turkish: Aydinli Ahmet, "Bati Trakya faciasinin icyuzu" Istanbul 1972</ref> Bulgaria, after a brief period of control over the area, passed the sovereignty of Western Thrace at the end of World War I. The Provisional Government was revived between 1919 and 1920 under French protectorate (France had annexed the region from Bulgaria in 1918) before Greece took over in June 1920.

After the [[dissolution of the Ottoman Empire]] following the First World War, the religious ''millet'' system disappeared and the members of the Pomak groups today declare a variety of ethnic identities, depending predominantly on the country they live in.{{clarify|date=March 2022}}

== Language ==
{{main|Pomak language}}
There is no specific Pomak dialect of the Bulgarian language. Within Bulgaria, the Pomaks speak almost the same dialects as those spoken by the Christian Bulgarians with which they live side by side and Pomaks living in different regions speak different dialects.<ref>Bulgarian dialectology; Stoyan Stoykov; 4th edition, 2002; [http://www.kroraina.com/knigi/jchorb/st/st_2_b_izt_3.htm p.128]</ref> In Bulgaria there is a trend for dialects to give way to the standard Bulgarian language and this is also affecting the dialects spoken by the Pomaks and their usage is now rare in urban areas and among younger people. As part of the wider Pomak community, the [[Torbeshi]] and [[Gorani people|Gorani]] in North Macedonia, Albania and Kosovo speak [[Macedonian dialects|Macedonian]] or [[Torlakian dialect]]s (incl. the [[Gora dialect]]),<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=WiijLleylbEC&pg=PA221 Yearbook of Muslims in Europe], Jorgen S. Nielsen, Samim Akgönül, Ahmet Alibasic, BRILL, 2009, {{ISBN|90-04-17505-9}}, p. 221.</ref><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=yuh2NebIN3oC&pg=PR15 The Albanian Question: Reshaping The Balkans], James Pettifer, Miranda Vickers, I.B.Tauris, 2007, {{ISBN|1-86064-974-2}}, p. XV.</ref><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=u9Lq_8Ozf5cC&pg=PA1517 Encyclopedia of the Stateless Nations: L-R], James Minahan, {{ISBN|0-313-31617-1}}, Greenwood Publishing Group, 2002, p. 1517.</ref><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=jIoKMGRHxn4C&pg=PA75 Balkan Idols: Religion and Nationalism in Yugoslav States Religion and Global Politics], Vjekoslav Perica, Oxford University Press, 2004, {{ISBN|0-19-517429-1}}, p. 75.</ref><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=5naHA3N3tXoC&pg=PA97 Culture and Learning in Islam Different Aspects of Islamic Culture], Ekmeleddin İhsanoğlu, UNESCO, 2003, {{ISBN|92-3-103909-1}}, pp. 96–98.</ref><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=ppbuavUZKEwC&pg=PA208 Who Are the Macedonians?] Hugh Poulton, C. Hurst & Co. Publishers, 2000, {{ISBN|1-85065-534-0}}, p. 208.</ref> which are sometimes also considered to be part of the "wider [[Bulgarian dialects|Bulgarian dialect continuum]]".<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=ppbuavUZKEwC&pg=PA116 Who are the Macedonians?], Hugh Poulton, C. Hurst & Co. Publishers, 2000, {{ISBN|1-85065-534-0}}, p. 116.</ref><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=EnEFNOcYIrUC&pg=PA281 When languages collide: perspectives on language conflict, language competition, and language coexistence, Brian D. Joseph, Ohio State University Press, 2003, p. 281], {{ISBN|0-8142-0913-0}}.</ref><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=9IbgsDdeVxsC&pg=PA205 Albania: from anarchy to a Balkan identity], Miranda Vickers, James Pettifer, C. Hurst & Co. Publishers, 1997, {{ISBN|1-85065-279-1}}, p. 205.</ref>

Most Pomaks speak some of the Eastern Bulgarian dialects, mainly the [[Rup dialects]] in Southern Bulgaria and the [[Balkan dialects]] in Northern Bulgaria. The Pomaks living in the Bulgarian part of the Rhodopes speak the Rhodope (especially the [[Smolyan dialect|Smolyan]], [[Chepino dialect|Chepino]], [[Hvoyna dialect|Hvoyna]] and [[Zlatograd dialect|Zlatograd]] subdialects) and Western Rup (especially the [[Babyak dialect|Babyak]] and [[Ser-Drama-Lagadin-Nevrokop dialect|Gotse Delchev]] sub-dialects) dialects.<ref>Bulgarian dialectology; Stoyan Stoykov; 4th edition, 2002; [http://www.kroraina.com/knigi/jchorb/st/st_2_b_izt_3.htm pp.128–143]</ref> The Smolyan dialect is also spoken by the Pomaks living in the Western Thrace region of Greece. The Pomaks living in the region of Teteven in Northern Bulgaria speak the Balkan dialect, specifically the Transitional Balkan sub-dialect.<ref>Bulgarian dialectology; Stoyan Stoykov; 4th edition, 2002; [http://www.kroraina.com/knigi/jchorb/st/st_2_b_izt_2.htm pp.117–118]</ref> The Rup dialects of the Bulgarian language spoken in [[Western Thrace]] are called in Greece [[Pomak language]] (Pomaktsou). Similar to [[Paulician dialect]], it has words and resemblance to the grammatical forms of the [[Armenian language]]<ref name="Selian"/>

The Pomak language is taught at primary school level (using the Greek alphabet) in the Pomak regions of Greece, which are primarily in the [[Rhodope Mountains]]. The Pomaks of Thrace were, together with Turks and Roma, exempted from the population exchanges provided by the [[Lausanne Treaty]] (1923). The treaty made no mention of their language, but declared that their languages of education should be Turkish and Greek. The main school manual used for the teaching the language is 'Pomaktsou' by Moimin Aidin and Omer Hamdi, Komotini 1997. There is also a Pomak-Greek dictionary by Ritvan Karahodja, 1996. The Pomak dialects are on the Eastern side of the [[Yat border|Yat isogloss]] of Bulgarian, yet many pockets of western Bulgarian speakers remain.{{citation needed|date=April 2012}} A large number of them no longer transmit it; they have adopted Turkish as a first language and Greek as a second language.<ref>Adamou E. & Drettas G. 2008, Slave, Le patrimoine plurilingue de la Grèce – Le nom des langues II, E. Adamou (éd.), BCILL 121, Leuven, Peeters, p. 107-132.</ref> Recently the Community of the Pomaks of Xanthi, has announced its request to be treated equally and therefore to have the right of education in Greek schools without the obligation of learning the Turkish language.<ref>Demetriou, Olga (January 2004). "Prioritizing 'ethnicities': The uncertainty of Pomak-ness in the urban Greek Rhodoppe". ''Ethnic and Racial Studies'' (27)., pg. 105–108 [https://web.archive.org/web/20110904202442/http://www.azinlikca.net/pdfs/thesis/The_uncertainty_of_Pomakness_in_the_urban_Greek_Rhodoppe.pdf]</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.xronos.gr/detail.php?ID=53798 |title=An article in the Greek Newspaper ''Xronos'', printed 17.03.2010 |access-date=28 August 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110928035814/http://www.xronos.gr/detail.php?ID=53798 |archive-date=28 September 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

== Population ==

=== Bulgaria ===
{{Main|Bulgarian Muslims}}
The Pomaks in Bulgaria are referred to as ''[[Bulgarian Muslims]]'' (българи-мюсюлмани ''Balgari-Myusyulmani''), and under the locally used names ''Ahryani'' (pejorative, meaning "infidels"<ref name="Nitsiakos2008">{{cite book|author=Basilēs G. Nitsiakos|title=Balkan Border Crossings: First Annual of the Konitsa Summer School|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=M0NjLLVK18cC&pg=PA189|year=2008|publisher=LIT Verlag Münster|isbn=978-3-8258-0918-8|page=189}}</ref>), Pogantsi, Poturani, Poturnatsi, Eruli, Charaklii, etc.<ref name="Apostolov2001">{{cite book|author=Mario Apostolov|title=Religious Minorities, Nation States, and Security: Five Cases from the Balkans and the Eastern Mediterranean|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Qr0nAAAAYAAJ|date=1 January 2001|publisher=Ashgate|isbn=978-0-7546-1677-1}}</ref> They mainly inhabit the [[Rhodope Mountains]] in [[Smolyan Province]], [[Kardzhali Province]], [[Pazardzhik Province]] and [[Blagoevgrad Province]]. There are Pomaks in other parts of Bulgaria as well. There are a few Pomak villages in [[Burgas Province]], [[Lovech Province]], [[Veliko Tarnovo Province]] and [[Ruse Province]].<ref name="geo bound">{{cite book
|last=Raichevsky |first=Stoyan|title=The Mohammedan Bulgarians (Pomaks) |others=Pencheva, Maya (translator)|publisher=National Museum of Bulgaria|location=Sofia|isbn=978-954-9308-41-9|chapter=Geographical Boundaries|year=2004}}</ref> Officially no ethnic Pomaks are recorded, while 67,000 declared [[Muslim Bulgarians|Muslim and ethnic Bulgarian]] identity,<ref name=nsi2011/> down from 131,000 who declared Muslim Bulgarian identity at the 2001 census.<ref>{{cite web| title = Structure of the population by religion| work = Census 2001| publisher = National Statistical Institute| url = http://www.nsi.bg/Census/StrReligion.htm| language = bg| access-date = 4 November 2008| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20091225163107/http://www.nsi.bg/Census/StrReligion.htm| archive-date = 25 December 2009| url-status = dead}}</ref> Unofficially, there may be between 150,000<ref name=pomaks1>{{cite book|author=Janusz Bugajski|title=Ethnic Politics in Eastern Europe: A Guide to Nationality Policies, Organizations, and Parties|url=https://archive.org/details/ethnicpoliticsin0000buga|url-access=registration|year=1994|publisher=M.E. Sharpe|isbn=978-1-56324-282-3|pages=[https://archive.org/details/ethnicpoliticsin0000buga/page/235 235]–}}</ref> and 250,000<ref name=pomaks/> Pomaks in Bulgaria, though maybe not in the ethnic sense as one part declare Bulgarian, another part – Turkish ethnic identity. During the 20th century the Pomaks in Bulgaria were the subject of three state-sponsored forced assimilation campaigns – in 1912, the 1940s and the 1960s and 1970s which included the change of their Turkish-Arabic names to ethnic Bulgarian Christian Orthodox ones and in the first campaign conversions from Islam to Eastern Orthodoxy. The first two campaigns were abandoned after a few years, while the third was reversed in 1989. The campaigns were carried out under the pretext that the Pomaks as ancestral Christian Bulgarians who had been converted to Islam and who therefore needed to be repatriated back to the national domain. These attempts were met with stiff resistance by many Pomaks.<ref>DIMITROV, VESSELIN: [http://www.ecmi.de/uploads/tx_lfpubdb/JEMIE01Dimitrov10-07-01.pdf "In Search of a Homogeneous Nation: The Assimilation of Bulgaria's Turkish Minority, 1984–1985"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110718112057/http://www.ecmi.de/uploads/tx_lfpubdb/JEMIE01Dimitrov10-07-01.pdf |date=18 July 2011 }}, London School of Economics, UK 23 December 2000</ref>

=== Turkey ===
[[Pomaks in Turkey]] community is present mostly in [[Eastern Thrace]] and to a lesser extent in [[Anatolia]], where they are called in Turkish ''Pomaklar'', and their speech, ''Pomakça''. The Pomak community in Turkey is unofficially estimated to be between 300,000 and 600,000.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://emagaza-ttk.ayk.gov.tr/detay/2133/turkiyedeki-pomaklar-2017|title=Türk Tarih Kurumu E-Mağaza|website=emagaza-ttk.ayk.gov.tr}}</ref>

=== Greece ===
{{further|Muslim minority of Greece}}
[[File:20091128 Medusa Xanthi Thrace Greece 2.jpg|thumb|Medusa Pomak village, Xanthi, Thrace, Greece]]
Today the Pomaks ({{langx|el|Πομάκοι|links=no}}) in Greece inhabit the region of [[East Macedonia and Thrace]] in [[Northern Greece]], particularly the eastern regional units of [[Xanthi (regional unit)|Xanthi]], [[Rhodope (regional unit)|Rhodope]] and [[Evros (regional unit)|Evros]].<ref name="geo bound" /> Their estimated population is 50,000,<ref name=pomaks/> only in [[Western Thrace]]. Until the [[Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922)]] and the [[Population exchange between Greece and Turkey]] in 1923 did Pomaks inhabit a part of the regions of [[Moglena]]<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.unibuc.ro/CLASSICA/megleno1/introducere.pdf |title=Capidan, Theodor. Meglenoromânii, istoria şi graiul lor, vol. I, Bucureşti, 1925, p.5, 19, 21–22 (Capidan, Theodor. Megleno-Romanians – their history and dialect, Bucharest 1925, vol 1, p.5, 19, 21–22) |access-date=7 February 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303184737/http://www.unibuc.ro/CLASSICA/megleno1/introducere.pdf |archive-date=3 March 2016 |url-status=dead }}</ref> – [[Almopia]] (Karadjova), [[Kastoria]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://macedonia.kroraina.com/en/carnegie/chapter4_3.html|title=4.3. Greek Macedonia|website=macedonia.kroraina.com}}</ref> and some other parts of [[Macedonia (Greece)|Greek Macedonia]] and [[North Macedonia]]. German sightseer [[Adolf Struck]] in 1898 describes Konstantia (in [[Moglena]]) as a big village with 300 houses and two panes, inhabited exclusively by Pomaks. Greek nationalist scholars and government officials frequently refer to the Pomaks as "slavicised" [[Greek Muslims]], to give the impression and support Greek narratives that they are the descendants of Ottoman-era Greek converts to Islam like the [[Vallahades]] of Greek Macedonia.{{citation needed|date=August 2021}}

=== North Macedonia ===
The [[Macedonian Muslims]] (or ''Torbeši''), are also referred to as Pomaks, especially in historical context.<ref>[http://www.kroraina.com/knigi/en/carnegie/chapter1_1.html Report of the International Commission to Inquire into the Causes and Conduct of the Balkan Wars, published by the Endowment Washington, D.C. 1914, p.28, 155, 288, 317], Поп Антов, Христо. Спомени, Скопje 2006, с. 22–23, 28–29, [http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/pageviewer-idx?c=bosnia;cc=bosnia;idno=ahy8710.0001.001;size=l;frm=frameset;seq=249;page=root;view=image Дедиjeр, Jевто, Нова Србија, Београд 1913, с. 229], Петров Гьорче, Материали по изучаванието на Македония, София 1896, с. 475 (Petrov, Giorche. Materials on the Study of Macedonia, Sofia, 1896, p. 475)</ref><ref>[http://www.greekhelsinki.gr/pdf/cedime-se-macedonia-muslims.PDF Center for Documentation and Information on Minorities in Europe – Southeast Europe (CEDIME-SE). Muslims of Macedonia. p. 2, 11]</ref><ref>Лабаури, Дмитрий Олегович. Болгарское национальное движение в Македонии и Фракии в 1894–1908 гг: Идеология, программа, практика политической борьбы, София 2008, с. 184–186, [http://www.promacedonia.org/vk/vk_1_b2.htm Кънчов, Васил. Македония. Етнография и статистика, с. 39–53 (Kanchov, Vasil. Macedonia — ethnography and statistics Sofia, 1900, p. 39-53)], [http://www.kroraina.com/knigi/gall/ls/title.html Leonhard Schultze Jena. «Makedonien, Landschafts- und Kulturbilder», Jena, G. Fischer, 1927]</ref><ref>Fikret Adanir, Die Makedonische Frage: ihre entestehung und etwicklung bis 1908., Wiessbaden 1979 (in Bulgarian: Аданър, Фикрет. Македонският въпрос, София 2002, с. 20)</ref><ref>[http://www.digitalna.nb.rs/wb/NBS/casopisi_pretrazivi_po_datumu/glasnik_srpskog_geografskog_drustva/1921/b005#page/131/mode/1up Смиљанић, Тома. Пастирски живот код Миjака, Гласник српског географског друштва, Свеска 5, Београд, 1921, с. 232.]</ref><ref>Матов, Милан. За премълчаното в историята на ВМРО. Спомени, Второ издание София 2011, с. 58.</ref> They are a minority religious group in [[North Macedonia]], although not all espouse a [[ethnic Macedonian|Macedonian]] national identity and are linguistically distinct from the larger Muslim ethnic groups in the country, [[Albanians in North Macedonia|Albanians]] and [[Turks in North Macedonia|Turks]]. However the estimated 100,000 Pomaks in North Macedonia maintain a strong affiliation to the Turkish identity.<ref name=pomaks/>

=== Albania ===
Slavic-speaking Muslims, sometimes referred to as "Pomaks", live also in the Albanian region of [[Golloborda]]. However these people are also referred to as "[[Torbeš]]". Within [[Macedonian Academy of Sciences and Arts|Macedonian academia]], their language has been regarded as Macedonian,<ref name=Vidoeski214309339>{{cite book|last=Vidoeski|first=Božidar|title=Dijalektite na makedonskiot jazik. Vol. 1|year=1998|publisher=Makedonska akademija na naukite i umetnostite|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Uv1JAAAAYAAJ|isbn=9789989649509}} p. 214.</ref> while within Bulgarian academia, their dialect is considered as part of the [[Bulgarian language]].<ref>Асенова, Петя. Местни имена от Голо бърдо, Североизточна Албания, в: Езиковедски проучвания в памет на проф. Йордан Заимов, София 2005, с. 42–53.</ref> Part of this people still self-identify as [[Bulgarians in Albania|Bulgarians]].<ref>[http://imir-bg.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Urgent_anthropology_3.pdf Urgent anthropology Vol. 3 Problems of Multiethnicity in the Western Balkans]. Fieldwork Edited by Antonina Zhelyazkova, {{ISBN|954-8872-53-6}}. {{dead link|date=April 2023}}</ref>

=== Kosovo ===
The [[Gorani people|Gorani]] occasionally are also referred to as Pomaks in historical context.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eYVpAAAAMAAJ&dq=%D0%9C%D0%90%D0%9A%D0%95%D0%94%D0%9E%D0%9D%D0%98%D0%AF+%D0%93%D0%9E%D0%A0%D0%90+%D0%9F%D0%9E%D0%9C%D0%90%D0%A6%D0%98&pg=PA21|title=Българетѣ въ Македония: издирвания и документи за тѣхното потекло, езикъ и народность, съ етнографска карта и статистика|first=Йордан|last=Иванов|date=20 March 1815|publisher=Изд. на Българската академия на наукитѣ от фонда "Напрѣдък"|via=Google Books}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uhgTAAAAIAAJ&q=+%D0%9F%D0%9E%D0%9C%D0%90%D0%A6%D0%98|title=Нова Европа|date=20 March 1923|publisher=Tipografija|via=Google Books}}</ref> They are people who inhabit the [[Gora (region)|Gora]] region, located between [[Albania]], [[Kosovo]] and [[North Macedonia]]. The general view is that they should be treated as a distinct [[minority group]].<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=GCRjKdrmqqEC&dq=gorani+bulgarian+passports&pg=PA211 Kosovo: the Bradt travel guide], Gail Warrander, Verena Knaus, Published by Bradt Travel Guides, 2007, {{ISBN|1-84162-199-4}}, p. 211.</ref><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=Fnbw1wsacSAC&dq=Gorani+are+Muslim+Slavs&pg=PA70 Historical dictionary of Kosova], Robert Elsie, Scarecrow Press, 2004, {{ISBN|0-8108-5309-4}}, p. 70.</ref> Part of these people are already [[Albanisation|albanised]].<ref>Bulgarians in the region of Korcha and Mala Prespa (Albania) nowadays, Balkanistic Forum (1-3/2005), South-West University "Neofit Rilski", Blagoevgrad, Pashova, Anastasija Nikolaeva; Issue: 1-3/2005, Page Range: 113–130.</ref> By the last censuses at the end of the 20th century in Yugoslavia they had declared themselves to be [[Muslims (South-Slavic ethnic group)|ethnic Muslims]], like [[Bosniaks]].<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=aJRYkzl5YC4C&dq=pomaks+gora&pg=PA27 Religion and the politics of identity in Kosovo] by Gerlachlus Duijzings, C. Hurst & Co. Publishers, 2000, {{ISBN|1-85065-431-X}}, p. 27.</ref>

==Notable people==
*[[Mehmed Talaat]] (1874–1921), [[Grand Vizier]] of the [[Ottoman Empire]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Galip |first1=Özlem Belçim |title=New Social Movements and the Armenian Question in Turkey: Civil Society vs. the State |date=2020 |publisher=Springer International Publishing |isbn=978-3-030-59400-8 |pages=21–36 |chapter-url=https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-59400-8_2 |language=en |chapter=Revisiting Armenians in the Ottoman Empire: Deportations and Atrocities|series=Modernity, Memory and Identity in South-East Europe |doi=10.1007/978-3-030-59400-8_2 |s2cid=236785226 }}</ref> 
*[[Arif Sami Agush]] (born 1953), Member of the Bulgarian Parliament; Parliamentary Group of [[Movement for Rights and Freedoms]]. His ancestor was an Ottoman feudal called ''Agush Aga''. The Agush castle ''(konak)'' is situated in the village of [[Mogilitsa]]. He was born in Sandrovo, Bulgaria.
*[[Rita Wilson]] (born 1956 as Margarita Ibrahimoff), American actress and producer, married to actor [[Tom Hanks]]. Born in [[Los Angeles, California]], to a Pomak father and a Greek mother.
*[[Hussein Mumin]] (born 1987), Greek footballer. Born in Passos, [[Rhodope (regional unit)|Rhodope]], Greece.

== See also ==

* [[Pomak language]]
* [[Pomak Republic]]
* [[Provisional Government of Western Thrace]]

== References ==
{{notelist}}
{{Reflist|2}}

== Further reading ==

* {{cite book | author = Kristen R. Ghodsee| author-link = Kristen R. Ghodsee | title = Muslim lives in Eastern Europe| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=VZ9FmdPZs2YC&q=ottoman+%22turkish+settlers%22+rhodopes&pg=PA37| year = 2010 | location = Princeton, New Jersey | isbn = 978-0-691-13955-5 }}
* {{cite journal | last = Demetriou | first = Olga | date = January 2004 | title = Prioritizing 'ethnicities': The uncertainty of Pomak-ness in the urban Greek Rhodoppe | journal = Ethnic and Racial Studies | issue = 27 | url = http://www.azinlikca.net/pdfs/thesis/The_uncertainty_of_Pomakness_in_the_urban_Greek_Rhodoppe.pdf | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110904202442/http://www.azinlikca.net/pdfs/thesis/The_uncertainty_of_Pomakness_in_the_urban_Greek_Rhodoppe.pdf | url-status = dead | archive-date = 4 September 2011 | doi = 10.1080/0141987032000147959 | volume = 27 | pages = 95–119 | s2cid = 143619160 }}
* {{cite journal | last = Georgieva | first = Bozhidara |date=June 2009 | title = Who are the Pomaks? | journal = Vagabond | issue = 33 | url = http://www.vagabond.bg/index.php?page=live&sub=19&open_news=1489}}
* {{cite book|last=Raichevsky|first=Stoyan|others=Pencheva, Maya (translator)|title=Mohammedan Bulgarians|publisher=Natl Museum of Bulgaria|location=Sofia|isbn=978-954-9308-41-9|year=2004}}
* Kahl, Thede (2007): ''The presence of Pomaks in Turkey.'' In: Voss, C.; Steinke, K. (ed.): The Pomaks in Greece and Bulgaria - a model case for borderland minorities in the Balkans, p.&nbsp;227-234. Munich: Biblion. 
* {{cite book|last= Арденски|first= Владимир|title= Загаснали огнища|year= 2005|publisher= ИК "Ваньо Недков"|location= София|language=bg|isbn= 978-954-8176-96-5}}
* {{cite book| last = Груев| first = Михаил|author2=Кальонски, Алексей| title = Възродителният процес. Мюсюлманските общности и комунистическият режим| publisher = Институт за изследване на близкото минало; Фондация "Отворено общество"; Сиела| location = София| language = bg| isbn = 978-954-28-0291-4| year = 2008}}
* {{cite journal| author = Kristen R. Ghodsee| author-link = Kristen R. Ghodsee| date = 21 January 2009| title = Identity Shift| journal = Transitions Online| issn = 1214-1615| url = http://www.tol.cz/look/TOL/article.tpl?IdLanguage=1&IdPublication=4&NrIssue=305&NrSection=3&NrArticle=20319| access-date = 25 January 2009| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070302225613/http://www.tol.cz/look/TOL/article.tpl?IdLanguage=1| archive-date = 2 March 2007| url-status = dead| df = dmy-all}}
* [[Bulgarian Helsinki Committee]]. ''[https://www.scribd.com/doc/13657351/The-Human-Rights-of-Muslims-in-Bulgaria-in-Law-and-Politics-since-1878 "The Human Rights of Muslims in Bulgaria in Law and Politics since 1878"]'', Sofia, November 2003
* {{cite book| author = Kristen R. Ghodsee| author-link = Kristen R. Ghodsee | title = Muslim Lives in Eastern Europe: Gender, Ethnicity and the Transformation of Islam in Postsocialist Bulgaria| publisher = Princeton University Press| location = Princeton| isbn = 978-0-691-13955-5| url = http://press.princeton.edu/titles/9068.html| year = 2009}}
* {{cite journal | last = Горчева | first = Даниела | date = 1 February 2009 | title = Балканите: съжителство на вековете | journal = Либерален Преглед | issue = 21 | url = http://www.librev.com/index.php/bg/component/content/article/article/23-discussion-bulgaria/457-2009-06-16-06-32-51 | language = bg }}
* {{cite journal | last = Тодорова | first = Мария | date = 4 February 2009 | title = Ислямизацията като мотив в българската историография, литература и кино | journal = Либерален Преглед | issue = 21 | url = http://www.librev.com/index.php/bg/component/content/article/article/23-discussion-bulgaria/460-2009-06-16-06-32-27 | language = bg }}
* {{cite book| last =Мехмед| first =Хюсеин| title =Помаците и торбешите в Мизия, Тракия и Македония| url =http://pomak.webs.com/ptmtm/pomaks.html| year =2007| location =София| language =bg| url-status =dead| archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20110202073839/http://pomak.webs.com/ptmtm/pomaks.html| archive-date =2 February 2011| df =dmy-all}}
* {{cite book|last=Minahan|first=James|title=Encyclopedia of the stateless nations 3, L-R|year=2002|publisher=Greenwood Press|location=Westport, Conn.; London|isbn=978-0-313-32111-5|pages=1516–1522|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=u9Lq_8Ozf5cC&pg=PA1516|edition=1. publ.}}
*{{cite journal|title=Urban culture, religious conversion, and crossing ethnic fluidity among the Bulgarian Muslims ("Pomaks")|last=Benovska-Sabkova|first=Milena|authorlink=Milena Benovska-Sabkova|journal=Glasnik Etnografskog Instituta SANU|year=2015|volume=63|issue=1|pages=49–71|url=http://www.doiserbia.nb.rs/ft.aspx?id=0350-08611501049B|doi=10.2298/GEI1501049B|doi-access=free}}
*{{cite journal|title=Historical and ethnological influences on the traditional civilization of Pomaks of the Greek Thrace|author=Varvounis Manolis G.|journal=Balcanica |year=2003 |issue=34|pages=268–283|url=http://www.doiserbia.nb.rs/ft.aspx?id=0350-76530334268V|doi=10.2298/BALC0334268V|doi-access=free}}

== External links ==
{{Commons}}
* [http://www.pomak.eu/ Page 1]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20190916002029/http://pomaknews.com/ Pomaknews Agency | Nezavisen Glas na Pomacite]
* {{Cite web | title=Report | url=http://www.greekhelsinki.gr/english/reports/pomaks.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19981206050623/http://www.greekhelsinki.gr:80/english/reports/pomaks.html | access-date=2025-04-02 | archive-date=1998-12-06}}

{{Demographics of Turkey}}
{{Ethnic groups in Greece}}
{{European Muslims}}
{{Slavic ethnic groups}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Pomaks| ]]
[[Category:Ethnic groups in Greece]]
[[Category:Ethnic groups in Albania]]
[[Category:Ethnic groups in Kosovo]]
[[Category:South Slavs]]
[[Category:Ethnic groups in Bulgaria]]
[[Category:Muslim communities in Europe]]
[[Category:Sub-ethnic groups]]
[[Category:Slavic ethnic groups]]
[[Category:Sunni Muslim ethnoreligious groups]]
[[Category:Ethnoreligious groups in Europe]]
[[Category:Thracian Bulgarians]]