Turkish-Bulgarian relations: From conflict and distrust to cooperation

Turkish-Bulgarian relations since the latter part of the nineteenth century and throughout most of the twentieth have been shaped by political changes in the Balkans, affected in large part by the influences of the major powers and secondarily by the treatment of a sizable community of ethnic Turks in Bulgaria. Even before the nineteenth century, Turkey (or rather its predecessor state, the Ottoman Empire) and Bulgaria shared a long history. With the end of the Cold War, Turkey and Bulgaria have been able to cooperate politically, economically, and militarily. At the same time however, the breakup of Yugoslavia has created instability in the Balkans that may soon be fully remedied. Hopefully after the last couple of centuries of foreign interference, conflict, and distrust that have divided the region, the Balkan states, including Turkey, can join in cooperative arrangements with the rest of Europe.