CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2008
| Author | Bechir, Elis |
|---|---|
| Title | Assimilation and Dissimilation: Tatars in Romania and Gagauz in Moldova |
| Summary | The Tatars in Romania and the Gagauz in Moldova represent the case study of my thesis. Romania and Moldova are strategic examples of states where assimilation policies were applied to minority groups and the Tatars and the Gagauz share certain commonalities in their historical experience. Both are Turkic, formerly nomad, coming from Central Asia and having settled in the Black Sea area during their invasions to west. The two national minority groups have never been studied together given the parallels that exist between them: the geographical position, the Ottoman heritage, the communist regime and the Turkish influence. Both ethnic groups have gone through a colonization policy with Romanian population in Romania and with Russian population in Moldova, resulting in acculturation process in long term. After 1989, with the fall of the Soviets, the Tatars and the Gagauz were offered the possibility of a national/ethnic revival and have taken different directions. Romania and Moldova provide two different patterns to deal with multiethnic societies. Thus, Romania is shown as an ethnic cohabitation model while Moldova is seen as a country too tolerant to its minorities. The Tatars in Romania maintained the assimilatory path, while the Gagauz fought for a national revival which ended in gaining territorial and cultural autonomy. The research consists in presenting their historical background in chronological order with an emphasis on the differences and the commonalities throughout their existence. I demonstrate that even if the Tatars and the Gagauz followed different paths, the main cause of the assimilation of the Tatars and the dissimilation of the Gagauz is similar. Moreover, neither of the groups used the right to develop culturally and promote the language, firstly due to lack of interest of the younger generations in their ethnicity and secondly of a lack of a political elite to highlight the need of culture in the group’s survival. |
| Supervisor | Iordachi, Constantin |
| Department | Nationalism Studies MA |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2008/bechir_elis.pdf |
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