Xavier Bougarel is a French historian and a researcher at the Centre for Turkish, Ottoman, Balkan and Central Asian Studies of the School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences in Paris and an associate of the Centre Marc Bloch in Berlin.
After studying German language and culture at the University of Bordeaux III and the Free University of Berlin, he enrolled at the Paris Institute of Political Studies, where he graduated in 1990. He taught French at the University of Belgrade from 1990 to 1992 and was an associate of the Centre for International Studies and Research in Paris and Centre Marc Bloch in Berlin from 1993 to 1996. He defended his doctoral thesis in 1999, in which he discussed the relationship between Islam and politics during the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina. In the same year, he became a researcher at the Centre for Turkish, Ottoman, Balkan and Central Asian Studies of the School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences in Paris. Since September 2013, he has also been working at the March Bloch Centre. [1]
His work is largely focused on the themes of Islam in Southeast Europe, with an emphasis on the relationship between religious and national identity, the relations of Bosnian Muslims with the rest of the Muslim world, and the diversity and individualization of beliefs and religious practices; the war and post-war area of the former Yugoslavia, with a special interest in the evolution of inter-communal relations during and after the war, the mobilization of militias and the mafia economy associated with them and veterans as a social group created from the war; and 13th Waffen SS Handschar division and their activities in the Second World War in South-Eastern Europe and the general status of Muslim fighters in European armed formations during the 20th century. [1]
The Party of Democratic Action is a Bosniak nationalist, conservative political party in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
More than 96% of population of Bosnia and Herzegovina belongs to one of its three autochthonous constituent peoples : Bosniaks, Serbs and Croats. The term constituent refers to the fact that these three ethnic groups are explicitly mentioned in the constitution, and that none of them can be considered a minority or immigrant. The most easily recognisable feature that distinguishes the three ethnic groups is their religion, with Bosniaks predominantly Muslim, Serbs predominantly Eastern Orthodox, and Croats Catholic.
The Congress of Berlin was a diplomatic conference to reorganise the states in the Balkan Peninsula after the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–1878, which had been won by Russia against the Ottoman Empire. Represented at the meeting were Europe's then six great powers: Russia, Great Britain, France, Austria-Hungary, Italy, and Germany; the Ottomans; and four Balkan states: Greece, Serbia, Romania and Montenegro. The congress concluded with the signing of the Treaty of Berlin, replacing the preliminary Treaty of San Stefano which had been signed three months earlier.
Muslims is a designation for the ethnoreligious group of Serbo-Croatian-speaking Muslims of Slavic heritage, inhabiting mostly the territory of the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. The term, adopted in the 1971 Constitution of Yugoslavia, groups together several distinct South Slavic communities of Islamic ethnocultural tradition. Before 1993, a vast majority of present-day Bosniaks self-identified as ethnic Muslims, along with some smaller groups of different ethnicities, such as Gorani and Torbeši. This designation did not include Yugoslav non-Slavic Muslims, such as Albanians, Turks and some Romani people.
Islam is the most widespread religion in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It was introduced to the local population in the 15th and 16th centuries as a result of the Ottoman conquest of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Islam is the second-largest religion in Europe after Christianity. Although the majority of Muslim communities in Western Europe formed as a result of immigration, there are centuries-old indigenous European Muslim communities in the Balkans, Caucasus, Crimea, and Volga region. The term "Muslim Europe" is used to refer to the Muslim-majority countries in the Balkans and the Caucasus and parts of countries in Eastern Europe with sizable Muslim minorities that constitute large populations of indigenous European Muslims, although the majority are secular.
European Islam, or Euro-Islam, is a hypothesized new branch of Islam that historically originated and developed among the European peoples of the Balkans and parts of countries in Eastern Europe with sizable Muslim minorities which constitute of large populations of European Muslims. Historically significant Muslim populations in Europe include the Ashkali and Balkan Egyptians, Gorani, Torbeshi, Pomaks, Bosniaks, Chechens, Muslim Albanians, Ingushs, Greek Muslims, Vallahades, Muslim Romani people, Balkan Turks, Turkish Cypriots, Cretan Turks, Yörüks, Volga Tatars, Crimean Tatars, Lipka Tatars, Kazakhs, Gajals, and Megleno-Romanians from Notia today living in Turkey, although the majority are secular.
The Islamic Declaration is an essay written by Alija Izetbegović published in 1970 in Sarajevo, SR Bosnia and Herzegovina, SFR Yugoslavia. It presents his views on Islam and modernization. The treatise attempts to reconcile Western-style progress with Islamic tradition and issues a call for "Islamic renewal". The work was later used against Izetbegović and other pan-Islamists in a 1983 trial in Sarajevo, which resulted in him being sentenced to 14 years' imprisonment. He was released after two years.
Bosnia and Herzegovina fell under Austro-Hungarian rule in 1878, when the Congress of Berlin approved the occupation of the Bosnia Vilayet, which officially remained part of the Ottoman Empire. Three decades later, in 1908, Austria-Hungary provoked the Bosnian Crisis by formally annexing the occupied zone, establishing the Condominium of Bosnia and Herzegovina under the joint control of Austria and Hungary.
Muslim Romani people are people who are ethnically Roma and profess Islam. There are many different Roma groups and subgroups that predominantly practice Islam, as well as individual Romani people from other subethnic groups who have accepted Islam. Xoraxane Roma in Balkan Romani language, are non-Vlax Romani people, who adopted Sunni Islam of the Hanafi madhhab at the time of the Ottoman Empire. Some of them are Derviş of Sufism belief, and the biggest Tariqa of Jerrahi is located at the largest Arlije and Gurbeti Muslim Roma settlement in Europe in Šuto Orizari, locally called Shutka in North Macedonia have their own Romani Imam and the Muslim Roma in Šuto Orizari use the Quran in Balkan Romani language. Many Romanlar in Turkey, are members of the Hindiler Tekkesi a Qadiriyya-Tariqa, founded in 1738 by the Indian Muslim Sheykh Seyfullah Efendi El Hindi in Selamsız. Roma Muslims in Turkey and the Balkans are mostly cultural Muslims or nominal Muslims.
The Bosniaks are a South Slavic ethnic group native to the Southeast European historical region of Bosnia, which is today part of Bosnia and Herzegovina, who share a common Bosnian ancestry, culture, history and language. They primarily live in Bosnia, Serbia, Montenegro, Croatia, Kosovo as well as in Austria, Germany, Turkey and Sweden. They also constitute a significant diaspora with several communities across Europe, the Americas and Oceania.
The Turks in Bosnia and Herzegovina also referred to as Bosnian Turks, are ethnic Turks who form the oldest ethnic minority in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Turkish community began to settle in the region in the 15th century under Ottoman rule, however, many Turks immigrated to Turkey when Bosnia and Herzegovina came under Austro-Hungarian rule.
Mehmed Handžić was a Bosnian Islamic scholar, theologian and politician. Handžić was the leader of the Islamic revivalist movement in Bosnia and the founder of the religious association El-Hidaje. He was one of the authors of the Resolution of Sarajevo Muslims and the chairman of the Committee of National Salvation.
Bosnians are people native to the country of Bosnia and Herzegovina, especially the region of Bosnia. As a common demonym, the term Bosnians refers to all inhabitants/citizens of the country, regardless of any ethnic, cultural or religious affiliation. It can also be used as a designation for anyone who is descended from the region of Bosnia. Also, a Bosnian can be anyone who holds citizenship of the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina and thus is largely synonymous with the all-encompassing national demonym Bosnians and Herzegovinians.
Bosnia and Herzegovina–Turkey relations are the bilateral relations between Bosnia-Herzegovina and Turkey. Bosnia and Herzegovina is a southeast European country, while Turkey is a transcontinental country with a small European part on the Balkan peninsula around Istanbul. Diplomatic relations between the two countries started on 29 August 1992. Bosnia and Herzegovina has one embassy in Ankara and two consulates in Istanbul and İzmir, while Turkey has one embassy in Sarajevo and one consulate in Mostar. The two countries enjoy very warm diplomatic relations, due to historical and cultural ties dating back to the 15th century. There is a large population of Bosniaks in Turkey and a smaller community of Turks in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Istanbul quarter of Yenibosna is named in honour of the Bosnian community that has settled there since Ottoman times. Reflecting the close ties between the two nations, Bosnians and Turks are free to travel to each other's countries using only their national identification cards, without the need for a passport. Turkey gives full support to Bosnia and Herzegovina's NATO membership.
The Berlin Memorandum was a document drawn up by the three imperial world powers in 1876 to address the Eastern Question during the Crisis of 1875-1878. The purpose of the Berlin Memorandum was for the three imperial powers of Russia, Austria-Hungary, and Germany to address the state of relations between the Islamic Ottoman Empire and with the Christian peoples of the Balkans, with whom these imperial powers had international relationships and interests, and to correct the "Andrássy Note", a document that preceded the Berlin Memorandum and had similar intentions in creating an armistice and plan of reforms for the Balkans and the Ottoman Empire.
During the decline and dissolution of the Ottoman Empire, Muslim inhabitants living in Muslim-minority territories previously under Ottoman control often found themselves persecuted after borders were re-drawn. These populations were subject to genocide, expropriation, massacres, religious persecution, mass rape, and ethnic cleansing.
Rusmir Mahmutćehajić is a Bosnian author, intellectual, and statesman.
Isa Blumi is a historian. He is a senior lecturer and associate professor of Turkish Studies at Stockholm University Institute for Turkish Studies in Sweden.
Turkey–Yugoslavia relations were historical foreign relations between Turkey and now broken up Yugoslavia.