According to the scientists there are 21 hypotheses about the origins of the Gagauz, however there is no consensus so far for one single viewpoint.
According to one version they are the descendants of Turk ethnicities from the Altai Mountains in the Balkans onto the territory of modern Bulgaria. They speak Gagauz – a Turkic language. They embraced orthodox Christianity in the Middle Ages, which is preserved to today.
In 1806-1812, when Bugeac passed from the Ottoman command under the Russian state, the Muslim Turks and Tatars were expelled and their places were taken by Gagauz and Bulgarian population, as well as by other people such as Germans and Swiss. They were granted land and their main livelihood was agriculture and winemaking.
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Another important period for the Gagauz people started after 27 March 1918, when Bessarabia united with Romania. In 1930 a population census was organized in Romania, in which the Gagauz were, for the first time in their history, identified as an ethnic group. That was the time when Gagauz detached from the Bulgarians and started getting closer to the Turks. The Turkish ambassador Hamdullah Subhi Tanriöver, did everything possible to bring to Bessarabia Turkish professors, mainly originating from Dobrogea, who started teaching in Turkish in the local schools.
In 1944, when the territory of Bessarabia came under the rule of the Soviet Empire, the Gagauz went through two phases. The ’40s, the hard post-war years, including the famine in 1946-1947, when the territories in the south of the country suffered the most. The ’50s was the start of the development process, including having their own alphabet that was developed based on the Cyrillic letters in 1957. The Gagauz language started being taught in a number of schools as of 1959. At the end of the ’80s the Gagauz attained recognition of their ethnic identity and developed a national awareness, which led to the establishment of the Gagauz Autonomy in the framework of the Republic of Moldova in 1994.
“The Gagauz preserved their religion due to a resolute faith, which is typical for their character: stubborn and perseverant; even the word “Gagauz”, according to one of the versions, means stubborn, perseverant, sticking to its point of view,” Vitalii Sirf, PhD in philology.
“The aim of the Russian Empire was to populate these territories with Christian people that would have a positive attitude towards Russia. The Gagauz and the Bulgarians seemed to fit best that aim, since they had already been part of the Ottoman Empire for four and a half centuries, being subject to severe repressions, such as religious ones,” Ivan Duminica, PhD in history.
This material was developed in the framework of the project “Supporting institutionalized and sustainable dialogue on Gagauzia Autonomy”, implemented by CMI – Martti Ahtisaari Peace Foundation and financed by Sweden. The opinions expressed in this material pertain to the authors and do not necessarily represent the position of CMI or of Sweden.