Degree of Integration, Political Representation and Social Status of the Turkish, Pomak and Roma Peoples
The Muslim community in Bulgaria formed during the 500 years of the Ottoman Empire and included Turkish migrants, Muslim migrants from neighbouring and distant provinces of the Empire and locals who converted to Islam under Ottoman rule. This development generally led to Islam co-existing peacefully alongside other cultures in the Balkans, something that today continues to distinguish it from the Salafist form of Islam found in Arab lands.
