Historical Fate of Balkan Ethnic Groups in Kazakhstan: Past and Present

Balkan Peninsula Diaspora appeared in Kazakhstan at the end of the XIX century. Firstly, the Bulgarian nationality moved, and then Greeks moved. Among the peoples of the Balkan Peninsula, the fate of the Greeks and Bulgarians is typically common for Kazakhstan. The fact that the Balkans people collided with the land of Central Asia was comprehensively influenced by political, economic, and ideological factors. Adapted to the nature and economy of the new region, the Balkan ethnic groups have retained their identity. Today, the fourth generation of these ethnic groups lives in independent Kazakhstan as a fully functioning Diaspora of Balkan people. Problems of their resettlement and arrangement are one of the topics that have not been studied in history despite being one of the most important in migration and resettlement questions of this territory. In this research work the history of Balkan ethnic groups in Kazakhstan was analyzed on the basis of archival and scientific materials.


Introduction
Among the Balkan peoples, Bulgarians first moved to the territory of Kazakhstan. It corresponds to the period of tsarist Russia. Bulgarians moved from the coastal regions of the Russian Empire to the lands of Central Asia. As you know, their resettlement in Russia was caused by the Russian-Turkish wars of the XVIII century. 1 There is a question of what form their migration had. In Central Asia, Bulgarians moved independently, as well as other Russian and Ukrainian Slavic peoples. Their Imperial administration didn't settle violently, as well as Bolsheviks did. The system of power made it possible to choose on resettlement. And the fate of the Greeks, the second representative of the Balkan ethnic groups who were deported during the Soviet Union was more complex. They experienced various legal discrimination by the Stalinist authorities. During this period there is a process of the second deportation of Bulgarians and limits the consequences of Stalin's method of management. 2 Thus, the process of migration of the Balkan peoples to the lands of Kazakhstan and other Central Asian States consists of two stages: tsarist Russia and the Soviet Union. The third stage was held by the fall of the Soviet Union and became immigration, and the Balkan peoples were able to return to their historical homeland. The article aims to study and present to the general public the historical fate of the Balkan ethnic groups living in Kazakhstan. Because the historiography of the USSR was limited to the study of the history of the Balkan ethnic groups. And in any study about the policy of deportation and the repressive power of the Bolsheviks was not openly mentioned. In this study, the historical fate of the Bulgarian and Greek ethnic groups living in Kazakhstan was discussed for the first time. 3 The methodological basis of the research consists of the principles of objectivism and historicism, which do not belong to any political circle and refuse various dogmas and legends. It is important to recognize the legality of historical processes. The theoretical basis of the research work is based on the analysis of historical, ethnographic, and political works. For this reason, three groups of methods were used: universal, special historical, and mixed sciences. One of the main methods used in the study is the historical method.
Historical Fate of Balkan Ethnic Groups in Kazakhstan: Past and Present Kashkinbayeva A.T.. et al. With its help, an opportunity to consider any events in the dynamics of historical development was found. However, the systematization of historical events is not only a chronological succession but in the comparative chronological method, allowing one to consider the site of significant events. Citizens belonging to the Bulgarian ethnic group have submitted many applications to visit Bulgaria for tourist purposes and personal problems. However, the issue of travel abroad for tourism purposes and travel abroad on personal matters has undergone thorough checks and procedures; for example, when the regional Committee of all regions of Kazakhstan worked Commission to travel abroad. In particular, was specified that since 1969 the departments of the Commission for travel abroad have been established in all areas and are endowed with important powers on the part of other party and state bodies. They reported annually to the Council of Ministers in confidence. So, in the report of the Commission on departure abroad at the regional Committee of the Pavlodar region for 1974 the following information is given: in 1974, the Commission considered 471 cases. Of these, 337 are citizens on personal matters, and the rest are on business trips within the framework of state work. On personal matters, 334 cases of citizens travelling abroad were approved and received permission to travel abroad. Of these, 29 people received permission to visit the Bulgarian, Bulgarian state. 4 The relevance of this study lies in the active geopolitical processes taking place in the region of Eastern Europe and Central Asia. These processes raise questions about the sociocultural definition of ethnic groups and the formation of people in the territories.

Balkan ethnic group research
We know that Balkan ethnic groups have been resettled from different regions of Russia in Kazakhstan and Central Asia. During the period of tsarist Russia, Balkan ethnic groups were not under pressure from the authorities. They lived on an equal footing with the Russian people. These are the national and interreligious policies of the tsarist administration. On the Bulgarian nationality, the language was quickly absorbed between the close Russian and Ukrainian people and moved to the necessary places. In 1891-1907 a group of Bulgarians in Russia settled in the Northern regions of Kazakhstan. 5 Their resettlement was peaceful and voluntary. The second group of Balkan Nations, the Greeks, were settled by force when the Soviet Union was headed by Stalin. And the Greeks did not correspond to the concept of Stalin's national policy.
In his report at the XII Congress of the Russian Communist Party (RCP) in 1921, the Greek ethnos in the USSR were attributed to the ethnic group, which does not have a certain territory and class structure. In addition, according to Stalin, a strong attitude to their Pavlodar region as an international holiday-the Day of Slavic culture and writing. Both Tatars and Kazakhs took an active part in it, and representatives of local administration made reports (Rybalchenko, 1977;Pozharskiy et al., 2020). These data indicate a positive process of adaptation of the Bulgarian ethnic group to another environment. The policy of Soviet power, which was formed in Kazakhstan in 1920, initially did not have a significant impact on the fate of the Bulgarian ethnic group. But in the late 1930s, the strengthening of Stalin's power led to an aggravation of interethnic relations. During the mass repressions of 1937-1938, investigative measures against diasporas of capitalist countries living in the territory of the USSR were strengthened. The security authorities of the Soviet government began to investigate men with the suspicion that they may be associated with their Homeland. To visit other cities and regions, the authorities decided to confiscate passports. 7 The rules of the passport system of 1932 in the Soviet Union, included the official, any person without a passport, is deprived of the opportunity to visit the regions far.
The measures of repression carried out before World War II complicated the cultural and sociological situation of the Bulgarians in Kazakhstan. Their places of worship and centers were closed, and are limited in communication in the Bulgarian language. For example, in 1938 the cultural center of the Bulgarian ethnos in Pavlodar region called Zlata was closed. In this cultural center once a year the newspaper Bulgarian World was liquidated. 8 The causes and results of the World War II were heavier than the fate of small ethnic groups living in the USSR. It is also associated with the Bulgarian ethnic group. In May 1944, the head of the USSR Stalin and the head of the People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (NKVD) L.P. Beria signed a resolution Armenian, Greek and Bulgarian, belonging to the small ethnic groups in the Crimea, were deported to other regions. According to the archive, the number of deported Bulgarian was 15.000. 9 Most of them were sent to the Perm region of Russia and the Siberian regions. About 400 Bulgarian moved to the Mangistau region of Kazakhstan. They were divided into special settlements (special settlements). And they were assigned a special work task and allowed to travel to a certain territory. Without the permission of the commandant was considered out of the special territory. But these decisions did not concern the Bulgarians who voluntarily moved to Kazakhstan in the early XX century. However, despite the fact that there is no doubt against them, the system of special regimes has not been applied. Because they were far from Bulgaria and were not occupied by the Germans. And all the small ethnic groups in the regions occupied by the Germans are questioned by the Soviet authorities. There were a lot of false stories that were spread about them. For example, hence the accusation of the peoples of the Caucasus, the Greeks in helping the Germans with food. Consequently, people who experienced violence in the occupation by the Germans were now forced to insult the authorities of their country. The rights of the deported Bulgarians were restored after Stalin departed from power. The Bulgarians, deported by the decree of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR on March 27, 1956, were released. More than 400 citizens deported to Kazakhstan received equal rights after 1956, 10 many deported Bulgarians began to return to Crimea to their native places in the USSR. However, he is deprived of the right to return his former property. Most Bulgarians were subjected to deportation after the recovery he returned to the Crimea. But pay attention to the fact that they are not massive. He also noted that active work is being carried out in Kazakhstan to develop small and medium-sized businesses, as well as to promote them. In addition, on the same lands, they remained negative memory (memory). And if the Soviet authorities allowed them to move to Bulgaria, the researchers believe that many people belonging to the Bulgarian ethnic group, are ready to move from the Soviet Union. This is evidenced by the data from many archival documents. In the 1970s, the USSR carried out a passport policy and simplified the documentary procedure for travelling abroad. Representatives of other nationalities living in the Soviet Union, it was allowed a temporary visit to historical places and travel. But it was a condition for the countries of Eastern Europe, members of the socialist system. In Kazakhstan, representatives of ethnic groups from the socialist countries of Poland and Bulgaria gladly accepted the news. They were allowed to visit their historical homeland as soon as possible. The Commission for travel abroad, which worked in Pavlodar, Kostanay regions of the Kazakh SSR in 1971, appealed to citizens belonging to the local Bulgarian ethnic groups, with a request to travel to Bulgaria. Under the rules of the service system, when visiting citizens abroad, three points were provided: first, within the public service, then, tourist leave, and the third-in connection with personal status (Martinkovic, 2005).
In addition, Aktobe is one of the areas where representatives of the Bulgarian ethnic group live. The annual report of the Commission on travel abroad at the Aktobe Regional Committee in 1974 also identified the above data network. In 1974, the Commission received 562 cases, of which 70 people expressed a desire to visit socialist countries. Of these, 159 people applied to visit Bulgaria. Of these, 21 people asked relatives living in Bulgaria, in the historic homeland. And the rest showed that they go to rest. The Republic of Bulgaria with a favorable climate, located along the sea, has become a major holiday destination, inaccessible to the citizens of the USSR. It should be noted that in most cases the number of visitors for tourist purposes prevails.

Changes in the post-Soviet era
In 1991, after the fall of the Communist regime in Kazakhstan, democratic values and the concept of freedom began to form. At that time, the desire of many Nations to move to their historical homeland was a natural phenomenon. Including Bulgarian. This phenomenon was understandable. Because after gaining independence, Kazakhstan has become questionable for many nationalities. They did not understand the politics and ideology of the new state and the position of other nationalities. Therefore, other ethnic groups decided to return to their historical homeland. The main factor of the mass immigration process was the economic rapprochement. Agriculture lost its Executive mechanisms, factories stopped working in cities.
In Kazakhstan, the majority of Bulgarians work in agriculture, and new appeals in the economy were the first blow to them. And those who work in agriculture should understand that they are not ready for new changes in the economy and economy. He demanded adaptation, which will last a long time. And now you can see that the Kazakh nation itself is not ready for long-term adaptation. Therefore, in 1992-2001 more than 5.000 historical families belonging to 8.000 Bulgarian ethnic groups living in Kazakhstan moved to Bulgaria. Some of them moved to Ukraine, Russia, and Greece. 12 In particular, in the Mangystau region, where the Bulgarians deported from Crimea in the 1940s were settled, in the passport, there were few citizens who indicated the Bulgarian ethnic group. It should be recognized that the transition of Bulgarians, who worked productively in agriculture, to the mass historical homeland significantly weakened the personnel problem in the agriculture of Kazakhstan. This was told by akim (regional ruler) of Aktogay rural district of Pavlodar region Abdrakhmanov Bakhtiyar. Now about a thousand representatives of the Bulgarian ethnic group live in the Pavlodar region. To date, the region with the highest concentration of Bulgarian nationality in Kazakhstan remains Pavlodar. It operates the Bulgarian cultural center "Slavs." The head of the ethnocultural center Valentine. According to him, today the Bulgarians have close family ties with other Slavic peoples. Representatives of other Slavic nationalities live in each Bulgarian family. For example, the mother of one can be a Russian, or Ukrainian grandmother. The cultural center of Bulgarian nationality "Zlata" is reviving and functioning in Astana. According to the head of the cultural center "Zlata" Olga Andrievskaya, in the near future, the organization of a periodical covering the life of Bulgarians in Kazakhstan is being considered (Gladysheva, 2011). Today, Bulgarians make a huge contribution to the development of the economy and culture, the public consciousness of independent Kazakhstan. They mainly work in agriculture, education, and culture. In general, the lands of Central Asia are not particularly alien to the Greeks. During the campaigns of Alexander the great Greek colonists remained in the cities of Central Asia, and then assimilated surrounded by local peoples. And in the Black Sea area of the settlement, Hellenes appeared in the fourth century and came to the present period.
In the X century, the Greeks began to come to Kievan Rus for the purpose of teaching religion and trade. They were addressed by the local population as representatives of a large culture. In Kazakhstan, the Greeks were evacuated from those regions of Russia and Ukraine. In General, it was called "Pontic Greeks," who lived and live in Kazakhstan. Their origin is closely connected with the historical zone of Pont in Asia Minor. During the Russian-Turkish wars of the XVIII-XIX centuries, the number of Greeks who migrated from the Ottoman Empire to Russia reached a significant figure and formed the basis of the Greeks in Russia.  (Cassidy, 1994).
Greeks are evidenced by historical facts that the Bolshevik government did not adhere to this attitude from the beginning. In the first years of Soviet power, the Greeks were warm and favorable. Their culture developed and books and magazines appeared in Greek. The education system started teaching the Greek language (Cassidy, 1994;Martinkovic, 2021). For example, in 1917, a special Greek school named after Plato was organized in Tashkent, the largest city in Central Asia. It was conducted the study of the language, geography, and history of Greece. The composition teachers included well-known Greek scientists. A. Bramanti, M.D. Papadopoulos, and H.D. Papadopoulos entered. The school worked successfully until 1929 ( Juha, 2013).
But after the reform of collectivization in 1928, their lives changed dramatically. All their ethnic features were evaluated as counter-revolution. According to Stalin's government, the tradition of free enterprise of the Greeks, their independent culture, and their connections with the imperialist outside world, especially with Greece (in many Soviet Greeks was the passport of Greece), were considered relative to the Communist ideology. Thus, measures of political pressure are being intensified against them. The second reason for the mass deportation of Greeks was related to international politics. In General, the role of geopolitical factors played the Soviet Union and the Greek States, despite the fact that they have no direct borders. Greece was one of the oldest regions  connecting historical, cultural, and economic ties between the West and the East. In 1935, Greece with the arrival of the dictator Metaxas to power established a monarchical system of government (Cassidy, 1994). This event was a great blow to Stalin's dreams of a world revolution. For the Soviet Union, Greece was seen as a springboard in establishing Bolshevism in the Middle East. To this end, the Comintern in Moscow will clarify personal memories that dozens of Greeks received special training. 14 Now, this plan of the Bolsheviks was the point. Thus, the contradictory changes in the policy of the Soviet Union in Greece influenced the emergence of opposition to the Greek ethnic group. In the land of the USSR, there were thousands of Greeks with Greek citizenship. The first blow was taken by those people who have a real alien passport of the state.
Many Greek schools were closed and were forbidden to speak their language. The leaders of the Greek communities and intellectuals were massively persecuted and imprisoned.
Recently it is called "Stalin's small terror." According to the scholar of Eftihia Voutira (2006), who investigated the fate of the Greeks living in the USSR, in 1936, 170.000 Greek citizens were deported to Siberia and Central Asia. Of course, many researchers do not agree with these data. For example, according to Ivan Juha, engaged in the study of the repressed Greeks, in 1937-1949 about 80-85 thousand Greek deportations were deported to the USSR ( Juha, 2013). However, the above data determine the effort of political pressure against them since the early 1930s. At the end of the 1930s, their number in Kazakhstan reached 1.349 people (Danilov, 2003). In 1930, the country has been the scene of the reception of the deported Nations and deported peoples of the Soviet Union. The reason for this was the development of the vast territory of Kazakhstan and mineral resources. The heads of the Soviet Union believe that Kazakhstan lacks human resources for industrialization. According to this plan, began the resettlement of Koreans from the Far East and Kurds from the Caucasus. However, the bulk of the Greeks forcibly settled in Kazakhstan during World War II. In 1944, after the liberation of the Caucasus and Crimea from German occupation, it was decided to move to the countries of Central Asia of small nationalities and ethnic groups.
Note that in the 1930s there was a difference between the repression of the Soviet Union and the repression of the 1940s. During the repression of the 1930s, mainly suffering from the intelligentsia were sent to individuals and declared them "enemies of the people." Consequently, it was carried out by choice. As a result of the deportation of people in the 1940s, entire peoples were declared "enemies of the people." The first batch of deportation of Greeks to Kazakhstan began in 1942. About 8.000 Greeks were deported from the Kuban and Kerch regions of Russia to Kazakhstan. 15 In 1944, the rest of the Greeks were deported to Crimea in the South Kazakhstan region. Their placement in special camps and departure more than five kilometers of radiuses from the place of residence was limited. The curfew was set and forced to live in extreme conditions. Each member of the Greek family was recognized as an "enemy of the people," which issued special passports. Greek citizens who were deported worked in very difficult conditions. They were given products in the coupon system. Every deported citizen is obliged to register monthly in a special Department of the NKVD. In accordance with the decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR dated November 26, 1948, the Regulation on twenty years of hard labor for those who escaped from a special settlement was approved. The special rule was in force until Stalin's death in 1953 (Cassidy, 1994).
The Greeks were located on the territory of Almaty, South Kazakhstan regions of the southern region of the Kazakh SSR. Until 1956, they lived in special settlements. In 1956, after being accused of Stalin's crimes in the XX Congress, the limited rights of the Greeks were abolished with other people who were deported. They gradually began to give them permission to return to their former places, free migration. However, the authorities refused to return the confiscated property during the deportation. Despite the fact that the crimes of the Stalinist regime were condemned by the Communist party itself, some of the intellectuals, who suffered greatly in 1937-1938, are trying to justify it. But the historical facts and memories of the people don't rule that out.
In the 1970s, the Greeks in Kazakhstan, as well as other nationalities, began to apply for a visit to Greece and Bulgaria. On their departure on personal matters and leave allowed passport policy. So, at the meeting of the Commission on departure abroad of KP of the South Kazakhstan region of the Kazakh SSR of 1974 622 applications were considered, 16 91 were registered for a visit of Greece. All 91 citizens who applied to Greece, expressed a desire to visit relatives in Greece and personal issues. 17 Of these, 86 cases were resolved by the Commission and allowed to visit Greece. In 1970-1980 Greek citizens felt completely free and showed their abilities in the field of culture and education. For example, the most famous Greek citizen of Kazakhstan, people's artist of the Kazakh SSR, pop singer and teacher Lucky Kesoglu in the 1970s received several titles. The all-Union company, called Melody, published about 2 million of her songs, which became a record on the Kazakh stage-a record for Kazakhstan. The Greeks who lived in Kazakhstan, mainly engaged in the craft. In a special census conducted in 1978, it was found that they work in workshops to repair watches and shoes (Gladysheva, 2011).
After the Greeks justified the name "enemy of the people," the Greeks refused to return to their former places. But, despite the fact that some returned to their former places of residence, the main part of Kazakhstan adopted the "new homeland." They mainly lived in South Kazakhstan and Almaty regions of the Kazakh SSR. Especially in the newly emerged industrial city of Kentau lived a large number of them. They had peaceful relations with the local Kazakh and Uzbek peoples. In the General population census of the USSR in 1989, 347 thousand Greeks were registered (Cassidy, 1994). The main regions of their life were Georgia (about 100 thousand), Ukraine (98 thousand), Russia (91 thousand), and Kazakhstan (46 thousand). 18 The above statistics show that the Greeks began the process of exhaustion in Kazakhstan. Compared to the post-war censuses the number was as follows: in 1970, 51.161; in 1979, 49.930; in 1989, 46.746, and in 1999, 12.703 1990s, the Greeks began a massive crossing to Greece with a historical homeland. 95% of the Greeks who lived in the 1970s have now moved from Kazakhstan to Greece and Russia. The resettlement group was divided into two directions: the first direction was sent to Greece and the second-to Russia and Ukraine. And if in Russia and Ukraine, the process of transition to Greece was small, as preserved a large number of historical and cultural places of the Greeks and communities ( Juha, 2013).
In the last census of 2009, held in the Republic of Kazakhstan, 9.000 representatives of the Greek ethnic group showed themselves. Currently, Kazakhstan has the Association "Filia" (in Greek, "friendship"), which unites the Greek community. There are 17 branches of the Association in different regions. For example, in Almaty there are communities EOS; in Turkestan region, IRINI, and in Aktobe, ELLADA. In April 2017, the Greek community in the modern Turkestan region of Kazakhstan held its week of Greek culture in Kentau. Representatives of local authorities and the community of representatives of other nationalities took an active part in it (Suleimenov, 2014).
Greek language courses and Newspapers are now open in Greek communities. Greek immigrants who returned from the post-Soviet countries to their historical homeland mainly moved to Northern Greece and Athens. According to statistics, currently, Greece is home to about 30 people moving from Kazakhstan. They work closely with relatives and others in Kazakhstan.

Conclusions
The fate of the Balkan ethnic groups, which left their mark on the history and society of Kazakhstan, requires further study. There is a need to introduce scientific project research. Thus, one can learn to determine the causes and essence of such phenomena as deportation and repression of people who left negative moments in the history of mankind. On the territory of Kazakhstan, where he lives for about a hundred years, Bulgarian and Greek ethnic groups have shown a high degree of tolerance and adaptation. Their economic cultures contributed to the development of local economic culture and created a common space. It can be stated that the settlements where Bulgarian and Greek ethnic groups lived, were formed with independent methods of economic management. Some people fill it early, and some late. And the very filling of it is a "cultural challenge." That is a challenge. And most importantly, local peoples-Kazakhs, Uzbeks, and Tatars successfully conducted this test and showed an understanding of interethnic relations. Summing up, the history of interethnic relations in Kazakhstan becomes a complex component of human history and testifies to its continuation.