Abstract
A BRIEF LOOK AT THE EXISTENCE OF THE TURKS IN NORTHERN MACEDONIA AND THE EXISTENTIAL STRUGGLE IN MODERN DAY
Macedonia is geography, its lands have been separated into three pieces. In the modern day, one of those pieces which belonged to the Serbian and Croatian Kingdoms; was able to get its independence and found a state then this state took the name “Northern Macedonia”. The Republic of Northern Macedonia is geographically located in the heart of the Balkans; hence it has 25 thousand km2 of acreage it is a small state. With a two million population, this country can be named a cultural mosaic with its cosmopolitan population including the Turks.
Today, the Turks in the country have ‘education in native language’ right, and recently both Turkish literature and Turkish press actions are growing stronger, however, the Turks could not solve their problems totally, like education which is the most important. On the other hand, the Turks in the region tried to have a voice in the political system via the political parties they founded while various non-governmental organizations were trying to keep their cultural existence in the country.
This study aims to get information about Turkish society's recent history and present existence, settled in Northern Macedonia. By giving information about language and literature positions and cultural activities in Northern Macedonia Turkish society, investigating the positions of the Turkish people in other societies became one of the aspects of the study. Hence, while running down a literature review, a field study was done, also. Certain settlements of Northern Macedonia were visited. Meetings were held with the local people who took place as one of the sources of the study and both visual and audial records were taken. By visiting some institutions and organizations it is tried to carry on an archive study
Keywords
Macedonia, Northern Macedonia, the existence of Turks, Turkish literature, Turkish folk beliefs.