「マケドニア人ムスリム」の現状

エスニシティとEU

抄録

The aim of this paper is to describe the present situation of the group of citizens designated by the term of “Macedonian-Muslims” in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.
The term “Muslim”, in Yugoslav usage, has dual meaning, designating both religious confession and ethnic affiliation. In 1969, the Yugoslav government finally recognized a Muslim nation, which included the Muslims of Bosnia-Herzegovia. The former Yogoslav Republic of Macedonia, however, officially resisted the expansion of the concept of a Muslim nation beyond the area of Bosnia Sanzak. Macedonian-speaking citizens of Slavic descent would be considered Macedonians even if they were of the Islamic faith, since the newly created Macedonian nation was struggling against Bulgarian or Greek claims and for national recognition.
Although about forty thousand citizens of the Macedonian Republic described themselves as belonging to the Muslim nation in the census in 1981, in the latest 1994 census the number has decreased to fifteen thousand. One of the reasons was that the Macedonian leadership had encouraged Macedonian-speaking Muslims to raise their consciousness of its membership in the “Macedonian mother-nation”. Muslim ethnologist Nijazi Limanoski, one of the representatives of the Republic association “Cultural and Scientific Manifestations of Macedonian-Muslims” founded in 1979, insisted that they would be considered as “Islamized Macedonian”, not as “Macedonian Muslims”.
An identification of Macedonian-Muslims is difficult, however. Current problems originate among the diverse groups of Muslims themselves, especially in claims for education in mother-tongue. The Muslim community of Macedonian Republic comprises Macedonian-Muslims, Albanians, and Turks. In recent years, representatives of the Turkish community in the western part of the Republic have been trying to get official permission for opening Turkish classes in primary schools. These efforts were met with a negative answer, arguing that as they were Macedonian-Muslims they had hence to study in Macedonian.
This brief overview of the present situation has not sought to draw conclusions. The objective here has been to present one complex aspect of the Muslim national identity that is politically sensitive.