Abstract:

In my study I approached Turkish and Tatar communities in Dobruja (Romania) in the context of the ethnic and religious diversity in the Balkans, which Maria Todorova considers to be as the only continuous traces of a common continuous Ottoman heritage. Using the field research and documentary research, I tried to identify the political, economic, cultural and social factors that have determined the evolution of the collective mentality of the Muslim Turks and Tatars in Dobruja from perceiving themselves as a religious community to a self-perception as ethnic community throughout the 20th Century. Finally, I tried to identify the present overlays between the two hypostases (religious and ethnic) in the collective imaginary of the Turkish and Tatar Muslims in Dobruja.

Keywords: