What is "pomaks"

Pomaks (, , ) is a term used for Slavic Muslims inhabiting Bulgaria, northeastern Greece and northwestern Turkey, mainly referring to the ca. 220,000 strong confessional minority in Bulgaria known officially as Bulgarian Muslims. The term has also been used as a wider designation, including also the Slavic Muslim populations of the Republic of Macedonia and Albania. The Bulgarian dialect spoken by the Pomaks in Greece and Turkey, is referred there as the Pomak language. The community in Greece is commonly fluent in Greek, and in Turkey, Turkish, while the communities in these two countries, especially in Turkey, are increasingly adopting Turkish as their first language as a result of education and family links with the Turkish people. The origin of the Pomaks has been debated; but usually they are considered descendants of native Bulgarians, who converted to Islam during the Ottoman rule of the Balkans.

They are not officially recognized as one people with the ethnonym of Pomaks. The term is widely used colloquially for Eastern South Slavic Muslims, considered derogatory. However, it should be noted that in Greece and Turkey the practice for declaring the ethnic group at census has been abolished for decades. Different members of the group today declare a variety of ethnic identities: Bulgarian, Pomak, Muslim, Turkish, Albanian and others.