Editing Multiculturalism (section)

===Bulgaria===
[[File:Synagogue in Sofia 20090406 002.JPG|thumb|left|[[Sofia Synagogue]]]] [[File:Banyabaşı Mosque, Sofia 7-2006.jpg|thumb|left|[[Banya Bashi Mosque]] in Sofia]]
Since its establishment in the seventh century, [[Bulgaria]] has hosted many religions, ethnic groups and nations. The capital city [[Sofia]] is the only European city that has peacefully functioning, within walking distance of 300 metres,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.panoramio.com/photo_explorer#view=photo&position=55&with_photo_id=7648128&order=date_desc&user=671534 |title=Panoramio.com |publisher=panoramio.com |date=1 January 1970 |access-date=15 July 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130715092150/http://www.panoramio.com/photo_explorer |archive-date=15 July 2013 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |author=Alan Horton |url=http://bulgariafocus.com/religionsinbulgaria.html |title=Everything you want to know about the country of Bulgaria |publisher=Bulgaria Focus |access-date=29 January 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120103220916/http://www.bulgariafocus.com/religionsinbulgaria.html |archive-date=3 January 2012 }}</ref> four [[Places of worship]] of the major religions: Eastern Orthodox ([[St Nedelya Church]]), Islam ([[Banya Bashi Mosque]]), Roman Catholicism ([[Cathedral of St Joseph, Sofia|St. Joseph Cathedral]]), and Orthodox Judaism ([[Sofia Synagogue]], the third-largest synagogue in Europe).

This unique arrangement has been called by historians a "multicultural cliche".<ref>Detrez, Raymond; Segaert, Barbara, 2008, Europe and the Historical Legacies in the Balkans (Multiple Europes), P.I.E. Peter Lang s.a., {{ISBN|978-90-5201-374-9}}, p. 55</ref> It has also become known as "The Square of Religious Tolerance"<ref>Ban, Ki-moon, [http://www.ceibs.edu/ase/Documents/diplomacy06.pdf The World in the next 20 years] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130517110042/http://www.ceibs.edu/ase/Documents/diplomacy06.pdf |date=17 May 2013 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.vagobond.com/vagobond-bulgaria-part-2-sofia-places-worship/|title=Vagobond in Bulgaria – Part 2 – Sofia Places of Worship – Vagobond|date=1 February 2014|website=vagobond.com|access-date=22 October 2017|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171016023758/http://www.vagobond.com/vagobond-bulgaria-part-2-sofia-places-worship/|archive-date=16 October 2017}}</ref> and has initiated the construction of a 100-square-metre scale model of the site that is to become a symbol of the capital.<ref>{{cite web|author=В.Е. |url=http://news.ibox.bg/news/id_2097364880 |title=News.bg – Макет на 4 храма – туристически символ на София |date=3 May 2010 |publisher=News.ibox.bg |access-date=29 January 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://bnr.bg/sites/en/Lifestyle/MapOfBulgaria/Pages/0405SofiasymbolNew.aspx |title=Sofia's new tourist symbol &#124; Radio Bulgaria |publisher=Bnr.bg |access-date=29 January 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120622064217/http://bnr.bg/sites/en/Lifestyle/MapOfBulgaria/Pages/0405SofiasymbolNew.aspx |archive-date=22 June 2012 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.sofiasymbol.bg/ |title=София – Мъдрост в действие |publisher=Sofiasymbol.bg |access-date=29 January 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120127091513/http://www.sofiasymbol.bg/ |archive-date=27 January 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Furthermore, unlike some other [[Nazi Germany]] allies or German-occupied countries excluding [[Denmark]], Bulgaria managed to save its entire 48,000-strong Jewish population during [[World War II]] from deportation to [[Nazi concentration camps]].<ref>{{cite book |first=Tzvetan |last=Todorov |title=The Fragility of Goodness: Why Bulgaria's Jews Survived the Holocaust |translator=Arthur Denner |year=2003 |publisher=Princeton University Press |url=http://press.princeton.edu/titles/7026.html |isbn=9780691115641 |access-date=31 December 2011 |archive-date=9 July 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100709092623/http://press.princeton.edu/titles/7026.html |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Levi |first=Primo |title= Beyond Hitler's Grasp|publisher=Adams Media |year= 2001  |isbn=978-1580625418}}</ref> According to Dr Marinova-Christidi, the main reason for the efforts of Bulgarian people to save their Jewish population during WWII is that within the region, they "co-existed for centuries with other religions" – giving it a unique multicultural and multiethnic history.<ref>{{cite news|author=Leadel.Net |url=http://www.jpost.com/JewishWorld/JewishFeatures/Article.aspx?id=200216 |title=Exclusive video: 'Restoring the crown to former glory' | newspaper=The Jerusalem Post &#124; Jpost.com |publisher=Jpost.com |access-date=29 January 2012}}</ref>

Consequently, within the Balkan region, Bulgaria has become an example for multiculturalism in terms of variety of religions, artistic creativity<ref>[http://scholarworks.iu.edu/journals/index.php/aeer/article/view/314/390 The Highs and Lows of Ethno-Cultural Diversity: Young People’s Experiences of Chalga Culture in Bulgaria], Apostolov, Apostol, Anthropology of East Europe Review, Vol 26, No 1 (2008), Cambridge University Press</ref> and ethnicity.<ref>Ruegg, Francois, 2007, Interculturalism and Discrimination in Romania: Policies, Practices, Identities and Representations, Lit Verlag, {{ISBN|978-3-8258-8075-0}}</ref><ref>Hristova, Svetlana, 2004, [http://press.swu.bg/volume-collection/volume-2/bulgarian-politics-of-multiculturalism.aspx?lang=en Bulgarian Politics of Multiculturalism – uses and abuses], Scientific Research, University Publishing House, South-West University, Blagoevgrad</ref> Its largest ethnic minority groups, Turks and Roma, enjoy wide political representation. In 1984, following a campaign by the Communist regime for a forcible change of the Islamic names of the Turkish minority,<ref>The history of Turkish community in Bulgaria, Ibrahim Yalamov</ref><ref>The Human Rights of Muslims in Bulgaria in Law and Politics since 1878, Bulgarian Helsinki Committee, 2003</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.pomak.eu/en/content/bulgarian-mps-officially-condemn-revival-process |title=Bulgarian MPs Officially Condemn 'Revival Process' |publisher=Pomak.eu |access-date=1 July 2013 |archive-date=16 May 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130516135604/http://www.pomak.eu/en/content/bulgarian-mps-officially-condemn-revival-process |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>The Bulgarian state and Bulgarian Turks (to the mid-1930s until the early-1990s), Bulgarian Archive State Agency</ref> an underground organisation called «National Liberation Movement of the Turks in Bulgaria» was formed which headed the Turkish community's opposition movement. On 4 January 1990, the activists of the movement registered an organisation with the legal name [[Movement for Rights and Freedoms]] (MRF) (in Bulgarian: Движение за права и свободи: in Turkish: Hak ve Özgürlükler Hareketi) in the Bulgarian city of Varna. At the moment of registration, it had 33 members, at present, according to the organisation's website, 68,000 members plus 24,000 in the organisation's youth wing [https://web.archive.org/web/20071030132259/http://www.dps.bg/cgi-bin/e-cms/vis/vis.pl?s=001&p=0368&g=]. In 2012, Bulgarian Turks were represented at every level of government: local, with MRF having mayors in 35 municipalities, at parliamentary level with MRF having 38 deputies (14% of the votes in Parliamentary elections for 2009–13)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://rezultati.cik2009.bg/results/proportional/rik_00.html |title=ЦИК : Резултати |publisher=Rezultati.cik2009.bg |date=1 January 1970 |access-date=1 April 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120225103151/http://rezultati.cik2009.bg/results/proportional/rik_00.html |archive-date=25 February 2012 }}</ref> and at executive level, where there is one Turkish minister, [[Vezhdi Rashidov]]. 21 Roma political organisations were founded between 1997–2003 in Bulgaria.<ref name="autogenerated2">{{cite web|year = 2005|url = http://www.politeia.net/themes/citizenship_and_participation/the_political_representation_of_the_roma_minority_in_bulgaria_1990_2005|title = The Political Representation of the Roma Minority in Bulgaria: (1990–2005)|publisher = POLITEIA – Participation for Citizenship and Democracy in Europe|access-date = 1 April 2012|url-status = dead|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120420200504/http://www.politeia.net/Themes/citizenship_and_participation/the_political_representation_of_the_roma_minority_in_bulgaria_1990_2005|archive-date = 20 April 2012}}</ref>