Turkish-Armenian Intermarriages in Bulgaria Svetlina Denova, Ph.D ...

second case again the wife’s parents were against the marriage. The connections between thewife and her family broke off and they were re-established in two or three months, when thenews of her pregnancy was told to the parents. After this critical period of disconnection withparents and relatives, in the first case for years, in the second for months, the connections arere-established. The appearance of the child in both cases is the strongest motive for this.It is typical for the two families to celebrate the festivals of the two communities.Easter, Christmas and Kurban Bayram and Ramadan Bayram are always celebrated. I wassurprised to see the unique balance between the Christian and Muslim celebrations. Commonfestival for the two families is New Year’s Eve. For the Turkish celebrations – the twoBayrams, the family usually goes to its Turkish relatives in the village.What happens with the name of the child? In the first case the daughter is named afterthe name of the mother-in-law (the husband’s mother). It is a tradition for both Armeniansand Turks to name the child after the husband’s parents. Such is also the case here. In thesecond case the daughter is named after the father-in-law (the wife’s father). This can beexplained with the fact that for the period of the pregnancy the family had lived together withwife’s parents.The language of the two families is Bulgarian. But in the two cases it is mentionedthat the older relatives of the Armenian husband or wife can speak Turkish. The child in thefirst case doesn’t know Turkish but she goes to Armenian school and can “read, write andtranslate Armenian”. It is interesting however that although the daughter has certainknowledge of Armenian, she actually cannot speak it. The language of the family isBulgarian. That’s the language of the husband’s parents, too. Turkish and Armenian speakonly the great-grandparents of the child. In the second case the child goes to a kindergartenwhere there are special hours once a week in Armenian. But the child knows just a few wordsin Armenian. The language of the family is again Bulgarian. The old husband’s relatives