In general this is a very nicely written article with a few exceptions. The most important of all issues which needs to be straightened out is the reference to the POMAKS as being "Slavic". The POMAKS are not Slavic, nor are they Turks or Bosnians or Greeks or whatever. Their ancient roots first appear in Thrace (an important part of Greece since antiquity) where they have lived for many THOUSANDS of years on the mountains of Rodopi [Thoukides 3,96,3 (460 -397 BC)]. Rodopi is also the name of an important prefecture of Hellenic (Grecian) Thrace where very many thousands of POMAKS live up to today. The POMAK ancestors of the Balkan region of ancient Thrace even fought together with the army of Alexander the Great of Macedonia [Fragm. Hist Graec Vol. 3, Theopomb. Philipp. Book. Ι, part. 44](378/377 BC). So surely the POMAKS are NOT Slavic in ethnicity!!! All historians agree that the first signs of Slavs in the region appeared AFTER the 6th century AD! And we all know that the ancestors of the modern Bulgarians, after moving South from other regions of Eurasia during the 6th century AD, first inhabited the region around the Bolga river (hence their name Bolga-rians/Bulgarians) for many years before moving more South towards Greece where they now live within the modern boarders of the country that formed contemporary Bulgaria. The inhabitance of countries took its toll on their ancient language. Slowly many POMAK words were lost and the regional language infiltrated their own soon to produce a mixture of regional/POMAKS dialect. So the fact that they speak a special POMAK language that resembels modern Bulgarian language certainly does not mean that they are Slavic. If that were true then the fact that some POMAKS live in Turkey and also speak the Turkish language would mean that they are Turkish in descent!! Of course not- that is silly! These people are being exploited by all the neighbouring countries in which they live and are presented as Albanians, Turks, Bulgarians and so on, only because they speak the native language! All countries (except one) have used them and have tried to convince them to believe that they are not of a different or unique ethnicity of their own. So they have taught them to speak a language which is not their native one (eg Bulgarian), or they have made them believe that they are not POMAKS but something else (eg Turks) and have deprived them of their own religious beliefs and made them convert to another religion- a religion of another ethnicity (eg Islam). But history is history and in the West we say "there is no use in crying over spilled milk" so we must go on. What POMAKS wish is to live in harmony within the boarders of the countries which incorporate their people. The POMAKS should have respect for their different cultural background, they want all to know of their heritage, their special POMAK language and culture which are different of those of the surrounding countries (Greece, Bulgaria, Turkey, etc). POMAKS do not want to be told that they are Turks, Slavs, Bulgarians or whatever else! They only want respect of their unique identity and to live in harmony with the inhabitants of all countries which they now call "home".
Thank you for your time in reading this comment. If there is anyone which has different views, I would be more than happy to hear them and it would be my pleasure to address issues concerning many common beliefs about the POMAKS.
James
True POMAK descendance.