Refugees A Modern Balkan Exodus

Slowly the train of boxcars rolls to a halt at Kapikule, where Bulgaria becomes Turkey, and a flood of humanity spills out. Many kneel to kiss the ground. Others weep as they unload furniture, suitcases and sacks stuffed with possessions and pile them on the station platform. Military marches and battle cries of the Ottoman Empire blare from loudspeakers. A man shakes his fist at the distant Bulgarian hills and shouts, "Long live Turkey! This is the happiest day of my life!"

But there is little happiness in Kapikule as ethnic Turks continue to flee from a draconian assimilation campaign waged...