REPORT RESISTANCE, INCREASED MILITARY ACTIVITY, WAR PREPARATIONS IN BALKANS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80-00809A000600400117-7
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: R
• Document Page Count: 3
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 25, 2011
• Sequence Number: 117
• Publication Date: June 27, 1951
• Content Type: REPORT

Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/08/25: CIA-RDP80-00809A000600400117-7
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CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY REPORT
INFORMATION FROM
FOREIGN DOCUMENTS OR RADIO BROADCASTS CD NO.
Bulgazia, Albania, Ycgoc'_avia DATE OF
INFORMATION 1951
Military; Political
Daily newspapers
Turkey
2 Mar - 25 May 1951
THIS DOCUMENT CONTAINS INYOR YAIION AFFECTING THE NATIONAL DEFENSE
OF THE UNITED STATES WITHIN THE NEARING or ESPIONAGE ACT 00
U. S. C.. SI AND SE. AZ AMENDED. ITS IRANSYISSION OR THE RTY[LATION
OP IIS CONTENTS IN ANT BANNER TO AN UNAUTHORIZED PERSON IS PRO'
NISITED ET LAW. REPRODUCTION OF THIS PORN IS PROHIBITED
DATE DIST. a7 Cun 1951
NO. OF PAGES 3
SUPPLEMENT TO
REPORT NO.
THIS IS UNEVALUATED INFORMATION
REPORT RESISTANCE, INCREASED MILITARY ACTIVITY
WAR PREPARATIONS IN BALKANS
This report gives information on conditions in Bulgaria, Yugo-
slavia, and /Ilbania, as noted in reports in Turkish newspapers dur-
ing the period 27 March - 25 May 1951.
Bulgaria
According to an 18 April Turkish News Agency dispatch from Belgrade, many
Bulgarian Aray cfficers who have deserted or have been dismisbed from the army
are now directing guerrilla activities in the mountains (1), while many others
have been arrested by militia forces.(2) Units are continually being sent
against the guerrillas, and, for further security, all people living in a 2I+-
kilometer-vide area along the border have been sent in trucks to the interior;
for example, the people of the district of Kyustendil have been resettled in
Shumen and Turgovishte.(1) Clashes in southern Bulgaria ane, the Plovdiv area
between guerrillas and government forces have increased in intensity as a result
of Soviet policies which have paralyzed Bulgarian industry and are forcing
Bulgaria to become solely an agricultural country; and as a result, Soviet of-
ficers stationed in Bulgaria feel themselves in a dangerous position.(2)
According to Free Bulgarian Circles in Istanbul, the Bulgarian government
has again begun to concentrate troops along the Bulgarian-Turkish border, in-
cluding 1,000 troops in the village of Lyubimets in the Svilengrad area, while
units numbering at least 100 men each are stationed in the other villages in
the border area. These sources claim that this measure is an attempt to pre-
vent the disaffected populace from escaping into Turkey.(3)
According to a 26 March dispatch from Athens, reports reaching Salonika
indicate that Soviet officers are directing the increased military activity
in Bulgaria and that a Soviet general will. soon be appointed to head the entire
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Bulgarian Army, in preparation for which a law permitting Soviets stationed
in Bulgaria to assume Bulgarian citizenship whenever they so desire has been
enacted. According to other reports, Soviet naval specialists have assumed
control of all Bulgarian naval units and are working to strengthen them and
to organize a Bulgarian fleet headquarters in Varna.(4)
The Turkish News Agency reported from Belgrade on 17 April that Bulgarian
Minister of War General Panchevski had been relieved but had not yet been re-
placed, and that the Minister of Social Aid, no longer having the government's
confidence, had 'peen transferred to the post of Bulgarian Minister to Bucha-
rest (1) Ankara political circles on 22 May reported rumors that Chobanov,
Bulgarian Minister to Ankara, was scheduled to be recalled for having failed
to apply successfully a directive which ordered him to disrupt the resettle-
ment of refugees in Turkey. At the same time,, these circles also reported
that frequent meetings of Satellite diplomats have occurred recently in Ankara,
all of them at the Bulgarian Legation.(5)
It was reported From Edirne on 18 May that immigrants newly arrived there
from Bulgaria report that new oppressive measures have been instituted against
the Turkish minority; fur example, to obtain a passport the applicant must
first nay 2,500 leva to the "Office for P.id to Korean Communists" and 1,500
leva to an office known as "Rusts Pamentlik." The immigrants also reported
that all Bulgarians are being forced to contribute money and goods to an of-
fice called "Pomosbtza Korea," as aid to the Korean Commu-iists..(6)
Other newly arrived immigrants have reported that Fahri?Erdinc, Tugrul
Deliorman, and Ziya Yamac. who fled to Bulgaria from Turkey 2 years ago, were
originally assigned the task of spreading anti-Turkish propaganda among per-
sons about to emigrate to Turkey. According to these refugees, P,eliorman has
now been convicted and sent to work in a Bulgarian mine for having told some
emigrants, "Do not be deceived by my words. I strongly desire to return to
Turkey." The others have also been relieved of their assignmentso(7)
"tu osl.avi.a ?"
According to a 4 April dispatch sent from Belgrade by Vatan's special
correspondent Sina:1 Korle, Belgrade circles believe that a war may break out
in the coming months, and in preparation therefor the upper floors of houses
in Belgrade and vicinity are being evacuated and the roofs reinforced with
sandbags. The authorities, fearing the possibility of a sudden air invasion,
are keeping close watch on areas suitable for such an action. Korle also
stated that peasants and soldiers who have 'led from Bulgaria to Yugoslavia
report that three new Soviet divisions have arrived at the Yugoslav-Bulgarian
border.(8)
According tc a 22 May Turkish News Agency dispatch from Athens, a high-
ranking Albanian officer, who escaped from Albania and surrendered to Greek
border guards, reported that the flag of revolt had been unfurled in Albania
and that Bairaktakis, formerly an, officer under King Zog, had assumed command
of the rebels.. The officer also reported that'military activity had increased
in Albania and that forcibly inducted'solC'ers had been sent to the Greek and
Yugoslav borders~.(5)
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SOURCES
1o Istanbul, Son Posta, 18 Apr 51
2~ Istanbul, Yeni Sabah, 20 Apr 51
3. Ankara, Ulus, 25 May 51
4. Yeni Sabah, 27 Mar 51
5. Istanbul, Cumhuriyet, 23 May 51
6. Ibid, 19 May 51
7. Istanbul., Vatan, 2( Apr 51
8o Ibid, 4 Apr 51
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