Mustafa Kemal Atatürk said, "Turk history is a whole. So, it should be researched and taught as a whole. But, it could not be taught as a whole to us in Balkans and Macedonia. We learnt only Ottoman period and the bad side of it. They still do the same. We published and presented at congresses and seminars the results of our researches about Turks in Macedonia and Serbia before and during Ottoman Empire. We tried to meet the need for information about our history. As known, Turkish existence in Macedonia and Balkans started with Hun Turks in 378. In this research, we also examined the signs and influence of Hun, Avar, Bulgarian, Oğuz, Peçenek and ve Kuman Turks over Balkan tribes. Of course, Vardar Turks are included in our research. It is known that Vardar Turks are not a separate Turkish clan. They are in fact is a Turkish group which are the reminder of Hun, Avar, Bulgarian and Oğuz Turks and they were gathered together in Byzantium period.
After 378 Turkish clans came from Black Sea attacked on Bizantium Empire in the Balkans. They forwarded to Istanbul. After received tax, they withdrew. These Turkish groups made also alliance with this empire when necessary. They fought together against Slavic tribes who moved to the south of Danube River. They won several victories against them and Byzantium Empire took them under its shelter and settled them in strategic places. Being famous with its intrigues, Byzantium worried about merger of these Turkish groups. They tried several cheats in order to start war among them.
They used the method separate and manage in order to reach its aim. The classical example is 1091 Lebunion war. They beat Pecenek Turks with the help of Kuman Turks whom they paid huge sum of money. As told by Anna Komnena, they killed 10,000 Pecenek Turks and succeeded in spoiling Kuman-Pecenek Feredarion established between 1078-1091. If Turkish clans did not fight with each other, the position of Turks and Islam would of course be much better.
Slavs and Bulgarian attacked from north and northeast to Byzantium in the time of Tzar Teofilo. They made a peace agreement in 815. Later, Byzantium settled 14,000 Turks near Vardar river and called them Vardariots or Vardar Turks. Them they extended their settlement region to the source of Vardar River. Their aim was to protect their country from Bulgarian and Slavic attacks. For this service, Byzantium gave Turks land, property, tax exemption as privileges. Teofilo settled these Vardar Turks among Slavic tribes in order to separate them.
Other than Turkish archives, some limited documents can also be found in the resources of Macedonia, Bulgaria, Serbia, Croatia, Hungary, Czech, Armenia, England and Germany. German traveler and historian Gustav Schumberger writes about this Turkish group, This was a rough nation. But they protected Byzantium against attacks from the north of Danube River. Their benefit was so important. They stood as a wall, which was impossible to cross over. Byzantium did not take tax from them, on contrary, they paid them.
Aram Andoryan says about Vardar Turks, Coming to Europe Turks required refuge from Byzantium and settled along Vardar River. They were not Muslim. They changed their religion but not warlike traditions and nomadic life. They were perfect warriors and braves. Greek called them Vardariot. The Imperial Guardsmen were consisted of them. They were reliable and loyal guards. Slavs applied suppression over Vardar Turks. They tried to assimilate these Turks but could not succeed. History shows that they formed an important portion of Samoil Tzardom population, which was consisted of Macedonian, Greek, Bulgarian, Serbian, Croatian, Albanian, Ulah Turks, Vardar Turks and Armenians.
Turks, who were settled in Balkans before Ottomans, had a great role in the history of the region. They effected the social life and ethnic structure as well as historical development. In 1096 crusade army entered into Macedonia from Ablania. They plundered the region and murdered the native inhabitants. Byzantium Tzar Alexy Tomnen ordered Pecenek and Vardar Turks to attack on Crusade army. With the heavy loss from these attacks, Böemung had to leace Macedonia over Seres.
Another Crusade army entered into Macedonia in 1097. Vardar, Pecenek and Kuman Turks attacked on the Crusade army under the command of Reymon Tuluski and Podiya Bishop Ademir who had to leave Macedonia in a short time. After this defeat, we do not see Vardar Turks in the document. They might have been Christianized and assimilated in Slavic and Greek tribes. But they spoke Turkish until Seljuk and Ottoman Turks came to the region. They prayed in Turkish. They had the characteristics of literature, art, folklore, music and similar values.
As seen above, Turks before Ottoman period lived among Slavs, Greeks, Albanians and other Balkan tribes but they did not lose their national characteristics and values. They helped Seljuk Turks in 1292 and Ottomans in 1336 conquering Macedonia. They attended into Ottoman armies and fought against Serbians, Greeks, Bulgarians, Romanians, Albanians and others. They helped Ottoman Empire to rule Balkans as a Muslim Land for 550 years. Ottoman Turks ruled this land successfully with thousands of Turkish families from Hun, Avar, Bulgar, Oğuz, Vardar, Peçenek, Kuman and Seljuk Turks. They changed the ethnic structure in the Balkans in favor of us between 1371 and 1912. 50% of the population in the region was Turk during this period.
In other words, Ottoman Turks conquered these lands with armies and stayed there by being the majority in population. Ottoman Turks did not came as invaders as claimed by European and Balkan historians. They came to these lands as saviors, because people were suffering in these lands from the torment by rulers and clericals. So thousands of people became Muslim volunteered. Do you think Ottoman Empire could live for 550 years if it were not be a just state?