Bulgaria FBI Probes Muslim Party Founders' Property

The founding of the new party "Muslim Democratic Union" in Slavyanovo over the weekend was celebrated with a free concert. Photo by BGNES

The regional Directorate of the State Agency for National Security (DANS) in the city of Targovishte is probing the purchase of lands by notorious brothers Ali and Yuzeir Yuzeirovi.

Over the weekend, the two founded a new Muslim party “Muslim Democratic Union,” a move stirring large public and media outcry in Bulgaria.

The probe involves the legitimacy of the purchase of 1 000 dekares of land in the areas of the cities of Targoishte and Veliko Tarnovo, and the town of Gorna Oriahovitsa, along with a tax audit.

The brothers have presented contracts with private individuals, mostly from Belgium, for over BGN 100 000 as proof for the funds used to buy the land.

Yuzeir Yuzeirov is a native from the northern village of Slavyanovo, but has international business for the trade of chicken meat and spends most of his time in Belgium. He says the party will be financed by funds from businesses of its members.

The new Muslim party was founded in Slavyanovo, an area largely populated by ethnic Turks, but is yet to be registered. Ali Yuzeirov was elected party chair.

In addition to the Muslim party, Yuzeir Yuzeirov has been involved in a storm of controversy. He is the founder of the "Club for Friendship and Brotherhood" in Slavyanovo, and founder and leader of the "Bulgarian Red Crescent," an organization the Bulgarian Red Cross says is illegal, according to the Geneva Convention.

The Red Cross says the existence of the Crescent in Bulgaria is a precedent because a country can only have either a Red Cross or a Red Crescent, never both.

The Red Crescent headquarters are in Slavyanovo as well. The building housing it and the Club has a cross and a crescent painted on its walls.

Another controversy involves the monument of the "Unknown Turkish Soldier," also located in Slavyanovo and financed by Yuzeirov. The Regional Directorate for Construction Control has declared the monument illegal and ordered its dismantling.

The Regional Prosecutor, Dragomir Syarov, stated all local institutions acted within the frame of the law regarding the founding of the party as well as the Red Crescent, which has already been eradicated, the club and the monument, which will be dismantled.

 

We need your support so Novinite.com can keep delivering news and information about Bulgaria! Thank you!