Chief Mufti: We Are Citizens of Bulgaria

Bulgaria's Chief Mufti, Mustafa Hadzhi, officially opened Monday the school year at the Secondary Islam Institute in Sofia. Photo by BGNES

The case of the new Muslim Democratic Union is purely political, Bulgaria's Chief Mufti, Mustafa Hadzhi said Monday.

Hadzhi officially opened the school year at the Secondary Islam Institute in Sofia.

The Muslim party was founded at the end of September in the northeastern village of Slavyanovo, near the town of Popovo, an area largely populated by ethnic Turks. The event triggered large political, public and media outcry. In the aftermath, the Regional Prosecutor ordered a probe to find out if there is illegal software and Islamic literature in buildings in Slayanovo, owned by the notorious brothers Ali and Yuzeir Yuzeirovi, known as the founders of the new Muslim party.

The Chief Mufti said the Islamic books found in Slavyanovo had nothing to do with his institution, which was responsible only about the books they published.

Hadzhi stated everything he knew about Slavyanovo and the events there he learned from the media.

“All we can do is to notify authorities when we come across irregularities and violations. We are not the police and cannot issue sanctions,” he said.

Regarding the other recent controversy involving Bulgarian Muslims in the village of Ribnovo, the Chief Mufti said the situation there was calm and there wasn't ethnic and religious hate among the local residents, who are peaceful and hardworking people.

“The problem in this case is taking personal and domestic relations and disputes out of context and transferring them to religion,” Hadzhi pointed, out adding Bulgarian Muslims are citizens of Bulgaria and have the rights every Bulgarian has.

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