Something Old, Nothing New in Chief Mufti Drama in Bulgaria

A wave of protests by the Muslim community in Bulgaria has been swinging the country in the past months. The reason is the reinstatement of Nedim Gendzhev as the Chief Mufti of the Bulgarian Muslims.

The protests, however, are not surprising. Coups and court fights have been surrounding the Bulgarian Muslim community for the past 20 years.

It all started in 1987 when Gendzhev was appointed as the religious leader of Muslims in Bulgaria by the Communist Dictator, Todor Zhivkov. According to the protesting Muslims, at that time, Gendzhev also served as an agent of the communist State Security service at a very notorious period for the Bulgarian Muslims.

The late 1980s were an especially turbulent period for the relations between the ethnic and religious communities in Bulgaria as this was the period of the so called “Revival” or “Regeneration Process” taken up by the Bulgarian Communist Party – a thrust to assimilate the Muslim/Turkish minority by changing the names of its members with Slavic/Christian ones – which drove some 300 000 Bulgarian Turks into exile in Turkey in 1988-1989. (Up to half of those are estimated to have come back after the communist regime collapsed in 1989.)

A number of disciplinary dismissals and cases of reinstatement of Gendzhev have followed.

After his deposition in 1992, he managed to win a trial against the Bulgarian state at the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, and received USD 20 000 in addition to his reinstatement.

In May 2005, the Sofia City Court formally registered Mustafa Ali Hadzhi as Chief Mufti. Rival Muslim leader Gendzhev then filed an appeal, and in December 2005, the Sofia Appellate Court ordered Gendzhev's registration as the head of the Supreme Muslim Council, i.e. Chief Mufti.

At a National Muslim Conference in October 2009, however, the Muslim community elected Mustafa Ali Hadzhi as the Chief Mufti in Bulgaria. Gendzhev appealed the Conference’s vote and the Bulgarian Supreme Court of Cassation decided that the conference was not legitimate due to forged documents and reinstated him at his position.

After the final ruling by the Supreme Court of Cassation from May 18, 2010, to reinstate Gendzhev as Chief Mufti in Bulgaria, regional Muftis, Imams and regular Muslims from all over the country have united to protests against him.

Gendzhev has claimed in an interview for the Bulgarian daily “24 Hours” that there is no split in the Muslim religion and that the Imams in the country date back from the time that he was appointed Chief Mufti. What is more, he also stated that these Imams have not received salaries for 10 years.

Now, a few questions come to mind.

First, why does Gendhzev claim that all the Imams support him, when the Bulgarian society is witnessing the protests of the Imam and their signing a declaration against him? And why would they support the rival religious leader if he has not paid them salaries for 10 years, as Gendzhev claims?

What’s more, according to Mustafa Ali Hadzhi, the people who have participated in Gendzhev’s Conference in 1996 have either died or changed their opinion.

“Nedim Gendzhev claims that only his Muslim Conference from 1996 is legitimate. But look at how many people have participated in it – 30. 14 of them have died and 7 have withdrawn,” Mustafa Ali HAdzhi has said.

Another discrepancy leads one to wonder if it is true that most of the Muslims do not want Gendzhev as their leader, as the protesters claim. If this is true, why did they have to forge the documents with the votes of the Muslims at the Muslim conferences in 2009?

This raises still another question: if it is true that there have been forged documents and Gendzhev should be considered the rightfully elected Chief Mufti, then why are at least 2000 Muslims protesting almost every week against his reinstatement? Why are they approaching the Bulgarian and the EU authorities?

At the last protest on July 29, Imams announced they have submitted to the Parliament a declaration signed by 200 000 Bulgarian Muslims demanding yet again the annulment of the reinstatement of Gendzhev.

The rally was also joined by the Member of the European Parliament from the ethnic Turkish party “Movement for Rights and Freedoms” (DPS), Metin Kazak, who pointed out that the Court’s ruling is a nondemocratic interference in the internal affairs of a legally recognized religion.

Kazak also promised to approach the European Parliament and the European Commission over the issue.

This seems like the final, desperate measure by an oppressed community. But if Gendzhev is the leader Muslims really want, as he claims, then why would they feel oppressed?

“This is an outrage against the Muslim community. We do not allow and will never allow, in any circumstances, Nedim Gendzhev and his clique to usurp the Chief Mufti Office by crossing out 14 years during which the Muslim religion had its legitimate leadership. A present, the legitimate chosen Chief Mufti is Mustafa Ali Hadzhi,” said former Chief Mufti Selim Mehmed during a protest on June 3.

Claims that Gendzhev has not been chosen by the Muslim community and accusations that his reinstatement is a lack of democracy have been the leitmotiv of all the protests.

This is where one should point out that in 2006 Gendzhev was charged with being involved in illegally withdrawing nearly BGN 1 M from the accounts of the Chief Mufti Office and transferring them to his son’s private foundation.

The court ruled that there is evidence that Gendzhev had committed a crime but there was no risk that he may leave the country, so he was released on a bail of BGN 10 000.

This is only one of the reasons the Bulgarian Muslims are against him being their religious leader.

During protests, regional Muftis have also accused Gendzhev of selling “waqf properties” and of being involved in the so-called “Revival Process” when the Communist Party changed the names of hundreds of thousands of Muslims, allegedly with his blessing.

Other accusations towards Gendzhev are of not having any religious education and that before becoming involved with religion he has been an agent of the Communist State Security in Bulgaria.

Ironically, after being reinstated, Gendzhev said that he will work for the unity of the Muslims and “will not allow splits in the Muslim community”.

Are there behind-the-curtain intrigues in the case of the Muslims against Nedim Gendzhev? Most probably.

Will a solution to the problem with the leadership of the Bulgarian Muslim community be found soon? It is hard to say. Maybe the EU institutions will be able to provide one. Or maybe the Bulgarian authorities, especially the Minister without Portfolio, Bozhidar Dimitrov, will finally honor the will of the Bulgarian Muslims.

What is certain for now is that the Muslims will not stop protesting against Gendzhev’s reinstatement. They have promised even more active protests during the holiest month of the Islamic calendar - Ramadan.

One thing is certain - this case might serve as a civil activism lesson to all Bulgarians. It demonstrates that if you are convinced that a decision is unjust, you have the right and the means to fight to change it.

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