Turkish-Bulgarian Party to Soon Send 1st Representative to EC - Leader

Movement for Rights and Freedoms leader Ahmed Dogan was greeted by supporters in Opaka Saturday. Photo by BGNES

Bulgaria's ethnic Turks will soon have their representative in the European Commission, according to Movement for Rights and Freedoms leader Ahmed Dogan.

Saturday Dogan spoke in north-eastern town of Opaka, where he is on a campaign trip for the October 23 municipal elections in Bulgaria.

"The Movement for Rights and Freedoms will soon be governing Bulgaria again and it is not long before we send our representative to the European Commission," stated Dogan in front of an enthusiastic crowd.

Founded in the early 1990s, the Movement is traditionally seen as expressing the interests of Bulgaria's sizeable ethnic Turkish minority, and has strong support in the community, largely located in Bulgaria's north- and south-east.

Currently the third-largest largest Bulgarian party in terms of support (behind ruling center-right GERB and the Bulgarian Socialist Party), the liberal Movement has played a pivotal role at some points in recent Bulgarian political history, such as being a key player in the previous three-way coalition cabinet (2005-9).

"Serving in the local authorities means being at a real school for national politics," stated Dogan in Opaka Saturday, vowing that the Movement will persist in its policy of raising qualified ruling cadres.

End of last week, at a similar campaign meeting, Dogan portended a crushing defeat in the local elections for ruling party GERB, which according to him will eventually lead to it toppling from power.

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