Bulgarian Parliament Fails to Condemn Dogan Assassination Attempt

MPs Angel Naydenov (right) and Mihail Mikov (middle) from BSP discuss their proposed declaration on the Dogan assault with Hristo Biserov, MP from the DPS party. Photo by BGNES

The parliamentary groups in the Bulgarian National Assembly have failed to agree on a joint declaration to denounce the January 19, 2013, assassination attempt against Bulgarian ethnic Turkish leader Ahmed Dogan.

Ahmed Dogan, founder and leader of the DPS party ("Movement for Rights and Freedoms"), was the target of an attack right on the floor of a party conference on Saturday by 25-year-old Oktay Enimehmedov, also a Bulgarian citizen from ethnic Turkish origin. However, the gas pistol that Enimehmedov pointed at Dogan's head misfired.

A declaration condemning the attack on Dogan was proposed by the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (DPS) and fellow opposition Bulgarian Socialist Party but was not agreed upon on Wednesday, announced Angel Naydenov, deputy chair of the Socialist group.

Earlier on Wednesday, Naydenov read in Parliament a declaration of the BSP stating that the attempt on Dogan's life was a "political assassination and it is inappropriate to term it hooliganism", referring to the official charges against the failed assassin.

Enimehmedov has been charged with making a murder threat and hooliganism "characterized by particular audacity".

Initially, the Prosecutor's Office wanted to charge him with a murder attempt but the charge was later modified as it become know that with his gas pistol the young attacker technically had no chance of killing Dogan

"The failure and lack of will to adopt a joint declaration of the parliament is unacceptable," Naydenov commented as cited by "Dnevnik", revealing the council of the parliamentary group chairs failed to come up with a joint position.

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