New Ethnic Turkish Leader: Somebody Wants Tensions in Bulgaria

The new leader of the ethnic Turkish Movement for Rights and Freedoms, Lyutvi Mestan. Photo by BGNES

There are factors interested in holding Bulgaria's 2013 parliamentary elections in an atmosphere of ethnic tensions, according to Lyutvi Mestan, the new leader of Bulgarian ethnic Turkish party DPS (Movement for Rights and Freedoms) who replaced emblematic leader Ahmed Dogan days ago.

Mestan's comment referred to last week's assault against Dogan during the DPS party conference by 25-year-old Oktay Enimehmedov, an ethnic Turkish Bulgarian from Burgas.

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.

"Enough with the manipulations, we want the entire truth... Somebody is touching upon these moods that got unleashed," Mestan stated in Parliament Friday, after Bulgarian Interior Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov slammed the senior DPS functionaries who thrashed Enimehmedov right after he failed to produce a shot against Dogan.

"The right of Cabinet members to speak from this [parliamentary] floor is not unconditional. This is the legislature. Statements like that demonstrate that the Parliament is dependent on the executive," added the new leader of the Movement for Rights and Freedoms.

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