Bulgaria Nationalists Seek Recognition of Bulgarian Genocide in Ottoman Empire

Chairperson of the parliamentary group of the Patriotic Front (PF) Valeri Simeonov. Photo: BGNES

The Patriotic Front (PF), one of the parties supporting the coalition government, called on Friday for support of the declaration on the recognition of a Bulgarian genocide in the Ottoman Empire.

At the end of April, the PF tabled to parliament a declaration for condemning the crimes committed against the Bulgarian people within the Ottoman Empire, BGNES news agency reports.

During the proposal of the declaration, the parliamentary group of the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (DPS) left the plenary chamber.

Valeri Simeonov, chairperson of the PF parliamentary group, said that the extermination of the Bulgarian people lasted for five centuries and claimed the lives of more than five million people.

He said that it was necessary to remind Bulgaria and the world of the perpetrated wrongdoings, as part of the nation's commitment to the memory of its predecessors.

Simeonov said that the reason behind the declaration was not gaining political benefits, but commemorating the victims of a pointless violence.

These developments come on the eve of the anniversary of one of the bloodiest instances of Bulgarians slaughtered in the Ottoman Empire - the Batak massacre.

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