Bulgaria Cannot React to Turkish President's 'Wideness of Heart' - FM

Bulgaria has no ground to react to two successive remarks by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an made last week, Foreign Minister Daniel Mitov has said.

He has commented on a speech made in Bursa in which Erdo?an allegedly asked, in a rhetoric manner, it was not possible to think differently about Edirne in Turkey in any other way than about Thessaloniki in Greece, Kardzhali in Bulgaria, and Skopje in Macedonia.

While the Turkish Foreign Ministry later issued a statement to fend off what is saw as speculation and say his remarks had been wrongly translated, it did cite Kardzhali (Kircaali in Turkish) among the cities where the Turkish President's heart lies.

"The emotional attachment of the Turkish president to his fellow nationals across the world - many countries are mentioned - and the wideness of his heart cannot be the occasion for a reaction from the Foreign Ministry."

An earlier statement of Turkey's head of state had sparked anger from Greece, but not from Bulgaria, after a misinterpreted statement about Western Thrace and the Lausanne Treaty had enraged Athens.

"In the first case, the opening of the school year in the city of Rize, the Bulgarian Foreign Ministry scrutinized the words of Turkish President Erdo?an. We found no ground for reaction. No referendums or the city of Varna are mentioned," Mitov added, in a response to reports in Several Bulgarian media outlets that the Turkish President head called for a referendum on the annexation of Varna and Kardzhali to his country.  

But in every moment when concerning remarks are made, Bulgaria is ready to react with an official position, Mitov has said.

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