BULGARIAN ASSEMBLY REJECTS ARMENIAN ALLEGATIONS
Sabah
Jan 12 2012
Turkey
The Bulgarian Parliament officially condemned the assimilation
policies Muslims and Turks were subjected to during the era of
Zhivkov’s communist dictatorship and called for those responsible to
face punishment. Meanwhile, the Bulgarian Parliament also rejected
the bill regarding Armenian allegations.
The Bulgarian Parliament made two very important rulings in terms
of Turkey yesterday. First, they condemned the assimilation campaign
staged against Turks and Muslims during the communist regime era. The
memorandum is extremely significant for being the first document to
ever official acknowledge the assimilation campaign staged against
Turks. Secondly, the bill which called for Bulgaria’s official
acknowledgement of Armenian claims in regards to the incidents that
transpired in 1915 was rejected by the assembly.
112 votes in favor, three abstained
The memorandum that condemns the assimilation campaign applied to
Turks and Muslims during the communist regime, which came to an end
in 1989, was prepared by Democrats for a Strong Bulgaria (DSB) leader
Ivan Kostov. Out of 115 parliamentarians that participated in the vote,
112 voted in support, while three abstained. The memorandum calls for a
case, which has been on hold for 20 years, in which those responsible
for the assimilation campaign are defendants, to be reopened and for
those responsible to face punishment.
Ä°van Kostov stated that the memorandum, entitled “Memorandum
Condemning the Forced Assimilation of Bulgarian Muslims” which deals
with the “Revival Process” assimilation campaign which led to the
deaths of hundreds of Bulgarian Turks and Muslims, is a document that
should be supported by all political powers in parliament.
Kostov stated the following: “During this campaign, staged by the
communists, over 360,000 citizens of Turkish heritage were forced to
emigrate. We strongly condemn this incident which we perceive to be an
attempt at ethnic cleansing. We are calling on Chief Public Prosecutor
Boris Velchev to readdress the case. We perceive efforts to have
the case reach a ‘limitations period’ as equivalent to an attempt
to portray the entire Bulgarian public as guilty of assimilation
attempts. We need to open this very significant page in our recent
history and read it, and then we must close it.”
Kostov referred to Prime Minister’s Boyko Borisov’s comment in the
past on the assimilation campaign, that ‘It is good in terms of
an idea, however the method is incorrect’, and went on to state,
“We do not want to play a double game. There is no such thing as,
‘It is good in terms of an idea, however the method is incorrect’,
for this to be true is impossible. There is also no longer any meaning
behind stating, ‘Communist dictator Zhivkov was good, but those working
underneath him were bad.’ The sole living suspect in the case, Georgi
Atanasov, the last Prime Minister during the Zhivkov era cannot be
the sole party responsible.”
‘We also need to condemn their intentions…’
The majority of members who supported the memorandum were from the
mainly Turkish Movement for Rights and Freedoms Party (DPS -HOH).
Party Deputy Chairman Lutfi Mestan referred to the memorandum as being
“legal, political and moral.”
Mestan stated, “If we are saying that there shouldn’t be a limitations
period on certain criminal activities, then the legal procedures from
here on out should be conducted accordingly. We must inform that we
not only condemn the methods of this ugly act from our past, but we
also condemn the intentions.”
DSB Parliamentarian Lichezar Toshev stated that at least 517 people
were killed in the assimilation campaign and that hundreds of Bulgarian
Turks were sent to the Belene prison. Tochev went on to say that
Belene had been transformed into a detention camp. It was also of
note that parliamentarians from the Bulgarian Socialist Party, which
had opposed views shared by the human rights commission as well as
members from the extreme nationalist and racist ATAKA party did not
participate in the vote.