Tag: Ataka

  • Bulgaria: Bulgarian Nationalist Party Claims Turkey Opposes EU Integration

    Bulgaria: Bulgarian Nationalist Party Claims Turkey Opposes EU Integration

    Turkey has no intention to become a member of the European Union (EU), according to Krasimir Karackachanov, leader of Bulgaria’s nationalist VMRO party.

    VMRO leader Krasimir Karakachanov has insisted that Turkey does not intend to become an EU member state. Photo by darik news
    VMRO leader Krasimir Karakachanov has insisted that Turkey does not intend to become an EU member state. Photo by darik news

    In his words, the country opposes European integration because “this entails granting rights to the Kurdish minority, giving up control of the press and the islamization of society”.

    “Turkey has chosen the way of Islam and that is a fact- the headscarves, their religious approach to problems, etc. “, VMRO leader says, emphasizing on what he describes as Turkey’s marked foreign policy orientation towards the East over the past years.

    “Many experts have confirmed that Turkey is pursuing a neo-osmanism policy. This does not mean conquest; it means maintaining an economic and cultural footprint in the territories of the former Ottoman Empire. This is a very clear indication of Turkey’s orientation, which is not towards EU integration”, Karakachanov has said.

    He has also stressed VMRO’s dissatisfaction with the yet unresolved issue of compensations that Turkey owes to the descendants of the Bulgarian refugees from Eastern Thrace.

    “Not a single government has raised the question in Bulgaria-Turkey relations”, according to Karakachanov.

    Krasimir Karakachanov has been endorsed to run for President in the upcoming October elections by VMRO’s unit in Sofia.

    According to some estimates, Turkey owes a compensation of some USD 10 B to the descendants of the Bulgarians, who left their estates in Eastern Thrace as well as in Asia Minor in 1913-1920. These include over two million decares of agricultural land, homes, and other property.

    Turkey’s EU accession has been a contentious issue in Bulgaria, with nationalist parties Ataka and VMRO acting as firm opponents.

    After a visit of Turkish PM Erdogan to Sofia in early October, at which Bulgarian PM Borisov declared principled support fro Turkey’s EU accession, the nationalists from Ataka – who are actually at odds with VMRO, a more marginal nationalist formation – showed up in Parliament with special T-shirts saying “No to Turkey in the EU”, and warned that the issue could cause problems between them and GERB.

    The Bulgarian Parliament, however, rejected calls by VMRO and Ataka to put Turkey’s bid to join the EU to a referendum.

    via Bulgaria: Bulgarian Nationalist Party Claims Turkey Opposes EU Integration – Novinite.com – Sofia News Agency.

  • Turkey rejected note of protest from Bulgaria over criticism of racism

    Turkey rejected note of protest from Bulgaria over criticism of racism

    Deputy Prime Minister Bülent Arınç has said there were racist attacks on Turks in Bulgaria and revealed that a diplomatic note of protest from Bulgaria over Turkish criticism on the treatment of Turks had been rejected by Ankara.

    Nationalist party ATAKA leader Volen Siderov argues with a riot policeman as his supporters protest in front of Banya Bashi Mosque in Sofia during the Friday noon prayer on May 20, 2011. Supporters of ATAKA party and Turkish Muslims entered into clashes outside the mosque during a rally of the nationalists against the loudspeakers of the mosque, seriously injuring one Muslim.
    Nationalist party ATAKA leader Volen Siderov argues with a riot policeman as his supporters protest in front of Banya Bashi Mosque in Sofia during the Friday noon prayer on May 20, 2011. Supporters of ATAKA party and Turkish Muslims entered into clashes outside the mosque during a rally of the nationalists against the loudspeakers of the mosque, seriously injuring one Muslim.

    Nationalist party ATAKA leader Volen Siderov argues with a riot policeman as his supporters protest in front of Banya Bashi Mosque in Sofia during the Friday noon prayer on May 20, 2011. Supporters of ATAKA party and Turkish Muslims entered into clashes outside the mosque during a rally of the nationalists against the loudspeakers of the mosque, seriously injuring one Muslim.

    Arınç said he had condemned what he called racist practices at the hands of the Bulgarian authorities against Turks in Bulgaria in a speech about a month ago. “I repeat the same thing today,” he said during a visit to the Bulgarian Mestanli Culture and Solidarity Association in the northwestern province of Bursa, his election district, on Sunday. “That speech was criticized in Bulgaria, particularly by [far-right ATAKA Party leader] Volen Siderov. They wanted to deliver a note of protest but we rejected their note,” Arınç said.

    Bursa is home to Turks who migrated from Balkan countries during the loss of the Ottoman territories in Europe between the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The most recent arrival of Balkan Turks took place in 1989, when the communist regime in Bulgaria expelled approximately 300,000 Bulgarian Turks to Turkey. About one-third of these 300,000 Bulgarian Turkish refugees eventually settled in Bursa.

    Arınç complained that racist attacks on Turks continue in Bulgaria. “Unfortunately, there are racist attacks in Bulgaria. ATAKA members are harming our people with their actions and words,” he said.

    Arınç’s remarks came after far-right extremists from ATAKA attacked praying Turks in Sofia earlier this month. The Bulgarian group, attending a rally staged by ATAKA near the Banya Bashi mosque, attacked the Turks to protest the use of loudspeakers by the mosque. Reports said several people were injured and several ATAKA supporters were apprehended by the police.

    via zaman

  • Nationalists stage anti-Turkey show in Bulgarian parliament

    Nationalists stage anti-Turkey show in Bulgarian parliament

    Published: 07 October 2010

    The leader of Bulgarian nationalist party Ataka yesterday (6 October) surprised his big political ally, the ruling GERB party of Prime Minister Boyko Borissov, by staging an anti-Turkish show and slamming the government’s relations with Ankara in parliament. Dnevnik, EurActiv’s partner in Bulgaria, reports.

    Wearing a black T-shirt saying ”No’ to Turkey in the EU’, Ataka leader Volen Siderov took the floor and blasted the government’s handling of a recent visit of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to Bulgaria.

    Without naming Borissov, Siderov said that by receiving Erdoğan with “hugs and kisses,” those in power had being playing an “anti-Bulgarian game” and declared that more such mistakes would “not be tolerated”.

    “I would like to tell [the government] that you are wrong when you assume that Turkey comes here with friendly intentions. It is a mistake to make compromises with Ankara,” Siderov said.

    The incident blew up as parliament was debating an unrelated vote of ‘no confidence’ initiated by the opposition Socialists over the country’s collapsing healthcare system (see ‘Background’).

    The vote was seen as a way for the socialists to flex their muscles, as the divided opposition was not expected to bring down the government.

    Ataka, seen by many as the ruling centre-right GERB party’s most faithful partner, signalled for the first time that their support should not be taken for granted.

    10 billion euro claim

    Siderov claimed that Erdoğan’s visit on 3 October had been prepared “in secret” in order to prevent Ataka from handing the Turkish prime minister a document asking Turkey to pay Bulgaria 10 billion euros in compensation for property lost during World War I.

    Bulgarian nationals were forced to leave Turkey between 1912 and 1925, leading Bulgaria to claim ten billion euros in compensation for lost land and real estate. The Angora Protocol of 1925 recognises Bulgarians’ right to be compensated for their lost property.

    When the Bulgarian government was set up, Bozhidar Dimitrov, the minister representing Bulgarians abroad, said that Sofia would link the compensation issue to Turkey’s EU talks. Borissov later rapped Dimitrov for the misplaced comment and said his country would pursue its interests outside the EU framework.

    “Where are you, my friend Bozhidar,” Siderov said in parliament, dramatically appealing to Dimitrov, who was not present in the room.

    The leader of Ataka also blasted what he called declarations of support by the Bulgarian government for Turkey’s EU accession bid.

    During his visit to Sofia, Borissov said that “Bulgaria, as a good neighbour, supports Turkey’s prospects for joining the EU”.

    For his part, Erdoğan complained that the EU was putting up new hurdles on the way to Turkey’s EU accession bid, claiming these represented a “double standard” compared to other EU hopefuls such as Croatia.

    Referendum test

    Ataka has stepped up its anti-Turkey campaign in recent months, calling ever more aggressively for a referendum on Turkey’s EU accession to be held.During Erdoğan’s visit, Borissov said it was too early to decide. “The issue about the referendum on Turkey’s EU accession will be on the agenda when Turkey completes its EU accession negotiations,” Borrisov said.

    Over a recent visit to Brussels, Turkey’s chief EU negotiator Egemen Bağış said his country was not afraid of referenda being held in EU countries over Turkey’s EU accession.

    Positions

    “We have been the witnesses of an outright political delirium,” said Lyutvi Mestan, leader of the liberal MRF party, following Siderov’s statements in parliament.

    Mestan added that the democratic Bulgarian parliament had never heard such “outright insults” in its 20-year history with respect to the prime minister of another country.

    Socialist leader Sergei Stanishev blasted National Assembly President Tsetska Tsacheva for having allowed the leader of Ataka to disturb the work of the parliament in the midst of a no-confidence vote.

    Background

    Ataka (National Union Attack), a nationalist, xenophobic and homophobic party, is represented in the Bulgarian parliament with 21 MPs out of 240. In the European parliament, Ataka has two MEPs.

    Following the July 2009 national elections, the centre-right GERB party of Boyko Borissov obtained 117 seats in Parliament, falling short of an absolute majority. 

    GERB (the acronym stands for ‘Citizens for the European Development of Bulgaria’) is affiliated to the European People’s Party (EPP), the largest political group in the European Parliament.  

    GERB leader Boyko Borissov, who became prime minister after the 2009 election, leads a minority government tacitly supported by Ataka and by a smaller group, called the ‘Blue Coalition’. The latter brings together leaders from the former anti-Communist Union of Democratic Forces (SDS) and its rival party, the Democrats for a Strong Bulgaria (DSB).

    The main opposition in Bulgaria consists of the Socialist Party (40 MPs and six MEPs) and the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF), a party harbouring the country’s Turkish minority, with 37 MPs and three MEPs. In the European Parliament, MRF is affiliated to the liberal ALDE group (click here for more).

    More on this topic

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    News:Turkey offers referendum gamble to Europe