site.btaBulgaria Reacts to Turkish President Erdogan's Statements Seeking Review of 1923 Lausanne Treaty

Sofia, December 8 (BTA) - "The Republic of Bulgaria has always adhered to the principles of international law, the UN Charter and the principles of the 1975 Helsinki Final Act. Any international treaties can only be revised with the mutual consent of the parties in accordance with the standards of international law," the Bulgarian Foreign Ministry said in a position on Friday in connection with the revival of the issue about a review of the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne.

On the eve of his visit to Athens, which started on Thursday, Turkish President Recep Erdogan told the Greek Skai Television that the 1923 treaty, which delimited the borders of modern-day Turkey with Greece and Bulgaria and settled the status of the Muslim minority in Greece and the Greek minority in Turkey, should be reviewed. He reiterated this position in talks with his hosts.

"We hope that our neighbours will proceed along the road of dialogue based on the European values and principles in the interest of peace and security in the region, as was discussed today at a meeting with the Ambassador of the Republic of Turkey at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs," the position reads further on.

"Bulgaria is of the opinion that a discussion on peace treaties and existing borders does not benefit the international community and stability in the region," the Ministry said.

The National Front for Salvation of Bulgaria (NFSB), which is part of the power-sharing United Patriots coalition, strongly condemned Erdogan's statements about a revision of the Treaty of Lausanne as unacceptable, absurd and threatening peace and goodneighbourliness in the Balkan Peninsula, the party said in a position on Friday.

"A review of a 94-year-old treaty would be historically, politically and legally absurd. This would raise questions about multilateral territorial claims rather than unilateral ones, as President Erdogan hopes, which creates a risk of ethnic minorities resettling across the three countries' borders and would potentially result in an unprecedented crisis and confrontations," the NFSB argued.

It dismissed as "ludicrous" the allegations about the presence of a Turkish minority in Northern Greece because "historical Bulgarian communities have been living there since ancient times and still do."

The NFSB recalls that good-neighbourly relations presuppose renunciation of all territorial claims.

The party calls on the Turkish Government and President "not only to give up a revision of the Treaty of Lausanne but also to realize the historic responsibility that they assume by such absurd statements threatening peace in the Balkans."

The NFSB expects the Bulgarian Foreign Ministry and President Rumen Radev to take a stand on the matter.

"Turkish President Erdogan's statement in favour of a revision of the Treaty of Lausanne is unacceptable. It generates tensions and has an adverse impact on stability and security regionwide, as well as on bilateral and multilateral cooperation," opposition Bulgarian Socialist Party leader Kornelia Ninova wrote in a Facebook status, quoted by her party in a press release.

"International law and the principles of equal treatment and good-neighbourliness must be respected. We expect the Government to come up with an official position of Bulgaria," Ninova added.