site.btaDelegation of Bulgarian Movement for Rights and Freedoms on Guest Visit to Congress of Turkish Republican People's Party in Ankara

Istanbul, February 3 (BTA exclusive by Nahide Deniz) - A delegation of the Bulgarian Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF) is paying a guest visit to the 36th congress of the opposition Turkish Republican People's Party in Ankara. The delegation is led by MRF Deputy Chairman Ahmed Ahmedov who heads the Bulgaria-Turkey Friendship Group in the Bulgarian National Assembly.

According to unofficial information, a meeting is scheduled to be held outside the congress, between the Bulgarian delegation and Turkish MP Aziz Babuscu, Chairman of the Turkey-Bulgaria Friendship Group in the Turkish Parliament.

Knowledgeable sources believe that on the agenda of the talks will be possibilities to unify the divided political movements of Bulgarian Turks in Bulgaria. Attempts have been made by Turkey recently to overcome this division which started when Lyutvi Mestan established his DOST party in 2016, after neing ousted as MRF leader. DOST enjoyed strong support from Turkey. However, the party failed to win parliamentary seats in the last general elections in Bulgaria. Another party, the Freedom and Dignity People's Party (FDPP), was founded in December 2012 by Kassim Dal, the one-time second-in-command in the MRF after he was expelled from the Movement. The FDPP too failed to establish itself as a viable political player. This is why, an idea is being mulled to unify the political parties of the Bulgarian Turks.

It is claimed that Babuscu, an influential figure of the ruling Justice and Development Party in Turkey, has been tasked with the mission of assisting the possible unification of MRF and DOST, on a personal order by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Prominent figures of the expatriate communities in Turkey have joined the unification mission, such as the honorary chairman of the Confederation of the Balkan and Rumelian Turks, Turhan Gencoglu. Gencoglu has been quoted as saying recently that all political parties in Bulgaria whose members are ethnic Turks should unite.

Various efforts to overcome the confrontation and unify the different movements are also being made by a number of organizations of expatriate Bulgarian Turks in Turkey.