site.btaSofia Slams Campaigning by Turkish Minister in Favour of One Party in Bulgarian General Elections

Sofia Slams Campaigning by Turkish Minister in Favour of One Party in Bulgarian General Elections

Sofia, March 7 (BTA) - The Bulgarian Foreign Ministry slammed what it sees as campaigning by the Turkish Minister of Labour and Social Security, Mehmet Muezzinoglu, among Bulgarian emigrants in Turkey in favour of one specific party running in the March 26 general elections in Bulgaria. This transpired from a statement by the Foreign Ministry Tuesday after a meeting of Bulgarian Deputy Foreign Minister Boyko Mirchev and Turkish Ambassador Suleyman Gokce.

Late last week, the Turkish Minister urged Bulgarian emigrants in Turkey to turn out in large numbers for the upcoming Bulgarian parliamentary elections and made clear that Turkey's support goes to the DOST party, the news media reported.

The Ministry said in its statement for the press that Muezzinoglu's remarks before Bulgarian emigrants in Istanbul on March 3 and 6 violated the rules of Bulgaria and Turkey "and raised a number of questions".

"The promises that were made for 'incentives' for voting and the open calls in support of one specific political party constitute direct interference in the home affairs of Bulgaria, which we consider unacceptable.

Deputy Foreign Minister Mirchev asked Ambassador Gokce to relay the Bulgarian position to his government and urged him to make sure such violations be not repeated. "It would allow the two countries to focus on issues which are important for bilateral relations," the statement says.