site.btaMustafa Hadji Re-elected Chief Mufti

Mustafa Hadji Re-elected Chief  Mufti

Sofia, January 24 (BTA) - Mustafa Hadji was re-elected Chief Mufti at the regular National Muslim Conference at Sofia's National Palace of Culture on Sunday. No other candidates were nominated at the forum.

The 1,317 registered mosque boards in Bulgaria sent 1,177 delegates to the conference, plus 47 delegates by right. Attending were representatives of various religious denominations in Bulgaria and of the Balkan religious communities, diplomats, Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF) Co-chair Mustafa Karadayi, Aliosman Imamov MP of MRF, and former MP of MRF Yunal Lyutfi.

Turkish Ambassador to Bulgaria Suleyman Gokce was present at the start of the conference. Former MRF chair Lyutvi Mestan left the event before Mustafa Hadji's report on his activity as Chief Mufti in the last five years.

According to the report, each year the Chief Mufti Office allocates money from its budget for the repair of Muslim vakf foundation properties, and the last five years saw the repair of 13 and the acquisition of 61 vakf properties.

Mustafa Hadji also said in his report that in 2013 a Research Centre was established with the Higher Islamic Institute, aimed at supporting through science the presentation of Islam and Islamic culture in Bulgaria. A social department was also set up that carries out charity activities, such as organizing fundraising campaigns for people affected by natural disasters and distributing the collected resources among the population in the corresponding affected regions. The social department has implemented projects worth over 3 million leva, Hadji reported.

Hasan Yilmaz, Deputy Chairman of the Presidency of Religious Affairs in Turkey, said in his address that the Bulgarian people and the Muslims in this country have gone through many difficulties, but after 1989-1990 began the period of democracy. Turkey and Bulgaria are countries that are connected by historical, geographical and cultural ties, Yilmaz told the participants in the conference.