site.btaNikolay Denkov to Bulgarian Turks: Together We Can Eradicate Chronic Poverty and Dependency on Feudal Lords in Some Regions

“The political representation of the Bulgarian Turks should not be confined to one party - because monopolization leads to a severe distortion of relations between ordinary people and the party leadership. People become highly dependent on the interests and whims of political leaders who are tempted to use the guaranteed ethnic vote to their advantage," said Nikolay Denkov in an address to representatives of Bulgarian emigrant organizations, which include the Bulgarian Turks in Turkiye, during the national conference of the Confederation of Balkan Rumelian Turks (BRTK) over the weekend in Bursa. More than 300 emigrant associations from 51 districts in Turkiye are members of the Confederation, of which nearly 200 are made up of еmigrants from Bulgaria, including the largest, Bal-Goc Bursa. The event is held once every 3 years, said the press office of Continue the Change on Tuesday.

Nikolay Denkov thanked for the invitation extended to Continue the Change by the Chairman of BRTK and Bal-Goc Bursa, Sabri Mutlu. "This allows us to present ideas for a positive development of the relations of our party with the Bulgarian Turks - both emigrants in Turkiye and the Turks living in Bulgaria. These relations have so far remained closed within the monopoly of one Bulgarian party and have been determined to a large extent by people's fear of the return of the traumas of the ethnic conflicts of the recent past," Denkov said.

According to him, if the different parties compete for the trust of the Bulgarian Turks, their leadership will be forced to take into account the interests of the people.

Denkov was adamant that governments in Bulgaria should give high priority to supporting people with low incomes and less developed regions, without linking this support directly to the ethnic characteristics of the population.