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Ankara calls on Sofia for dialogue on Turkish language news debate
Turkey’s reaction to the issue came on Wednesday in a written statement released by the Foreign Ministry, a day after Volen Siderov, the leader of Bulgaria’s far-right, ultranationalist Ataka party, asked Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov for support in order to set a date for a national referendum on the issue.
“We have been following the recent developments on the issue of stopping the Turkish news bulletin, which has been broadcast for 10 minutes on weekdays since 2000 on BNT, to referendum very closely and carefully,” the Foreign Ministry said.
“We expect the Bulgarian government to exert the necessary effort to resolve the issue through dialogue and within the framework of the rules of democracy and fundamental rights and freedoms,” the ministry concluded.
Following his meeting with Siderov, Borisov declared himself in support of Ataka’s call for a referendum on the issue. He said he believed a national referendum was the best way to make sure that the majority of the Bulgarian population was in favor of the 10-minute daily news broadcasts in Turkish.
Borisov’s remarks led to reaction even from Bulgarian President Georgi Parvanov. Calling the debate over the broadcasting of Turkish language news on the public broadcaster of the country “irrelevant,” he said he suspected that “a large trap has been set for Prime Minister Borisov” with the initiating of the debate.
In late November, Siderov and his fellow party members submitted a proposal for amendments to the country’s Radio and Television Act to Parliament.
The amendments included canceling television news broadcasts in languages other than Bulgarian, with Ataka basing its argument in rhetoric that the current directives allow inadmissible opportunities for some minorities to stir separatist feelings.
“Bulgaria is a state of one nationality and it is unacceptable to have any divisions on ethnic or racial bases,” the proposal said.
At the time, Metin Kazak, an ethnic Turkish-Bulgarian member of the European Parliament, voiced strong criticism of the amendments, telling his colleagues that Ataka’s move is a sign of intolerance and discrimination and will deprive Bulgaria’s largest minority of the right to receive information in their native language. Approximately 15 percent of Bulgaria’s population is made up of ethnic Turks.
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