Turkish ambassador ‘concerned’ over attack on Plovdiv mosque
The Turkish ambassador to Bulgaria, Süleyman Gökçe, has expressed concern at the attack on the Dzhumaya mosque in Plovdiv by a crowd of thousands of protesters but says that the incident will not damage bilateral relations between Turkey and Bulgaria.
The attack took place during a protest on February 14 against court applications by the office of the Chief Mufti, spiritual leader of Bulgaria’s Muslims, for properties historically owned by the Muslim community.
Windows of the historic mosque were broken when missiles including paving stones, fireworks and bottles were thrown, several people were injured and about 120 arrested after police intervened.
The protesters, many of them from local football fan clubs and also from the town of Karlovo where a court application regarding former Muslim properties has resulted in objections from local politicians, also marched on the Turkish consulate in Plovdiv and on the city headquarters of the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF), the party led and supported in the main by Bulgarians of Turkish ethnicity.
Ambassador Gökçe told public broadcaster Bulgarian National Radio in an interview on February 15 that he was sure that all Bulgarian institutions were working hard on the case.
He said that the events on Plovdiv had been cause for concern. He added that there had been many Turkish citizens and had the situation not been brought under control, matters could have worsened.
The MRF strongly condemned the attack on the Dzhumaya mosque.
In a media statement, the party alleged that the “vandals” had been led by the mayor of Karlovo, Emil Kabaivanov and the breaking of the law had been possible because the mayor of Plovdiv, Ivan Totev, had not complied with the recommendation of the Interior Ministry that the march be banned.
The MRF asked “what dark forces” were behind the undoubtedly well-organised “and certainly not spontaneous” desecration of the mosque. The aim, the party said, was undeniably political – the bringing down of the current government by stoking ethnic conflict.
The party called on the government and the law enforcement agencies to take every action necessary to identify the instigators and organisers and to prevent further actions behind the scenes against the rule of law in Bulgaria.
Local media reports said that questioning by police of those arrested during the clashes in Plovdiv continued late into the night on February 14.
Prosecutors initiated five fast-track proceedings for hooliganism and assault and two pre-trial investigations for destruction of property and vandalism, as well as for xenophobia.
Plamen Uzunov, head of the regional directorate of the Interior Ministry in Plovdiv, said that of the 120 people arrested, 10 were still in custody on February 15.
There was further political controversy on February 14 when the chief secretary of the Interior Ministry, Svetlozar Lazarov, said that Plovdiv mayor Totev was to blame for the bloodshed in the city because he had not banned the rally. According to Lazarov, Bulgaria’s Prosecutor-General Sotir Tsatsarov had called Totev, asking him to stop the protest.
Totev is a prominent member of opposition party GERB, and party leader Boiko Borissov responded by criticising Lazarov for trying to lay the blame of the events at GERB’s door.
(Photo: Clive Leviev-Sawyer)
