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Sat, May 26 2012
Bulgarian PM gives minister Bozhidar Dimitrov final warning after Turkey statements
Bozhidar Dimitrov
Photo: Nadezhda Chipeva
Bulgarian prime minister Boiko Borissov has warned Bozhidar Dimitrov, the minister for Bulgarians abroad, that a repeat of the behaviour that saw Dimitrov spark tensions by publicly threatening that Sofia would veto Turkey's EU accession efforts would cost him his Cabinet job.
On January 6 2010, Borissov told bTV that he had given Dimitrov a last warning. "I warned Dimitrov that if this happens again we will simply part with each other," Borissov said.
"When you appear in the media and speak about such issues without even consulting the Prime Minister or the Cabinet you can only cause problems," Borissov said.
On January 5 2010, Dimitrov told news agency Reuters that Bulgaria was seeking compensation from Turkey for the property of more than 250 000 Bulgarians forced out of their homes by the Ottoman Empire in eastern Thrace, in today's Turkey, during the Balkan Wars in 1913.
"Getting the compensation issue solved is one of the many conditions for Turkey to join the EU," Dimitrov told Reuters. "It is already in the EU's progress report on Turkey".
According to Dimitrov, the money owed to the descendants of the Bulgarian 1913 refugees came to more than $20 billion.
Dimitrov said that Boissov was going to officially raise the issue with Turkey in the second half of January and that this could affect Bulgaria's support for Turkey's EU membership efforts.
Separately, Bulgarian media reported on January 5 that Borissov's trips abroad in late January and early February would include a visit to Turkey although by that stage no date had been confirmed.
Turkish daily Zaman quoted Dimitrov as saying that a Bulgarian-Turkish commission was going to convene once Bulgaria had documentation ready and was in a position to start talks on a settlement.
About 2300 documents have been collected but relatives of Bulgarian refugees are expected to present thousands more this year and that meant the claim was likely to exceed $20 billion, Dimitrov was quoted as saying.
Veselin Ninov, from the Bulgarian Government's media office, told EUobserver on January 6 that the claim was currently being worked on by Bulgarian and Turkish officials.
"This is a matter of official government policy. There is a contract between the two parties, dated 1925. This is an official contract, so, according to the contracting parties, the Turkish government has to repay the equivalent of eight billion euro to the Bulgarian refugees," Ninov said.
The words of Dimtirov and Ninov angered Turkish media and government officials. It led to Turkey's foreign minister Ahmet Davutoglu telling a news conference that Bulgaria’s resettlement compensation claims could harm bilateral ties.
"There have been no official attempts on such a topic. It is in both countries' interests that relations between Turkey and Bulgaria, which constitute a very good model, remain as they are," Davutoglu said.
Bulgaria's Deputy Foreign Minister Marin Raikov tried to calm passions on January 6 2010 by confirming that the compensation issue was on the agenda for the two countries, but it was in no way linked to Bulgaria's support for Turkey's EU accession efforts.
"Bozhidar Dimitrov is one of the highly respected Cabinet ministers and I cannot comment on his words, but Bulgaria's official position is that there is no direct link between EU enlargement and unresolved issues between Bulgaria and Turkey," Raikov said.
After Borissov's warning, Dimitrov told Bulgarian-language Dnevnik daily that he had made a mistake. "Obviously I made a mistake and Raikov is correct," he told Dnevnik on January 6 2010.
The episode cost Ninov, who supported Dimitrov's case and presented it as the Cabinet's position, his job. On January 6 2010, it was confirmed that he had been fired.
The compensation issue has for years been a priority for Bulgaria's nationalist parties and several citizens' organisations formed by the descendants of refugees, who live mainly along Bulgaria's Black Sea coast.
Dimitrov himself is a descendant of Bulgarian refugees.
For years, ultra-nationalist party Ataka has been campaigning that payment by Ankara of the compensaiton should be a precondition for Turkey being admitted to the EU.
On January 6 2010, Borissov told bTV that he had given Dimitrov a last warning. "I warned Dimitrov that if this happens again we will simply part with each other," Borissov said.
"When you appear in the media and speak about such issues without even consulting the Prime Minister or the Cabinet you can only cause problems," Borissov said.
On January 5 2010, Dimitrov told news agency Reuters that Bulgaria was seeking compensation from Turkey for the property of more than 250 000 Bulgarians forced out of their homes by the Ottoman Empire in eastern Thrace, in today's Turkey, during the Balkan Wars in 1913.
"Getting the compensation issue solved is one of the many conditions for Turkey to join the EU," Dimitrov told Reuters. "It is already in the EU's progress report on Turkey".
According to Dimitrov, the money owed to the descendants of the Bulgarian 1913 refugees came to more than $20 billion.
Dimitrov said that Boissov was going to officially raise the issue with Turkey in the second half of January and that this could affect Bulgaria's support for Turkey's EU membership efforts.
Separately, Bulgarian media reported on January 5 that Borissov's trips abroad in late January and early February would include a visit to Turkey although by that stage no date had been confirmed.
Turkish daily Zaman quoted Dimitrov as saying that a Bulgarian-Turkish commission was going to convene once Bulgaria had documentation ready and was in a position to start talks on a settlement.
About 2300 documents have been collected but relatives of Bulgarian refugees are expected to present thousands more this year and that meant the claim was likely to exceed $20 billion, Dimitrov was quoted as saying.
Veselin Ninov, from the Bulgarian Government's media office, told EUobserver on January 6 that the claim was currently being worked on by Bulgarian and Turkish officials.
"This is a matter of official government policy. There is a contract between the two parties, dated 1925. This is an official contract, so, according to the contracting parties, the Turkish government has to repay the equivalent of eight billion euro to the Bulgarian refugees," Ninov said.
The words of Dimtirov and Ninov angered Turkish media and government officials. It led to Turkey's foreign minister Ahmet Davutoglu telling a news conference that Bulgaria’s resettlement compensation claims could harm bilateral ties.
"There have been no official attempts on such a topic. It is in both countries' interests that relations between Turkey and Bulgaria, which constitute a very good model, remain as they are," Davutoglu said.
Bulgaria's Deputy Foreign Minister Marin Raikov tried to calm passions on January 6 2010 by confirming that the compensation issue was on the agenda for the two countries, but it was in no way linked to Bulgaria's support for Turkey's EU accession efforts.
"Bozhidar Dimitrov is one of the highly respected Cabinet ministers and I cannot comment on his words, but Bulgaria's official position is that there is no direct link between EU enlargement and unresolved issues between Bulgaria and Turkey," Raikov said.
After Borissov's warning, Dimitrov told Bulgarian-language Dnevnik daily that he had made a mistake. "Obviously I made a mistake and Raikov is correct," he told Dnevnik on January 6 2010.
The episode cost Ninov, who supported Dimitrov's case and presented it as the Cabinet's position, his job. On January 6 2010, it was confirmed that he had been fired.
The compensation issue has for years been a priority for Bulgaria's nationalist parties and several citizens' organisations formed by the descendants of refugees, who live mainly along Bulgaria's Black Sea coast.
Dimitrov himself is a descendant of Bulgarian refugees.
For years, ultra-nationalist party Ataka has been campaigning that payment by Ankara of the compensaiton should be a precondition for Turkey being admitted to the EU.
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The Sofia Echo
By the way, Alexander Shishkov considers himself European! For God's sake, define European for me please- is that Europe which was tangled in religious wars and which could not prevent the most disastrous wars in the world history? or it that Europe which colonized and murdered innocent people throughout centuries?
Or is it Europe, the European Union which is losing its economic and political power and unity? gradually losing its tolerance towards other religions inc. Islam? or its double standards and lack of knowledge and willingness to understand other "inferior" cultures- reminiscent of its colonial past! [...]
Read the full comment Ottomans were more advanced in several ways than war torn Europe for several centuries-and better hygene! if current level of economic and political development is the norm, it still has better polity, statesmanship, diplomacy and governance than most in the Balkans inc. Bulgaria- mind you! a member of the EU so it is not the criterion for anything!
Valeri-change your medieval mind about Islam and accept the fact that Turkey is powerful not because of Western aid- just to the contrary, West has been a hurdle for Turkey over the years! remember the crumbling Ottoman Empire and the rise of the only muslim secular democracy in the world after an independence war only aided by Lenin and some gold from India..
yes, Turkey is powerful today because of its rich heritage and hard working people! Sometime visit the country, you will be jealous! and will quickly change your mind about its people- warm, loving, [...]
Read the full comment tolerant and accepting than most in Europe..and clearly more so than in Bulgaria..
It was ridiculous to ask fro compensation from Turkey (a crazy figure, 20b$)when Turkey has every reason to ask for compensation from Bulgaria for all the property Turks left after the Balkan wars and during their forced exodus under Zhivkov regime. Go learn your history first before criticizing Turkey because of its Ottoman past- which was one of the most tolerant among all the empires created in the world!
Let's face it, Turkey just isn't European and there is no good reason to redefine European to accommodate Turkey regardless of their size, position or economic size. Europe has been better off without Turkey for eternity, it took long enough to kick them physically out of Europe, why bother to let them in since there is nothing in it for we Europeans right?
Thu, Jun 24 2010 02:08 CET
Report Comment
I think it's unfair to argue now that because so much time has passed, Turkey is not obliged to pay; the contrary is true: it is obliged, legally and morally. urkey needs to develop more dynamic social dialogue with more provocative ideas, that would bring forth more intellectual soul searching.
**********
Christina
To Kavacik:
There are a lot of things I agree with you but I cannot agree with your attempt to downplay or negate the wrongfulness and atrocities committed during Ottoman rule. Maybe try to put yourself into the shoes of our ancestors before giving such a let's say rather quick assessment about 500 years of Bulgarian history.
==========================
Forget about your history. Isn't this what your country is telling Serbia to do? Forget what happened and move on.
It isn't easy is it?
[...]
Read the full comment /> Now I do sympathise with you because we both shared the same history under Ottomons and I agree that we should never forget. We might forgive and try to build bridges if both sides wish it but forgetting is not on.
Countries such as France or England don't have a clue about the Slavs and how it feels to be told to move on. They were the Ottomons at one time. They are the imperialists even today but they use other means now.
Countries like Bulgaria, Serbia, FYROM and Greece can understand the pain of Islam forced on them.
That's why it's painful that we are not united and are so easily bought by their dollars of euros.
To Ludvig Boltzmann:
You totally misunderstood. Read again my words, I did not say support the BG government but "support Bulgarian interests" which is something very different. And, I am not repeating the government but I knew about the justified claim against Turkey for a long time. Only that finally we have a government that puts the issue on the table, although not in a very smart manner (I agree).
To Kavacik:
There are a lot of things I agree with you but I cannot agree with your [...]
Read the full comment attempt to downplay or negate the wrongfulness and atrocities committed during Ottoman rule. Maybe try to put yourself into the shoes of our ancestors before giving such a let's say rather quick assessment about 500 years of Bulgarian history.
If you ask me, I don't see any chance for Turkey to enter EU in the next 30, 40 years. It looks to me someone is very smart with continuous dangling said prospect in front of Turkey in order to bring some sense in the global, insane Islamic extremists' thing.
"Regardless of how a handfull of chauvenist racist hate monegrs may feel the point of 'no return' in Turkey-EU relations may already have been reached. At least the 'progressive' portion of the EU is well aware..."
Well, to be the Devil's advocate, they will tell you that in order to keep the "progressive" nature of modern Europe, Turkey needs to be kept out. The problem is that anything associated with Islam has a conservative regressive feel to it, and as you said yourself - there is ONLY ONE functioning Muslim democracy - pointing that out is [...]
Read the full comment not the best way to ease fears. It's like saying: Don't you want to marry the only normal person from that family?
I think it is very unfortunate that folks like you Levo, don't understand that this is not a very good time to make the EU feel helpless in the face of anything related to Islam.. Being so forceful and aggressive, will only provoke referendums and delays. You are not being helpful to Turkey and, granted, this forum isn't that important, but I think you just undermined what Kavacik achieved with a view very astute posts.
Having perused expression of misconceptions and 'sewever' of thoughts up above I would like to state that the 'Old Europe' with its Medieval Crusader mindset shall be overcome in time as unlike tiny Greece and Bulgaria Turkey, the World's 17th largest Economy, is a major player. Regardless of how a handfull of chauvenist racist hate monegrs may feel the point of 'no return' in Turkey-EU relations may already have been reached. At least the 'progressive' portion of the EU is well aware that there is no way the block can acclaim super power status or intenational legitimacy while discrimanting against [...]
Read the full comment the World's only functioning muslim parliamentary democracy with the World's 6th largest Armed Forces.
Kavacik,
every country looks after its own iterests.
If it's lucky, its people elect officials who actually understand or care about its true interests.
In that respect BG has done pretty well - we are in the EU, aren't we..
Besides that - I think the anti- Turkish feelings are deeper than some random politicians, but "deep" doesn't always mean "strong".
For all my years I can't remember having a conversation with a fellow Bulgarian about how much we hate Turkey, or any other country for that matter.
[...]
Read the full comment (well come to think of it, I can't remember too many conversations that didn't involve women or money, but that's why I keep a view intelectual types around)...
Any way, your heart is in the right place, and I think most of us would appreciate that. BG is not the problem for Turkey's EU aspirations...
The comparison between BG. and TR. might be tricky one, but never the lest ,there are a lot of resemblance when it comes to deal with the rights of the individuals or the minorities in the country. After first world war Bulgaria continued its path with monarchism and Turkey under the leadership of Ataturk chose Republicanism for Turkey. At the time, Ataturk’s idea of governing was way a head of many European countries. In one hand there was new system of governing established in Russia “ Communism” with new ideas of equality between people, and the other hand thriving bourgeoisie [...]
Read the full comment class in Europe. To appease both sides Ataturk took something from both governing systems. Probably many of you do not know that, but Turkish women were amongst first in the world given right to vote and to be elected in parliament and furthermore, first fighter plane was piloted by women in the world in Turkey. His motto was, “PEACE IN THE WORLD AND PEACE AT HOME” within this frame work after he established his authority in the country he signed 1925 friendship agreement with Bulgaria and then he signed piece treaty with Greece. I now there are dip resentment emotions amongst the Bulgarians towards Turks or shall we say against Turkey, but that’s because some politicians or chauvinistic minded people constantly puts fear in the heads of the Bulgarians. If Bulgarians seat back, and really think and analyze the relations between the two countries they will realize that Turkey never had or have any intention to destabilize Bulgaria. Look at the past emigration agreements between BG. and TR. Always benefited Bulgaria. If Turkey had a ulterior motives towards Bulgaria why they had to open its doors for the Bulgarian Turks to emigrate. They could have left them there to fight their own battle and what the Bulgarian governments could have done? Even if they killed one third, today in Bulgaria not 7,8%, but 30,35% of the Bulgarian population would have been of Turkish ethnicity. SO IN CONCLUSION I SAY TO MY FELLOW BULGARIANS don’t let your lives to be controlled by those who preach fear. Regardless of our deference in religion we do have a lot of common things which might help us to understand and respect each other. Never the less, if Turkey is accepted to the alliance, could become on of the bigger supporter of Bulgaria in the EU parliament.
Kavacik,
come back to BG man!
;)
Again,
comparing BG and TR is tricky.
Saying that BGs membership was undeserved, and Turkish membership is unwated, is little more than perfecting the art of stating the obvious;)
BG has many problems, but for the most part they are not unsolvable. Turkeys problems are deeper.
Sure many of us leave BG, but have you ever seen a Bulgarian part of town in Germany or anywhere else?
No, because there are not that many of us, and also because we are essentially not too defferent from the various [...]
Read the full comment majorities, so we submerge into the culture.
Now, I give you that young intelligent Turks as yourself, have identical views and lives as young Bulgarians, but you are your brother's keeper and there's a heavy load to carry there...
I want to make couple of points about my personal view about religion like the previous commentator.
Every new born child in this world is born into one of these religions, Hinduism, Buddhism ,Judaism, Christianity, Islam, because their parents were born into one of them. Today, in more develop and open societies the religion does not play big roll in every day lives of people. But, having said that, the religions are still powerful tool in the hands of the governments and some influential people. If the persons stomach is empty and hungry it is always open for [...]
Read the full comment manipulation by somebody for their own purpose, what ever those purposes may be. “Whether I practice or not, not important” but I was born into it, and consider myself to be of Muslim fate, THEREFORE I STRONGLY CONDEMN THOSE INDIVIDUALS OR GROUPS WHO CARRY TERORIST ACTIONS ON BEHAVE OF MY RELIGION OR FATE. As I read from the press some of these individuals are educated in the West. In my view, because these individuals reside in segregated communities where these so-called HOUNOR of the family mentality prevails over anything else, and they can not brake that cycle ,and therefore their week minds are easily brainwashed by those self-centered fundamentalist who takes great satisfactions from the innocents peoples deaths. To me the irony is: when some kind of terrorist action is carried out somewhere around the world by some terrorist in the name of ISLAM, do not see the strong voices of leading Islamic clergies , but if some artist or journalist writes or draws pictures depicting Islam in some derogatory manner they are first to instigate masses to protest against those artist or journalist. I strongly believe, if you want respect, you have to learn to respect other peoples way of live, opinions , if you criticize others, you have to be open for criticism also.
No To Turks in EU
You are obviously a narrow-minded greek. I hope there are not more of you over there. If there is, I would not be suprised to hear similiar claims confusing Turkey with IMF again :)But as far as i know Greeks are supporting Turkey in our entry to EU as well as Bulgaria at least on political level for now!
Valeri
I am not a big fun of Islam myself. I can not say most but a considerable percentage of the population in Western [...]
Read the full comment Turkey is only as religious as Bulgarians when it comes to their religion. Rejecting Turkey on the basis of religion is a choice and I believe is the wrong one. Only time will tell!
You are absolutely right. It makes it very obvious that this is a religious and historic thing accepting Turkey into EU, not much to do with anything else. Looking at Bulgarian cities how developed they are, looking at Bulgarian legal system, minority right issues, the corrupted politicians, unemployement and how young people are eager to get out of the country, and comparing it to back home makes me think that Turkey will never join Europe even if it lets Kurds to have a parlimant in Diyarbakir, opens all the Greek schools in Istanbul, lets its people accept the so-called Armenian genocide, lets its military get weaker...
Reading at spare times is quite low in Turkey. But it is increasing i believe. I see more and more people reading in our metro while travelling...
Turkey and every other country has history of violence.
I don't think that you can say "bravo to Bulgaria" because that was only one person doing something that made little sense. Turkey has been a good neighbor and surely will continue to be so.
Turkey needs to develop more dynamic social dialogue with more provocative ideas, that would bring forth more intellectual soul searching. I was listening to a Turkish writer and she went about something that again shows our common and not very happy Ottoman heritage:
She said that if you go to [...]
Read the full comment the beach, you'll often see lone western tourists reading books. Turks on the other hand, almost invariably engage in social activities, like playing games, that mostly involve dice of some sort.
I've noticed that with Bulgarians too (men especially), and as a book fanatic, I am very sad to see that.
Turkey has a history of violence and discriminations against christians in Turkey, such as The Patriarch of Constantinople, the deportation of Greek Orthodox community, The Armanians and Pontians genocide, The illegal invasion and occupation of Cyprus, The discrimination against the Kurds etc, etc. The EU should rethink about letting the Turks in the EU family. Bravo to the Bulgarians.
the sad truth is that every brand of Islam smells of Afganistan ...
It is the same smell in different measure, depending on how hard the particular egg is boiled ...
Turk in Istanbul,
you I hear Turks pointing out our short commings regularly as means to illustrate that Turkey deserves to be in the EU if it wasn't for European biggotry.
I am not an official of any type, so I can tell you - it's Islam.
Face it. Islam is so scary and toxic to us that Europe shutters at the thought of 100 million Muslims forcing laws through the EU.
We don't have a military to guarantee civil society and many of us see Sharia types changes comming our way. [...]
Read the full comment
Look, in any other, perfectly disfunctional Christian society, the military is usually a threat to civil rights, not their guarantor.
Frankly that concept freaks the European more than anything else.
Well Kavacik,
you are talking the whole 20th century unfortunate history for all of Europe, not just BG.
We did get off on an unlucky start, in that the unfortunate Congress of Berlin put us on a war path that brought so much tragedy, not to BG only, but realitically that Congress did lead to WWI, with its second act WWII.
Not to mention that British dismembering if the Levant and the Arabian provinces of the Ottomans, are still the gist that keeps on giving.
The fall of Empires is almos always [...]
Read the full comment followed by wars and misery - the British, the Russian, the Ottoman, USSR, even mini ones like
Yugoslavia.
Still freedom is more attractive than tranquility for most humans.
Bulgarian:
>>And by the way, you say you are a Bulgarian, from Turkish origin, but Bulgarian. So I would expect that you are loyal to your country which is Bulgaria and support Bulgarian and not foreign interests. I think that if you live in a country, have the citizenship of this country, want to be fully accepted there, then you also need to be loyal to your host country. Please correct me if I am wrong.
Cheers to all...<<
- - - - - - - - - - - - [...]
Read the full comment - - - - - - - - - -
You are TOTALLY wrong. In the communist system, under Todor Zivkov, you were 100% right, though. The Bulgarian government, as you could see is not united on this or any other issue. How could you go by what they say and parrot it. You should have your own thought.
.
.
.
WHERE OPINIONS CLASH, DEMOCRACY FLOURISHES!
Bulgarians do have every right to ask for compensation for lost property from those days, so the Turks, Greeks, and others.
The problem here is not that tho. There is a huge mistake made by Bozhidar Dimitrov here. Solving this issue is not a precondition for Turkey to join EU. He should have done his homework better before taking on the Turkish country parties.
I believe he got too excited and quite rightly was asked to shut up or go by Boiko Boriossov.
His comments were wrong and [...]
Read the full comment his timing was very bad. It was a very cheap threat. He should have consulted the cabinet before talking on the issue. Right now due to what is happening internally in Turkey (closing of DTP and prosecution of many military generals) and already almost destroyed relations with EU, we would not care less about his comments. Turkey right now would refuse to pay If asked and what is next? All Turkey did in the last couple of days was a comment from the foreign minister and maybe a phone call from Erdogan to Boiko, which are more than enough to put this issue under the table at least for a couple a years.
Calling for a referendum on 10 minute Turkish (or was it 5min ?) news showed how Bulgarian politicians approach such things these days. You are a member of EU and you do not think it is ironic to ask majority Bulgarians to vote on this issue. Meaning of minority rights? Some justified this thinking and called this democratic I am laughing because EU member Bulgaria is way behind Turkey on such thinks. There is a national channel in Turkey that only broadcasts in Kurdish not 24/7. I would advise Bulgarians here to visit Istanbul and even subjectively for you it will be difficult to justify if you deserve EU more than us based on quality of infrastructure and economic development…
Valery, to tell you the truth when i was in my prime years in school those speeches about being five hundred years under " Турско Робство" hadn't battered me so much, after all the teachers always had the courtesy to add "Бьлгрските Чорбаджий" too. Whether you believe or not, when i read or look at history of Bulgaria after the "Освобождението оf so called Туското Робство" i come to think that maybe after all the Bulgarians weren't treated so badly by the Turks. "Царско Бьлгариа" only lasted 57 years on power and Communism was only able to cling in power [...]
Read the full comment for 45ty five years. If Bulgarian people were so happy under these regimes don't you think? they would have lasted long time? Especially, if you were residing in south of the country you couldn't even go to washroom without police permission.
"I disagree with approach the minister has taken regarding this issue."
You and our PM both actually, since he just warned Dimitrov that he can lose his job over freelance like that.
So there is no issue. I don't disagree with anything in your post.
The question of which side you are on is an issue for some people but I actually understand. Personally I don't care if you feel closer to Turkey. I can't imagine what is it like to grow up being told non-stop about the [...]
Read the full comment Турско Робство at school where basically your parent's types were portrayed as the worse murderers. We are all damaged in some ways.
Peace.
I personally do not disagree with the heirs of those Bulgarians who had left property behind when moved or escaped to Bulgaria. Surely, they have every right to make claim towards their Grandfathers estates. To that end, there is a agreement signed between the two countries supporting their claim, but this agreement also protects the rights of the heirs of Turkish nationals who had left property behind when moved or escaped to Turkey. There is Google search engine, which anybody can find the information within a few minutes time regarding this friendship agreement of 1925. I disagree with approach the [...]
Read the full comment minister has taken regarding this issue. Yes, Bulgaria might have reservations towards Turkey's membership to EC, and when that time come can also put the issue in front of its citizens to decide.Furthermore, it is well known fact that there are bigger and influential countries who have reservations towards Turkey's membership. To me Bulgaria is a drop of water in the bucket. When those big guys come to conclusion that Turkey's membership is to benefit the community they will never asked the opinion of Bulgarian government.You see my friends, it is not a question on which side I am, it is a question getting job done. This compensation issue can only be solved with friendly approach, after all both countries knew what they were expecting from this friendly agreement when they signed it. We live in a different times. I can not even make my own kids do things with blackmailing or force, but if I approach them with reason they do things I want them to do.
I have to agree that there is very little critical thinking in Turkey.
It's denial after denial about anything that's going on.
It's hard to even find Turks that disagree with each other. May be not in front of outsiders.
For example, I completely disagree with many Bulgarian including Ann here and "Bulgarian" as well.
(I don't see how we can hold one country - Turkey - accountable for another - the Ottoman realm.)
Equating Turks with Ottomans negates whatever movement forward these people have made and that [...]
Read the full comment can't be good for BG.
I too am only concern with what's good for BG and "teaching the Turks a lesson" is very low on our survival list...
To Kavacik: Part of the time has passed because Bulgaria was kind enough to not insist on immediate payment but to pospone it because of the economic situation at that time in Turkey. I think it's unfair to argue now that because so much time has passed, Turkey is not obliged to pay; the contrary is true: it is obliged, legally and morally.
And by the way, you say you are a Bulgarian, from Turkish origin, but Bulgarian. So I would expect that you are loyal to your country which is Bulgaria and support Bulgarian and not foreign [...]
Read the full comment interests. I think that if you live in a country, have the citizenship of this country, want to be fully accepted there, then you also need to be loyal to your host country. Please correct me if I am wrong.
Cheers to all...
I would kindly suggest that all " Turkish" people can pack their bags and off to their lovely home ( they can take perla and mohamed with them)
To Turko, please do not mix it up, it's not about hating Turks. It's about a country (Turkey) which for too long was spoiled by the West because of geopolitical considerations and that was always excused and not adequately held accountable for its deeds (atrocities committed in Bulgaria during Ottoman empire, genocide in Armenia, attack against Cyprus), a country (Turkey) that obviously has a problem with critically reflecting its past and living up to its own commitments.
From a Bulgarian perspective, it's about finally defending the interests of Bulgarian citizens (of course this includes the Bulgarians from Turkish [...]
Read the full comment origin!) and about putting Bulgaria's interest first, even if there is political resistance (which is always there and normal). Countries tend to defend their interests and while Bulgaria did a very bad job during the last decades, there is a small hope that Bulgaria will do better in the future.
First of all, I kindly say thanks to those who have pointed out my spelling or grammatical mistakes. Secondly, I'm a ordinary Bulgarian of Turkish ethnicity. Usually, I do not talk or make comments on any subject based on my emotions. 85 years are gone since signing of this agreement and until now no Bulgarian government has ever made any claims on behave of those people and suddenly some government official have thought that maybe, maybe if we tie this to Turkey's membership to EC might be able to get several billions from Turkey without courts involvement. You know what [...]
Read the full comment they say measure 10 times and cut once. Anyway, have good day my friends,
Kavacik:
"To me the irony is my fellow Bulgarians ( educated or not ) without weighing all the consequences jumped to conclusion that Bulgaria finally had Turkey cornered and had no place to hide.. "
Who are those Bulgarians?
Perhaps in your vibrant imagination only?
Kavacik, educated or not, you should learn to spell, dear, or proof-read your text before sending. Or did emotions get the better of you?
Ha ha haaa..)))
What a government and what a cabinet!!!
Hey, my honest and humanist Bulgarian friends; it is time to forget to hate Turks and live in peaceful together as neighbour countries.
The important thing is that now the topic is officially on the table and it should remain there until resolved in a way that is acceptable for both sides. The contract from 1925 is a fact and therefore the claims are justified. It is now up to Borissov to play his cards right. Linking Bulgaria's support for Turkey's EU membership to this compensation claim and/or other conditions (e.g. recognition of the comitted genocide against the Armenian people) should always remain an option. Most countries try to exert political pressure in order to achieve a desired outcome and why should Bulgaria [...]
Read the full comment not do the same. It is time for the Bulgarian political elite to put the interest of its people first.
There is no surprise here. Any right minded person with little brain in his head would have had told you that the pat the minister has taken was wrong one. To me the irony is my fellow Bulgarians ( educated or not ) without weighing all the consequences jumped to conclusion that Bulgaria finally had Turkey cornered and had no place to hide.. But, unfortunately the history once more thought you a lesson not to acct with your emotions and only with reality.