Radovan Karadzic, Sarajevo is not your city, and you have no right to say that it is, just as you do not have the right to say in public, even if it’s in court, that someone has dug up bones around Bosnia and brought them to Srebrenica to make a fake graveyard. This is insulting.
Turkey Worried About Bulgaria TV Referendum
Sofia | 17 December 2009 |
Bulgaria's Prime Minister Boyko Borisov said this week that he supports the idea of holding a referendum, a move put forward by the nationalist party Ataka, who supports his ruling party.
Reacting to the news, Turkey’s foreign ministry also said it will follow reaction to the news within Bulgaria. "We expect the Bulgarian Government to make the necessary efforts to deal with the matter through dialogue and within the framework of democratic laws and human rights," a statement issued on Thursday read.
A few hours after issuing the statement, the prime ministers of the two countries talked on the phone about the issue, in which Borisov sought to assure his Turkish counterpart that the issue does not escalate politically, the novinite agency reports.
The news bulletin in question is 10 minutes long and has been broadcast on Bulgarian National Television, BNT, five days a week at 5pm since 2000.
Ataka has been campaigning for more than five years against BNT's broadcast, saying Bulgarian is the official language of the country and there is no place for news in Turkish on the public broadcaster.
Turks are Bulgaria’s largest minority, making up just under 10 per cent of the population.
The opposition Socialists slammed Borisov’s idea. Socialist Member of Parliament Anton Kutev criticized the government for preparing to waste 20 million leva on a ‘needless referendum’, money he said that would be better put to use to help pensioners.
President Georgi Parvanov said he suspected Borisov of having fallen into a trap (set by Ataka).
Borisov has justified his support by saying that a referendum will put an end to the debate that has dragged on for years.
"This is a very delicate situation and we don't want the matter being exploited against Bulgarian Muslims or by them. That's why I support the idea of resolving the issue through a referendum because this is the most democratic way," Borisov said.
He said there is sufficient news available on regional and cable TV, and other media for people to receive foreign language news without it being broadcast on state TV or radio.
"We don't want other minorities to feel neglected. Soon we might have the Roma asking for news in their language," Borisov said, adding that Bulgarian is the country's official language.
Ataka’s party leader Volen Siderov has said he has collected 48 signatures from MPs who support a referendum.
