DPS was born from the pain and suffering caused by the so-called "Regenerative process". Instead of healing these wounds, both Dogan and Peevski use them to manipulate the ethnic vote. It's a no-brainer. By Emilia Milcheva.
The so-called "Renaissance Process" will be condemned when, on December 26, near the Turkyan fountain in the village of Mogilane, both Turks and Bulgarians begin to gather to honor the memory of the victims not only of the forced change of names, but also of the bans on the use of the Turkish language, of the encroachment on cultural and religious identity, in a word - on assimilation. This year marks the 40th anniversary of the murders, but in Mogilane it will once again be only the "others" - the Bulgarian Turks, who still suffer social isolation and other forms of discrimination. This fuels fears and concerns among the elderly that they may again become victims of repression, regardless of the fact that a part of the more than 360,000 people expelled in Turkey in 1989 returned to Bulgaria.
That is why the honorary chairman of DPS Ahmed Dogan will continue to scare people from his ethnicity with the card with the so-called "Revival process", as he did recently at the presentation of the parliamentary candidate lists of the "Alliance for Rights and Freedoms". "I didn't imagine that 40 years after the transition I would experience elements of the revival process again," Dogan said regarding mayors from the DPS who crossed over to Delyan Peevski's camp, and announced that "we are Bulgaria's lifeline as well , and of democracy, and we will restore the DPS in its true form".
That is why the leader of DPS-New Beginning, Delyan Peevski, will speculate with his call for a "fair trial and effective sentences for the culprits of the so-called "Renaissance Process" in a report submitted to the Military District Prosecutor's Office. "To proceed with bringing charges under Art. 416, para. 1 of the Criminal Code for committing genocide against the Bulgarian Muslims", it says. Among the culprits are those with whom the DPS officially - and behind the scenes - ruled institutions and the judiciary until recently, "the traitors whom the DPS infiltrated among the Bulgarian Muslims, who…using the righteous anger of the victims of the Revival process, built political-economic structures from mafia- oligarchic model".
Brave manipulation
This tool for manipulation of the ethnic vote has been ignored both by Ahmed Dogan, under whose leadership the DPS did not do any justice for the culprits, and by Delyan Peevski, who concreted this mafia-oligarchic model favored by Dogan. Ahmed Dogan seems to have forgotten that DPS was born precisely from the pain and suffering caused by the so-called "Regenerative process". Instead of healing these wounds, the party engineers preferred to keep them open to exploit when it was convenient for them.
Therefore, using this card in an attempt to mobilize the Bulgarian Turks will work for far fewer voters this time. ("Alpha Research" predicts that both DPS factions will enter the 51st parliament, giving Doganova a slight lead.)
The split in the Movement for Rights and Freedoms has brought uncertainty, confusion and frustration and will lead to an outflow of votes to other lists with ethnic Turks. According to BNR, the journalist and historian Georgi Kulov admitted that in the elections on October 27, GERB and PP-DB have some chances for a mandate from the 9th MIR-Kardzhali, which provides five seats in the parliament. While the leader of the list of GERB is again Tsveta Karayancheva, at the head of the list of PP-DB is Sabahatin Gökce, a local entrepreneur, also known for his philanthropy. Gokce was declared a non-returnee because of his participation in the May events in 1989 and in the protests in Djebelsko against the forced name change.
How genocide is proven
To be charged with genocide, it is necessary to prove that there is a deliberate intent to destroy - in whole or in part - national, ethnic, racial or religious groups of people, which is a very high legal standard. In order to proceed with genocide charges, the prosecution must have clear and unequivocal evidence that the purpose of the so-called "Renaissance Process" was the destruction of the Bulgarian Muslims as an ethnic group. This includes both documents and testimony to support the thesis of the intent and actions of the then regime.
For many, the forced name change in Bulgaria of the Bulgarian Roma, Pomaks and Turks, repression against customs and deportation are considered a crime against humanity, but no legal formulation has been reached. Political scientist and professor at the Scottish University of St. Andrews Tomasz Camuzella defines what happened as "the largest and most intense act of ethnic cleansing in Europe during the Cold War, namely the expulsion of the Turks from communist Bulgaria in 1989." and is a matter neglected decades after the event.
In his research, he explains that when it happened, the term "ethnic cleansing" did not yet exist, so under international law this expulsion was considered a "population transfer". Later, under the influence of atrocities committed during the wars in the former Yugoslavia, population transfers were criminalized and reclassified as "ethnic cleansing," Camuzella writes. This fact was also recognized in the Declaration of the Bulgarian Parliament from 2012. According to the political scientist, however, her propaganda terminology "deepens the oblivion and conceals the nature of this tragic event".
Where is national reconciliation
Despite the declaration, not enough efforts were made for national reconciliation. Regardless of the efforts and works of scientists and researchers in Bulgaria, public discussions, the collective trauma has not been fully experienced. As long as this is the case, the processes of reconciliation in Bulgarian society and integration of the Muslim minority will be difficult.
These processes are not helped by actions such as the apology of the former chairman of the BSP Sergey Stanishev for the so-called "Renaissance Process" at the Orlov Most rally on November 16, 2013, when hundreds of Bulgarian Turks were bussed into the center of Sofia to attend this act of political hypocrisy. Even less helpful are volleys of signals to the prosecutor's office and promises of "retribution" by an oligarch sanctioned for corruption.
But with common worship of Bulgarians and Turks in front of the Turkyan fountain, it can be done.
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This comment expresses the author's personal opinion and may not coincide with the positions of the Bulgarian editorial staff and DV as a whole.