Bulgaria Ethnic Turks Firmly Oppose New Government

The ethnic Turkish Movement for Rights and Freedoms, which was a coalition partner in Bulgaria's latest government, will vote against the new center-right cabinet of GERB leader Boyko Borisov, it was decided at a meeting that went late into the night on Sunday.

The ethnic party, which has recently emerged as one of the most fierce political enemies of the election winner GERB, voted to be in opposition in parliament for the next four years and expressed willingness to support only what they called "reasonable" decisions of the majority.

The formerly opposition GERB party of Sofia Mayor Boyko Borisov won by far the most seats in Bulgarian parliamentary elections on July 5 and fell just a few short of an absolute majority.

Analysts attribute the huge number of votes that GERB collected and the relatively high election turnout to a scandalous statement the leader of the Turkish party Ahmed Dogan made during the election campaign.

Ahmed Dogan, whose party was member of the government for the last eight years, stirred a fierce political controversy last month after openly claiming to be Bulgaria's back seat ruler.

"I am the instrument in power that allocates the portions to the firms in the country. I want you to be very aware of this fact", Dogan said in a video footage from an election campaign meeting on June 18, 2009, in the village of Kochan, Satovcha Municipality, in southwest Bulgaria.

Dogan described his ethnic party as a virus, which is impossible to cure. According to him great times are ahead for the party, which will come to recruit one day more than one million members.

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