Bulgaria Ruling Party Makes Breakthrough in Turkish Stronghold

Kardzhali, a town made up predominantly of ethnic Turks, has surprisingly sent its incumbent mayor to a run-off with the candidate of the ruling GERB party.

Hasan Azis, the incumbent mayor, nominated by the ethnic Movement for Rights and Freedoms and seeking re-election for his third term, garnered 46.5% of the votes and failed to score an outright victory.

He will face in the second round Ilia Iliev, nominated by the ruling center-right GERB party

Milko Bagdasarov, nominated by the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP), finished third.

Four years ago during the previous local elections split vote paved the way for Hasan Azis to his second term in office.

Azis, backed by the Movement for Rights and Freedoms, garnered 56,3 % of the votes. Hassan Azis' bid for a second term was challenged by three candidates, who set out on a crusade to topple the hegemony of the ethnic Turkish party.

Nikola Pashinov, who joined the race on the ticket of the Association for Kardzhali, set up in September 2007 with the goal to topple the ethnic Turkish mayor of the town, ranked second with 36,1% of the votes.

Third came in the candidate of GERB party, businessman Stefan Chanev (6%), followed by Agor Uzunbohosyan (1.2%), who was supported by the right-wing hard-liners from Democrats for Strong Bulgaria, the Union of Free Democrats and the Democratic Party.

Analysts commented that the number of candidates scattered the votes against the ethnic Turkish party and made his re-election easier.

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