Borisov: Bulgarian Ethnic Turkish Leader Losing Ground, Panicking

Bulgarian ethnic Turkish leader Ahmed Dogan is panicking as he is rapidly losing political ground, according to Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov.

Borisov's comment came Monday, after on Sunday Dogan, the leader of the ethnic Turkish party DPS (Movement for Rights and Freedoms) warned that after the 2013 parliamentary elections Bulgaria may end up in a political stalemate like Greece at the moment, with no party being able to form a government.

Dogan's warning has been the latest in a series of statements in which he bodes a disaster for the ruling center-right party GERB and the Borisov Cabinet.

The Bulgarian Prime Minister, however, made it clear he does not see it that way.

"Ahmed Dogan is panicking since the foundation of the Movement for Rights and Freedoms is being destroyed," he stated Monday, as cited by BNR.

"Dogan's only chance [for political survival] has been to divide the Bulgarian Turks and the Bulgarian Christians, and to scare them with the threat of a new "Revival Process", Borisov stated, referring to the notorious 1980s assimilation campaign of the Bulgarian communist regime against the Bulgarian Turks and ethnic Bulgarian Muslims.

According to Borisov, it is the recognition for the ethnic peace in Bulgaria coming directly from Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan that is shattering Dogan's positions in Bulgarian politics.

"Over the years, it is our friendship with Erdogan, and the fact that he comes to Bulgaria and praises Bulgaria and its ethnic peace all the time... This is the Prime Minister of Turkey," the Bulgarian PM argued.

"You see, when he comes to Bulgaria, Erdogan doesn't even want to greet Ahmed Dogan. And Dogan's nerves are strained so much because the foundation of the DPS party – the setting of Christians and Muslims against one another – is disappearing," Borisov added.

Borisov has oftentimes cited Ahmed Dogan – the primary leader of the ethnic Turkish minority in Bulgaria for the past 22 years – as his major political opponent because of his cunning methods – even though the DPS party technically carries less electoral weight than the opposition Bulgarian Socialist Party.

At the same time, there have been rumors on and off that Borisov and Dogan made a grand bargain back in 2009, in which the GERB party's government will not be sabotaged by DPS in exchange for allowing the latter to preserve some of its positions and interests that it gained when it was part of the two governing coalitions in 2001-2009.