The organization of Bulgarian immigrants in Turkey, “Bulturk” has been conducting allegedly unauthorized polls in a few Bulgarian towns, the leader of the Bulgarian nationalist party “Ataka” has announced.

The poll were conducted among citizens of towns with predominantly Muslim population. One of the questions have been whether they would like the names of their towns to be changed with Turkish ones.

On Thursday, the leader of “Ataka”, Volen Siderov, said that he has informed the National State Security Agency about the case and is planning to discuss it with the PM Boyko Borisov as well.

“This is a provocation to the Bulgarian identity,” Siderov said and added that the goal of “Bulturk” is to declare that Bulgaria has been a part of the Ottoman Empire and that it will be again joint to Turkey, not through military methods, but through economics.

Siderov also said that the Bulgarian Muslims have been asked whether there was a discrimination against people who declare themselves Turkish. He said it was not clear what the poll could be used for.

The nationalist leader called upon the Bulgarian party “Movement for Rights and Freedoms” (DPS) to comment on the matter and say their opinion whether the Bulgarian towns of Krumovgrad, Ardino and Momchilgrad should be renamed with Turkish names instead.

Siderov also expressed concern whether “Bulturk” has been invited to Bulgaria to make their polls.

“Obviously this organizations is acting with Turkey's assistance,” he said.

In his words, the goal of the organization is to show that Bulgarian Muslims want to live in towns that have Turkish names.

“This is a manifestation of separatism,” Siderov said.

According to him, the poll has been conducted in 8 Bulgarian towns with predominantly Turkish population. The questions included whether Bulgaria has given up its assimilation policies and whether Turkish should be an official language in Bulgaria.

The “Ataka” leader said that according to information he has, the polls have been conducted for a few days and last night “Bulturk” representatives have come to Bulgaria. He added that his party is ready for civil protests against the organization.

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