The Bulgarian Foreign Minister Considers the Statement of her Turkish Counterpart as Extremely Unacceptable

Politics » DIPLOMACY | March 29, 2019, Friday // 14:19
Bulgaria: The Bulgarian Foreign Minister Considers the Statement of her Turkish Counterpart as Extremely Unacceptable

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Ekaterina Zaharieva described the statement of Turkey's Foreign Minister Mevluth Chavusoglu as extremely unacceptable. In front of journalists in the Council of Ministers, Zaharieva has announced she is ready to be heard in the National Assembly on the subject and has no concerns to answer all the questions, reports Darik. 

This afternoon, the Turkish ambassador is summoned to the Foreign Ministry and will head for demarche, Zaharieva said. The meeting with the Turkish diplomat will be at director level, the MFA said.

The Turkish Foreign Minister said in an election rally that Ankara had intervened in the amendments to the Religious Denominations Act in our country. Zaharieva noted she was surprised and extremely dissatisfied with the statement of the Turkish Foreign Minister, which, according to the Deputy Prime Minister, does not help the friendly relations we have with the country. Relations I hope we will continue with Turkey, "Zaharieva added. She urged her colleague to refrain from making such unacceptable speeches.

The statement was made in a pre-election rally, but it is not good to use neighboring countries in our election campaigns, Zaharieva noted.

"Bulgaria has never been pressed," said Foreign Minister Ekaterina Zaharieva. She pointed out that she as a minister was also visited by representatives from the Catholic religion, but they also disagreed with the Religious Law. The Bulgarian Orthodox Church also had disagreement, Zaharieva added. We listen to concerns, but we are an independent state and the Bulgarian parliament decides what to accept, the vice-premier also said.


The Deputy Prime Minister added that she had a telephone conversation with the Foreign Minister of Turkey at his request. During the conversation, Cavusoglu has expressed concern that the Religious Affairs Act, which has been discussed in Parliament for one and a half years, is against the Muslim religion.

Zaharieva noted that she had refuted him. "I told him that the law is not directed against any religion and it is the right of the Bulgarian parliament to ensure that it finances all religions in Bulgaria so that they feel equal," the Deputy Prime Minister added.

According to Zaharieva, Bulgaria has also sought legal contacts - for example, with Ukraine on the study of mother tongue, and seeking contacts about laws potentially violating minority rights does not mean interference.

The main purpose of the law was to stop financing so that there is no influence, and the Turkish Foreign Minister said the opposite, said Zaharieva and stressed that the Bulgarian parliament is independent, the Bulgarian institutions are independent.

Yesterday, the VMRO announced that the party would ask for a hearing of Ekaterina Zaharieva in the National Assembly to clarify whether there had been an attempt to interfere with the country's internal affairs for the Religion Act.

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