The Sofia Mayor Boyko Borisov stated Friday that the communist assimilation campaign against the Muslim population in Bulgaria in the 1980s had had right goals but the methods of its implementation were had been incorrect.

"It was totally wrong. It must have been done like in the US. You are given a list of names to choose from and your surname is the name of your father," Borisov said in an interview for the bTV channel regarding the so called "Revival Process," during which Muslims in Bulgaria were forced to change their names to Slavic ones.

"In Bulgaria you have Bulgarians. In Turkey - Turks. That is why we have different states. That must be clear," Borisov continued.

The Sofia Mayor Borisov is the informal leader of the Bulgarian Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria (GERB) party, and has been recently accused of mimicking the extreme nationalist rhetoric of the Ataka party leader Volen Siderov.

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