Political dissociation in the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (DPS), a centrist Turkish political party carried out its activities in Bulgaria, leads to rising tension in relations between Turkey and Bulgaria. Bulgaria had recalled its Ankara ambassador for consultations over Turkey’s reported interference in Bulgaria’s internal affairs through splitting the political party of Bulgarian Turks.
The ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) of Turkey, which has been the current matter of debate in international politics due to the diplomatic crises with the Netherlands and Germany during the last week, is now at the top of the agenda because of a crisis with Bulgaria.
The AKP, which has tried to interfere in the internal affairs of Bulgaria many times through Turkish minorities living in Bulgaria, deepens the dimensions of the dead-end in its foreign policy.
The actors of the crisis with Bulgaria are the traditional political party of Bulgarian Turks the Movement for Rights and Freedom (DPS), the Party of Democrats for Responsibility, Solidarity and Tolerance (DOST) founded after the AKP’s intervention, and the Turkish embassies that came to the fore due to scandal financial relations with DOST party.
Following the shot down of the Russian warplane by Turkey near Syria border, Lyutvi Mestan, who was a member of DPS at that time, made a statement on this issue what it considered an excessively pro-Turkish government stance and had been expelled from the party by Ahmed Doğan, the former chairman of the Movement for Rights and Freedom. After his removal from the party, Lyutvi Mestan had founded the Party Democrats for Responsibility, Solidarity and Tolerance (DOST). DOST Party is brought to the agenda with the allegations over Turkey’s reported interference in Bulgaria’s current parliamentary elections.
In a propaganda video prepared for the DOST Party, Süleyman Gökçe, Turkey’s ambassador to Sofia, had openly supported the DOST Party. After this stance, Gökçe, who was summoned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Bulgaria, was declared as "persona non grata", in other words 'unwanted man', and returned to Turkey.
Following the incident, according to a report in daily Sözcü, it has come to the light that Uğur Emiroğlu, the attache in Turkish Consulate-General in Burgas, Bulgaria, had provided financial support for Lyutvi Mestan and enabled the foundation of the DOST Party.
Considering the political debates within the Turkish minority movement in Bulgaria for years, it can be seen that Turkey have a part in political dissociation of the DPS and foundation of DOST party in Bulgaria.
AKP’S SEEKING FOR AN EXTERNAL ACTOR
One of the components of The AKP’s policy, aiming at becoming a "regional active power" in foreign policy but could not approach its target, is Bulgaria.
According to Hüseyin Hafizov, one of the founding members of DOST and the former deputy of DPS, the basis of recent political dissociations within DPS is an anti-Turkey stance of the Movement for Rights and Freedoms and other political parties in Bulgaria:
"In order to maintain Turkey’s support to Bulgaria, not to our party, our people say DOST Party. Because at the moment, other political parties, including the DPS, have an anti-Turkey stance, therefore the people are discontent with this situation. It is wrong to identify us with Turkey. Firstly, we are a political party of Bulgaria; secondly, we are a European party; and thirdly, we are a pro-NATO political party. We cannot be a political party of Turkey but can be a pro-Turkey party. Our people do not say that Turkey meddles with our party, manages and directs it. Our people think that Turkey can benefit Bulgaria so that we do not destitute of Turkey’s beautiful and pleasant treatment to us."
THE RELATIONS BETWEEN THE AKP AND THE DOST PARTY
The relations between the AKP and DOST Party actually go a long way back. According to the claims, during the prime ministry of Ahmet Davutoğlu, the founder of DOST Lyutvi Mestan, Prime minister of Bulgaria Boyko Borissov and Davutoğlu, that period held a private conversation on December 15, 2015.
According to the report in daily Gazeteport, while Lyutvi Mestan was the translator of this unrecorded meeting, Davutoğlu offered Borisov a 100 million euros grant or long-term and low-interest loan in the first stage for the development of livestock breeding and organic vegetable growing in Kardzhali, Dobruja and other rural areas of Bulgaria.
Davutoğlu said that the project would be contributed by 200 million euros, but the given contribution in the long-term would be over 1 billion euros. Davutoğlu, who issued a guarantee to purchase the raised animals and produced vegetables, asked Bulgaria to support the AKP policies and the Turkish government in the Russian crisis in return.
A crisis broke out after the proposal of the Turkish side was discussed within the Borissov’s centre-right political party which is the Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria (GERB). In the following period, Bulgaria has announced its neutrality in the crisis between Russia and Turkey.
The political parallelism between the AKP and DOST Party, which is clearly a pro-NATO and liberal political party as Hafizov stated, is also remarkable. In particular, the DOST Party purporting to do politics with discourse on pro-Turkey and Islamic minorities relative to the DPS seems to take on a task for the AKP’s foreign policy. This parallelism stands out in Hafizov’s another statement:
"In order to prove that we are a general party, we think handling all kinds of issues that is contemporary in Bulgaria without excluding any segments of people. We call democracy, we call freedom, we call equality, we call tolerance, we call to dialogue, we call responsibility and liberalism. These will be the principles of our party. We are ready to come together with those who have these principles or share them and want to do politics with us, and those who want this state to be governed by these principles. Our party is not only for the Turks but also everyone. Of course, I think that those who will principally understand our voices are Muslims and Turks because they are most in need of these principles. Those who were deprived of our principles are the Gypsies and Muslim Pomaks."
After the political dissociation, political representatives from both parties felt the need to visit Turkey to be able to tell their own political positions to the political parties in Turkey.
Yet, the request of the DPS, consulted with the People’s Republican Party (CHP) and Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), to meet with the AKP had been rejected. Besides, a delegation from the DOST Party had met with the AKP at the governmental level along with other political parties on March 31, 2016.
THE RELATION BETWEEN THE DOST PARTY AND BILAL ERDOGAN
According to the media reports in Bulgaria, Tayyip Erdoğan has a direct role in the foundation of the DOST Party, and it is stated that 20 million dollars from Turkey were transferred to the foundation of the party.
As it is claimed in Yukegh magazine in recent days, Lyutvi Mestan and Bilal Erdoğan, the son of the Turkish President Tayyip Erdoğan, came together, and it is claimed that Bilal Erdoğan promised to give 1 million dollars to Mestan, while this amount would be collected by the discretionary fund of the Presidency.
THE DOST WAS NOT THE FIRST: THE AKP AND PARTY FOR DEVELOPMENT AND EQUALITY
Previously in 2005, The Turkish capitalist Assoc. Dr Bedri Şefik, had participated in the elections in Bulgaria with his Party for Development and Equality (KEP).
Similar to the statements of Lyutvi Mestan and Hafizov, Bedri Şefik had also claimed that the Turkish coalition partner of the ruling party of Bulgaria at that time, the Movement for the Rights and Freedoms, could not protect the rights of Bulgarian Turks.
Drawing attention to the relationship between the DPS and the Turkey’s capitalist class in the statements of Bedri Şefik, the founder of the Party for Development and Equality, gives an opinion about the role of the KEP in Turkey’s vision:
"The number of Turkish investors has fallen below 400. Especially companies making sizeable investments such as the Ceylan Group in the field of electricity and energy, Işıklar Group in the field of paper industry, Bilgi Group in the field of sugar and oil industry, Süzer Group in the field of cellulose have been removed from the market as a result of wrong policies of the Movement for the Rights and Freedoms. Ramstore investments of the Koç Group are also limited to only a store. The highway construction works of Doğuş Group do not prosper…"
THE COMMISSION OF INVESTIGATION IN BULGARIA
The relations between the AKP and the DOST Party and the recent diplomatic crisis brought questions to the mind regarding the AKP’s political activities in Bulgaria.
The National Assembly of the Republic of Bulgaria has decided to establish a commission to investigate the allegations that Turkey and Russia interfere in the internal affairs of Sofia in February of the previous year.
The commission proposal had been made by the Movement for Rights and Freedoms formed by mostly Bulgarian Turks delegates, and the following statements included in the interim commission proposal:
"According to the allegations in the public opinion and media in the last weeks, the Republic of Turkey has interfered in the internal affairs of Bulgaria. This case justifies the necessity of the proposed commission."
A STATISTICAL OVERVIEW OF THE DOST PARTY
As the countdown for the parliamentary elections in Bulgaria has begun, a question in mind is how the DOST Party will attain a political success. While the criterion for this success will be much more the votes received against or the votes taken away from the DPS, the election polls reveal that the electoral situation in Bulgaria is not so bright for the DOST Party and AKP.
According to Gallup statistics, it was stated that while 10 percent of the voters who voted for the DPS in January 2016 would vote for the DOST, there is a clear fall in the given percent (%10) in the following process. Again according to Gallup statistics, if the elections were held today, there would be no a marked improvement in the stance of the Turkish minority to the DPS, while the DPS receives 8 percent of the votes, and the DOST Party remains below 1 percent.
The results are similar according to the survey result polled by bnt.bg. In this poll, while the DOST Party remains at 0.7 percent, the DPS receives 5.7 percent of the votes.
MAY THE DOST PARTY BE MORE SUCCESSFUL?
The Movement for the Rights and Freedoms (DPS) and the employment situation of the Turkish minorities who are the citizens of Bulgaria is a major obstacle for the DOST Party. The DPS seems to be an important actor in the employment of the Turkish minority living in Bulgaria. According to the DPS, the dissociation of their political integrity is a threat to the Turkish minority, and this idea is also shared by Bulgarian Turks living in Bulgaria.
The DOST Party, which is seen as a component of a Neo-Ottomans foreign policy of the AKP, seems to be a failed attempt when the anti-Ottoman stance in Bulgaria is taken into consideration and the results of the election polls are evaluated.
