Erdogan Points to Bulgarian Model

In a discussion programme on CNN Türk last week, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan responded to a question by Ertugrul Özkök, editor-in-chief of the daily Hürriyet newspaper, on the possibility of a coalition between the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP)and the pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party (DTP).

Erdogan said that for the DTP to be considered a potential coalition partner, it would have to follow the lines of the Bulgarian Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF). This movement has emphasised that its members are Bulgarian citizens, and that they are committed to the constitution and the country's territorial unity.

The MRF started out as an underground organisation as a response to the Bulgarisation of the Turkish minority in Bulgaria. It committed several terrorist acts before gaining legitimacy as a political party.

Founded in 1989, the MRF managed to send 23 MPS to the national Bulgarian parliament (400 seats) in 1990. In 2001, the MRF became a coalition partner of the ruling Simeon National Movement.

The MRF had fielded 18 candidates in the European Parliament elections on 18 May, 9 of them ethnic Turks. With around 20% of the vote, the MRF became the third-strongest party and sent four MEPs to the European Parliament.

Erdogan commented that in its political history, Turkey has witnessed many unlikely coalitions and that it was impossible to foresee the future. (NZ/EÜ/AG/EÜ)