Erdogan wants a stake in Bulgaria’s politics
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan received on Sunday (6 June) a delegation of the mostly Turkish-Bulgarian Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF). The delegation visit was led by DPS leader Mustafa Karadayi and included MEP Ilhan Kyuchuk. MRF has three MEPs, part of the European Parliament’s Renew Europe group.
The meeting was at the Vahdettin mansion near Istanbul, home
to the last Ottoman Sultan Vahideddin. Erdoğan was accompanied by Turkish Foreign
Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu and representatives of his Justice and Development
Party. So far, there is no information on the topic of the talks between the
delegation of the Bulgarian party, which consists primarily of Bulgarian
citizens of Turkish origin.
One month ago, the Bulgarian parliament lifted voting
restrictions on Bulgarian citizens living in non-EU countries, making the votes
of Bulgarians in Turkey an important factor in the upcoming July early
parliamentary elections.
The MRF expects to receive at least 60,000 votes from
Bulgarian migrants in Turkey, for which Erdoğan’s support will not be
superfluous. The maximum is about 100,000 votes, which equates to 8-10 seats in
the Bulgarian parliament.
For a decade, the MRF preferred to stay away from Erdoğan,
but the warming of relations became apparent last year. In December, Erdoğan
sent a special congratulatory video message to the MRF national conference.
Many Bulgarian political analysts felt Erdoğan’s message was a request for
interference in Bulgarian domestic politics. It comes at a time when Erdoğan
lost his friend in Bulgaria – former PM Boyko Borissov, who often lobbied for
him in Brussels.
Relations between the MRF and Erdoğan were at their lowest
point in 2016. Then Turkey banned the honorary chairman of the MRF Ahmed Dogan
and the most influential MRF MP Delyan Peevski to enter the country. Peevski
was then called a “pro-Russian oligarch.”
Less than a week ago, the US also imposed sanctions on
Peevski for corruption under the Magnitsky Act.
Meanwhile, Erdoğan also met with North Macedonia’s Prime
Minister Zoran Zaev in a closed-door meeting at the Vahdettin Mansion in
Istanbul and discussed friendly relations and dynamic cooperation in various
fields.
During the meeting, Zaev stressed the extremely good
economic cooperation between the two countries and highlighted the interest of
Turkish companies to invest in North Macedonia and deepening business and trade
ties.
Economic and trade co-operation is vital, Zaev said during a
working dinner, adding that more momentum is expected in this regard with the
drafting of a new free trade agreement aimed at opening more doors for Turkish
investors.
Erdoğan said North Macedonia had a special place in the
hearts of Turkish citizens, as a country with excellent relations and deep
historical ties. Erdoğan stressed that despite the pandemic, the two countries
had excellent trade relations in 2020 and that he would continue to urge
Turkish companies to invest more in North Macedonia.
Ankara also offered to provide 30,000 Chinese Sinovac
vaccines to Skopje free of charge, to be made in Turkey.
Albania’s Prime Minister Edi Rama also met with Turkey’s
president. At that meeting, Erdoğan offered Turkey’s help for the construction
of a factory of 7 types of vaccines and a control system with super-intelligent
drones for the production of real-time data on roads, coasts, agricultural
lands, forests, public order and other activities.
Greece, whose tensions with Turkey have been escalating in
the last months, has not officially reacted to these visits. However, Greek
press reports have been sceptical especially about the visits related to North
Macedonia and Albania, hinting that Erdoğan attempts to offer “gifts” to
increase his influence in the Balkan region.
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