DEBATE ON MINORITIES

AIM Sofija, 26 July, 1997

The Movement for Rights and Freedoms (DPS) will demand amendments of the Constitution of the Republic of Bulgaria concerning recognition of ethnic minorities, as announced by deputy Jonal Lotfi. He had given this statement before the beginning of the discussion in Sofija, on the occasion of the General Convention on Minorities in the Council of Europe. Bulgaria is not a signatory of this document because the new Constitution adopted in 1991 does not recognize the existence of national minorities.

Representatives of all parliamentary political parties

• United Democratic Forces (ODS), which have the majority in the parliament at present, the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP), the Bulgarian Business Block (BBB) - wish to have the concept of "national minority" defined, in order to make it clear whether it can refer to ethnic groups in the country. According to them, a public discussion on this issue is necessary, which would precede disputes concerning actual signing of the convention. Bulgarian President Petar Stojanov was the first who declared himself in favour of such a debate. According to him, the discussion should precede signing of the General Convention.

Krasimir Karakachanov (VMRO), Lezar Toshev (ODS), Ivan Genov (BSP) and Hristos Molenov (BBB) presented their view of the problem. "National minorities are groups of population which belong to one state, but have been separated from it as result of wars", delegates present at this meeting were resolute.

Jonal Lotfi, however, did not agree with this opinion. "The Turkish population has not been forcibly separated from their state; but their rights have not been protected. The Constitution is inadequate because Bulgaria has been proclaimed a single-national state", declared the deputy of DPS. He also believes that the agreement of three parliamentary groups is necessary for the amendment of the Constitution. Apart from the main law for the amendment, two thirds of votes of deputies are also necessary.

In principle, Lotfi proposed that the state unreservedly and quickly sign the General Convention on Minorities and immediately after that coordinate the main law accordingly. "The Convention will automatically resolve problems with the rights of the Turks in Bulgaria". At the moment, the rights of the Turks in Bulgaria exist in the law, but not in practice.

One of the most painful problems in disputes about mutual relations of the minorities is the question of language, as all the present participants in the debate agreed. The Constitution of the state proclaimed Bulgarian language as the official, but it did not exclude use of other languages. The Turkish language is not a school subject in regions with mixed population, as stressed in the presentation of the DPS. Bulgaria does not permit distribution of newspapers and opening of radio stations in Turkish language.

Similar is the situation with studying of the Koran in regions with the Muslim population. At the same time, Bulgarian Ministry of Education is planning to introduce Christian catechism into schools. "The state in general denies learning of Turkish language, although it is a constitutional right", declared Jonal Lotfi. "Resolution of ethnic problems is a test for every young democracy. That is why it is necessary for the fundamental law to be clarified and made more precise, especially in places which refer to the rights of people of different creed", one of the leaders of the Movement for Rights and Freedoms explained.

The other parliamentarians mentioned that in Bulgaria all people have the same rights, regardless of their belonging to the Jewish, Armenian or Turkish nationality.

The question at stake was not whether to sign the general Convention or not, but how to do it, representatives of political parties were unanimous. So far, 34 European states have agreed with the principles of this document, but only nine of them have actually ratified it, and all of them have maintained their opinions. "If we sign the Convention unreservedly, it will be contrary to the Constitution, because by doing it we will admit that there are minorities in our country", declared deputy Ivan Genov from the BSP, successor of the communist party which was in power until 1989. "We can use the experience of Germany and Luxembourg which while signing the Convention added a note that within their borders there were no minorities", proposed Krasimir Karaka, member of VMRO, parliamentary ally of the ruling ODS. "It would be good if we previously reached an agreement with Greece and Turkey, which have not signed this document yet". "Turkey is not an example of a state ruled by law", commented Jonal Lotfi.

Prime minister Ivan Kostov presented his opinion about this issue. Acccording to him, "we will define minorities as, for example, Germany defined them and we believe that it will correspond to European standards. The topic of Bulgaria's joining the General Convention is a parametre for president", stressed Kostov and appealed to political forces to be responsible concerning the national interest and to support Petar Stojanov, in order to find the best solution.

After the fall of the communist regime, the new 1991 Constitution of Bulgaria resolved many issues concerning human rights in full. Certain human rights and freedoms which had been systematically violated before the fall of the Bulgarian Communist Party in 1989 were regulated by this Constitution. Freedom of religion and equality before the law were guaranteed. At the same time it did not recognize the existence of minorities, although more than 15 per cent of the population are the Turks.

Movement for Rights and Freedoms and its leader Ahmed Dogan, acquired a reputation for being the most serious protectors of rights of this population. It has particopated in parliamentary life since 1989. The DPS has managed to avoid the attacks of other political parties because it was created on ethnic foundations, although the Constitution bans creation of such political parties. The main court in the state recognized legitimacy of the DPS whose voters are inhabitants of the region with mixed population. Bulgaria has opened a political and public debate about signing of the General Convention for Protection of Minorities. This is set as a condition for the membership of this country in the NATO and the European Union. Ivan Kostov, nevertheless, warned that this debate should not serve as a possibility for revanchism, in which one or the other institution would be attacked, or one or the other minority. This discussion should be accepted as something that has come two years too late, but which is still an opportunity for Bulgaria to confirm its commitment to European criteria for human rights.

AIM Sofija

Georgi FILIPOV