Agitka regular “protesters” known to the police blocked the Maritsa highway on Sunday
Rashkov continues to claim that the Ministry of Interior rightly guarded the border checkpoint – there were signals of smuggling “and not only”
The faces of “Democratic Bulgaria” Mirchev and Tsoneva went hunting for violations, found empty sections
However, the MRF, led by Dogan, suggested with a “code” to its people who to choose in the ballot
The turnout in Turkey was three times lower than on November 14 yesterday. Some of the emigrant organizations there attributed this to the fact that the election is only for president, and Mustafa Karadayi, who attracted a record over 82,000 votes in the first round, is no longer running in the runoff.
But others openly boycotted, a sign of bitterness and protest against recent hysteria that their votes had distorted the vote.
It all started last Wednesday, when MRF leader Mustafa Karadayi gave a press conference to announce that MRF voters are wise and will decide for themselves to vote for a unifying president. And the movement since the spring has painted the image of Rumen Radev as a disconnector.
In two days, a large-scale campaign was launched on social networks with fake posters in Turkish, calling on the leading print media in our southern neighbor to vote for Prof. Anastas Gerdjikov. And this was only the background of the official speech of the Interior Minister Boyko Rashkov – that Turkey interfered in our elections by campaigning in favor of a certain party on November 14.
An hour after Rashkov’s speech on Thursday, the Bulgarian Foreign Ministry summoned Turkish Ambassador Aylin Sekizkyok. Officials and state institutions in Turkey have called on her to refrain from campaigning for the runoff.
Protests of no more than 100 people in front of the Turkish embassy in Sofia followed at 5 pm, but the center was blocked by the gendarmerie.
That evening, after 10 pm, the Bulgarian ambassador Angel Cholakov was summoned to Ankara. At the meeting, the Turkish Foreign Ministry denied interfering in the elections and called for “voting in Turkey not to be abused in Bulgarian domestic politics.”
However, the hysteria did not stop. Tensions escalated again on Friday, when it emerged that Bulgarian border authorities had effectively blocked the Kapitan Andreevo border checkpoint due to intensified inspections of cars and buses entering from Turkey. The inspections were ordered as early as Thursday night. A diplomatic note from Turkey followed. (See below.)
The Ministry of Interior has information about smuggling “and not only” across the Turkish border and this is the reason for the actions of the security forces in recent days, said yesterday in the runoff Boyko Rashkov.
“There were difficulties in entering the country, but not today – this issue has been resolved. The Ministry of the Interior had information that needed to be checked. (…) Whether they traveled for elections or for other purposes, we need to check. But the data so far show that as if they used some free transport – I don’t know who provides such free lunches or dinners, they remain in the shadows like our highway builders. “Obviously, there is a certain goal that is accompanied by other goals – an illegal smuggling trade, which we will not allow,” said the interior minister.
Despite the note to journalists, Rashkov announced that he has very good communication with his Turkish counterpart and with the ambassador of Ankara in Bulgaria, and is convinced that
“The problems from last days will fade away ”
Simultaneously with Rashkov’s statements on the day of the runoff, however, with “No to Electoral Tourism” posters, agitators blocked the Maritza highway at the Kapitan Andreevo junction in the morning and the entry from the border checkpoint was stopped several times. Veselin Ilchev, unknown to the general public, announced himself as the organizer.
It is a group of regular “protesters” who have appeared at rallies against everything in recent years, explained sources of “24 Chasa” from Haskovo. The Ilchev in question, as well as the other alleged organizer of yesterday’s blockade, were known to the police in the area.
Ilchev himself explained to bTV that the actions of the citizens who went out with him on the road were not related to any political party. He stressed that no one paid them. Experienced local politicians and police officers have some reason to doubt the protesters’ selfless cause. In the city, some also mention amounts against which such propaganda would respond, and they are relatively modest – 2-3 thousand levs.
Against this background, the bus station in Kardzhali turned out to be empty. On Sunday morning, the only bus there was picking up passengers for the regular line to Istanbul.
Most polling stations in Turkey were also almost empty. At 4 pm yesterday, the number of visitors to the 38 sections in Istanbul was 5,400 – 3 times less than on November 14.
The picture in Bursa was similar. There, the emigration companies announced
silent protest and boycott on the vote for the lack of whatever condemnatory reaction for the voltage between Sofia and Ankara
from the last week, BNR reported.
“I expect the President of Bulgaria to have understanding between all nationalities, no problems and most importantly no civil war. There is no such threat, but we hear all sorts of rumors on national television, “exclaimed people who went to the polls.
“The Turkish government intervened in the vote – where is it interfering? You come freely, nobody makes you vote “, others are categorical in front of Bulgarian reporters.
In addition, demonstratively many of the voters in Turkey were currently filling in their declarations in the section that they had not voted elsewhere. The problem with these declarations is that many of the emigrants find it difficult to write in Bulgarian. The fact that they came with pre-filled was part of the accusations against them in the first round. Then this allowed a huge number of voters to go through the ballot box.
On November 14, the first round of the presidential election and the parliamentary vote, 91,000 people voted in Turkey, including 85,256 for the MRF. Since then, votes for the party have ranged from 20,000 to 30,000.
By the way, 5 years ago, when he was elected president, Rumen Radev received the entire vote of the MRF. Last night, the exit poll showed that nearly 1/4 of the party’s voters, who went to the polls, again preferred Radev.
As you can see, the votes between me and Rumen Radev are distributed relatively proportionally, commented last night Prof. Anastas Gerdjikov. (See the chart of how these votes moved in 2016, on November 14 and in the runoff.)
Representatives of “Yes, Bulgaria”, including MPs Ivaylo Mirchev and Antoaneta Tsoneva, also went hunting for violations of the elections in Turkey. The two also found empty sections, according to their reports on Facebook. And GERB Deputy Chairman Daniel Mitov described their behavior as “schizophrenic” and especially impudent.
“The same people who only 4 months ago convinced us that the removal of restrictions on sections abroad will not be a problem, are now making a fuss that you see, a lot of votes came from Turkey. Good day! And we warned you about that, “he wrote online. Mirchev returned it to him via Facebook, who invited him to go to Turkey together – he had a place in the car. “Our presence there is a confirmation of a consistent position – there is no contradiction to fight for the voting rights of Bulgarian citizens around the world and to monitor and control the process so as to ensure compliance with the law,” Mirchev explained to Mitov. On Sunday, the two from the DB voted in the Küçükçekmece section in Istanbul.
In Bulgaria, on the other hand, the “code” of the MRF brought a slight stir. Traditionally, in the early dawn, honorary chairman Ahmed Dogan was the first to vote and suggested the time at which he did so. “Honorary Chairman of the MRF Dr. Ahmed Dogan voted in the runoff for president and vice president 15 (Prof. Gerdjikov’s number, written in bold – b.r.) minutes before eight “, announced from the press center of MRF.
On November 14, Dogan voted in 8 without 17 minutes, and the MRF was №17 in the ballot. “It simply came to our notice then 7 seconds, vote to restart statehood. the time is 7 minutes after eight. The day – 7-and of the week. It’s time to restart 7! ” – This was the announced vote of Dogan on July 11. And on April 4 it was exactly at 9 o’clock.
And leader Mustafa Karadayi voted yesterday in his native Borino.15 minutes after 11 o’clock “, informed the press center of MRF. And the head of the youth from the party, Sezgin Mehmed – “15 minutes after ten”.
Note, after thousands were blocked at the border in regular buses – they could be smugglers
A new diplomatic scandal followed the summoning of the ambassadors of Bulgaria and Turkey from the two foreign ministries, which was exchanged on Thursday and Friday. The reason – the kilometer queue, which is formed on Friday at the Kapitan Andreevo border checkpoint by buses coming from our southern neighbor. According to carriers, the inspection of a bus with passengers on a regular line lasted about 4 hours.
The Ministry of Interior and the border checkpoint came out with the explanation that an operation against smuggling and illegal trade is being carried out there. Thus, about 4-5 thousand passengers in the regular buses turned out to be “suspected” of smugglers and blocked for the inspections, as the drivers were seriously behind their schedules. They have reported this to their companies in Turkey.
Late in the evening of November 19, the Turkish Consul General in Plovdiv, Korhan Küngüre, went personally to Kapitan Andreevo and talked to the leaders of the checkpoint. And on Saturday, Turkey handed a diplomatic note to Bulgaria over checks on passenger buses at the border.
On the day of reflection and yesterday in the vote there was no tension at the polling station. However, BNR reported that the number of buses has dropped significantly.
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