Some 120 protesters were arrested Friday nationalists in Bulgaria, while trying, according to the police to storm a mosque in Plovdiv (South), injuring several people.
“Nationalist protesters who chanted racist and xenophobic slogans attempted to storm the mosque”, told bTV television Svetlozar Lazarov, Secretary General of the Ministry of the Interior.
A police officer, bystanders and several protesters were injured, he added.
Hospital sources quoted by the Focus agency reported six were wounded.
More than 2,000 people had first appeared before the court of Plovdiv. Justice was examining the appeal request of the Mufti, the spiritual leader of Muslims, restored to his community the mosque near Karlovo town, which had been nationalized in the early 20th century.
The protesters then headed towards the mosque, breaking windows with stones and firecrackers. Repelled by the police, they marched in front of the Turkish consulate, throwing firecrackers, causing no damage.
General Mufti Mustafa Hadji protested against “this act of vandalism” which he called a “pogrom.”
Bulgaria, who lived five centuries under Ottoman rule (14th to 19th century) was the highest of the European Union (13%) rate of Muslim population.
The Bulgarian parliament had been heated debate Wednesday on the right to use the Turkish language in election campaigns.
Parliament maintained the ban in the new electoral code being adopted. The President of the Turkish minority party MDL Lutvi Mestan, called the decision “shameful for the European Bulgaria”. Ultranationalist Ataka party and the members of the Conservative party Gerb responded by leaving the parliamentary session, causing its closure.
Examples of ethnic and religious tension have increased in recent months in Bulgaria, especially following the influx of Syrian refugees and other immigrants from Asia and Africa.
AFP
Stéphane © armenews.com