Bulgaria has declared a Turkish diplomat working at the Consulate General in Burgas persona non-grata, the Bulgarian press reported on Sunday (21 February).
A government source said the Turkish diplomat carried out activities which breach the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relation.
While he was tasked with working in social affairs, most of his activity was in the religious sphere, according to the diplomat.
Emiroglu worked as an imam in Turkey prior to being sent to Bulgaria, and “diplomats” reportedly deem his current religious activity in Bulgaria incompatible with his diplomatic status.
The Bulgarian foreign ministry declined to comment on the reports, “either now or in the future”, which it said is in line with diplomatic practice in such situations.
In January, a Socialist lawmaker submitted an inquiry to Foreign Affairs Minister Daniel Mitov to ask about the “status of Turkish diplomat Ugur Emiroglu”, accusing him of interference in domestic political and religious affairs.
According to the Bulgarian parliament website, no answer has been given to the question so far.
The development is futher proof of growing tensions between Bulgaria and its largest southern neighbour, Turkey.
Last December, Lyutvi Mestan, the leader of Bulgaria’s ethnic Turkish party, was ousted from his post, for having brought his political force closer to Turkey’s ruling AKP party, led by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
In the meantime, Mestan founded another party – Dost, meaning “friend” in Turkish, which aims at undermining the DPS party (Movement for Rights and Freedoms) which represents ethnic Turks in Bulgaria.
Further Reading
- Dnevnik, the EURACTIV partner in Bulgaria: България обявила турски аташе за персона нон грата
- Novinite: Bulgaria 'Declares Turkish Diplomat Persona Non Grata'