Turkey on Thursday urged Bulgaria to halt measures meant to limit the political rights of the country's minorities.
"We call on the Republic of Bulgaria to abandon practices which are intended to restrict the political rights of minorities in the country and are fundamentally contrary to the European rule-based system," said Foreign Ministry spokesman Hüseyin Müftüoğlu in a statement.
His statement followed a new law ahead of Bulgaria's March 26 elections limiting the number of ballot boxes for Bulgarian citizens living in Turkey to 35, a move the Foreign Ministry said was intended to hinder ethnic Turkish Bulgarians from voting.
Bulgaria has a sizeable Turkish minority of about 10 percent, in addition to Pomak [Muslim Bulgarian], Macedonian, Greek and Roma groups.
According to official census figures, many Bulgarian citizens live in Turkey.
The foreign ministry spokesman said that Turkey, unlike Bulgaria, will "continue to provide the most ideal conditions for all Bulgarian citizens" living in Turkey to vote in this month's Bulgarian elections.
Müftüoğlu also dismissed Bulgarian Foreign Ministry allegations that Turkey was offering Turkish Bulgarians "financial incentives" to vote as baseless rumors.
"Neither does Turkey interfere in the internal affairs of any state," he added.
Please click to read our informative text prepared pursuant to the Law on the Protection of Personal Data No. 6698 and to get information about the cookies used on our website in accordance with the relevant legislation.
6698 sayılı Kişisel Verilerin Korunması Kanunu uyarınca hazırlanmış aydınlatma metnimizi okumak ve sitemizde ilgili mevzuata uygun olarak kullanılan çerezlerle ilgili bilgi almak için lütfen tıklayınız.
