Britannia Radio

1 April 2009 More From Troubled Bulgaria Two weeks ago I reported the Bulgarian government lobbying MEPs to support the continued supply of British taxpayers' funds to their corrupt government. Further enquiries have revealed just how politically corrupt Bulgaria is, and apparently always was. Several former state security agents during the communist regime in Bulgaria now dominate public life there. Former communist state security agent Georgi Purvanov (code name Goze when he was a soviet agent) holds the presidency of Bulgaria. The vice-president of the Bulgarian parliament, Junal Ljutvi, is also a former soviet agent, as are many other members. The Bulgarian Turkish Party (DPS), the third largest in Bulgaria, was able to form a coalition government in 2005 with the support of the socialists and nationalists. The Turkish Party holds several key ministerial posts in the government and many seats in parliament. At least one other former communist state security agent, Evgeni Kirilov, sits in Brussels as a socialist MEP. The chairman of the Bulgarian Turkish Party is Ahmed Dogan (code name Sava). He became an agent in 1974, age 20. He was also founder of the illegal 'Turkish national liberation movement in Bulgaria' in 1985. In 1986 he became head of TNLMB, an active terrorist organization which was responsible for several bombing atrocities. The worst was at Bunovo railway station, where terrorists planted a bomb in the compartment of a train full of women and children. Three children and three adults were killed, and 12 injured. Ahmed Dogan was sentenced to 10 years in prison for terrorism. The bombers themselves were arrested, sentenced to death and executed. But after the Bulgarian so-called Velvet Revolution, part of the penal code was repealed. Dogan received an amnesty and was released. In the 1990s the Turkish Party Dogan now heads erected a memorial to the bombers in their village. Which means Bulgaria is almost certainly the only EU country in which there is a monument dedicated to terrorists. Geography obliges Bulgaria to react to political events in neighbouring Turkey, and it is clear Turkish life, culture and attitudes have a powerful influence on Bulgarians. Currently, Turkey has a neo-Islamic government. There is a strong tendency towards more Islamisation of the state, despite the Turkish constitution outlawing such a development. So it is no surprise to find that another member of DPS, Kasim Dal, an MP in the Bulgarian parliament, is known to be acting as an agent for the Turkish secret service to this day. No doubt he is following closely events in Cyprus, which Turkey is using as a toehold to enter the EU on its own terms. All of which has left millions of indigenous Bulgarians feeling effectively disenfranchised and frustrated. They escaped the soviet yoke, and now have former soviet agents acting more and more in the interests of Turkey.   To respond to, or comment on this Email, please email ashley.mote@btconnect.com