Guner Tahir told FACT: DPS faces new processes, and Turkey probably encourages unification

The changes in the leadership of “DPS - New Beginning“ have raised a number of questions about the motives behind the personnel changes and the processes underway in the party. The coincidence between the changes and the visit of Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan to Bulgaria is not accidental. What is the role of Turkey… Guner Tahir, former deputy chairman of DPS and chairman of the “National Movement for Rights and Freedoms“ (NDPS), spoke to FACT.

- Mr. Tahir, we recently witnessed interesting changes in the “DPS - New Beginning“. How do you view what happened?
- These changes occurred at a rather interesting time. Some time has passed since the parliamentary elections and if Delyan Peevski wanted to make such personnel changes after analyzing the results, he could have done it much earlier. The curious thing is that the reshuffle coincided with the visit to Bulgaria of Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, who held a meeting with Delyan Peevski.

- Hakan Fidan met only with him as a party leader?
- This has its logic, because the MRF has a parliamentary group in the National Assembly and I am not surprised by this fact.

- And what can come of this meeting?
- Look, the results of the parliamentary elections also showed that some of the people in the MRF leadership do not have the necessary support. I will give an example with Hamid Hamid in Shumen. He was placed in a leading position on the list, but was ultimately overtaken with preferences by a candidate who was after him and Hamid remained third. In order to enter the National Assembly, other candidates had to give up the seats they had won. In Shumen, the third on the list, Aysel Mutafova from the Varbitsa municipality, received 1,568 votes with preferences against only 152 for Hamid Hamid, and it is no coincidence that the six municipal councilors and six village mayors from the MRF in the Novi Pazar municipality left the party and declared themselves independent. This is very indicative, especially considering that during Ahmed Dogan's time, the use of preferences in the MRF was practically unacceptable. In Shumen, the party managed to win only one deputy seat, which was a big surprise, because traditionally there the MRF sends two or three deputies. On the other hand, we also saw the collective resignation of the MRF municipal council in Kirkovo, which is a sign of accumulated tension between the local structures and the leadership. There has obviously been a conflict simmering there for a long time. Also, Yordan Tsonev failed to be elected in either of the two multi-mandate districts in which he was a candidate - Varna and Veliko Tarnovo. Under Stanislav Anastasov, another elected candidate also had to give up his seat so that he could enter parliament. All this shows that these people have already been noticed as a problem by the voters and the structures. Delyan Peevski has probably come to the conclusion that if he wants to maintain his leadership position and his political future in the MRF, it is better to part with some of them.

- And what is the goal?
- We will see what will happen. The changes will become a fact soon. Certain processes are underway.

- For example…
- The visit of Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan to Bulgaria is not accidental and according to my information, a condition has been set before Peevski for a possible unification between “MPS – New Beginning“ and APS.

- Let's look at this as a desire on the Turkish side, right?
- You know that over the years there have been two attempts to create an alternative to the MRF. In 2011-2012, it was Kasim Dal's party (NPSD). But the very circle of people in Ankara who stood behind him decided that he did not have the qualities to be a chairman. That is why the first chairman of this party was Korman Ismailov. Over the years, this party has never been able to gain serious support. It did not have the courage, or if you like, the dignity, to stand alone in elections, even when it came to local elections. It always participated in some kind of coalition - with Maria Capon's party, with the Reformist Bloc and so on. Apparently, they themselves realized that they could not meet expectations. The second attempt to create an alternative to the MRF was Lutvi Mestan's party - DOST, which received even greater support from Turkey. There was also a financial side to this support. But this project also collapsed.

- And now they are looking for unification…
- Perhaps the people in Ankara have understood that through projects managed remotely, they cannot influence the internal political processes in Bulgaria. And now they have probably realized that it is better for the two factions of the MRF to unite and thus seek influence. The very fact of which people were invited to the dinner in honor of Hakan Fidan's visit suggests that such a development is being sought. The only one who played an independent role was Kasim Dal, who still has a certain influence and support from Turkey. At the moment he is not a member of a party. In my opinion, circles in Turkey have understood that they can influence the internal processes in Bulgaria only through an already established and actually existing political party in the country. The MRF is facing new processes, and Turkey is probably encouraging unification.