MRF chairman Mustafa Karadayi and MRF members of parliament paid tribute to the victims of the “revival process” in the villages Krepcha and Karamantsi. The so-called “revival Process” began in the early 1970s and lasted until the late 1980s. It was a brutal campaign by the communist regime to force Bulgarians of Turkish ethnicity to adopt Bulgarian identities).
In the early stages of the process, the pressure by the authorities on ethnic Turks to change their names provoked resistance, which in some areas of the country turned into public rallies and riots with victims. Months before the fall of the communist regime, there were demonstrations of Bulgarian Turks for democracy and human rights. The protests in May of 1989 were led by the honorary chairman of the MRF (Movement for Rights and Freedoms), Ahmed Dogan, who had just been released from prison (thrown in there for political dissent).
Each year in the month of May the MRF pays tribute to all those who died in the struggle for keeping their names and identities, protecting their honor and dignity. The tributes are paid at memorials in Krepcha and Karamantsi.
We gather every year in these public squares to remember those events in Bulgaria, because now, the democratic process that started more than 30 years ago is subject to denials in Bulgarian parliament, Mustafa Karadayi said. Today, 30 years later, we see some people that were condemned in those days reminding us that they are still here, Karadayi added.
We are determined not to allow anyone harm our honor and dignity again. We brought democracy to our country in 1980s and 1990s. We are the people that will protect democracy each day, each hour, each second. We paid a very high price for it", Karadayi said.
