Message of prosperity and peace from Sütkesiği
On 24 December 1984, more than 3 000 people from the villages of Gorno Prahovo (Toschali), Dolno Prahovo (Ahmatlar), Basevo (Hallar), Chernigovo (Karamustafalar), Dedino (Dedeler) and Tarna (Çıraklar) gathered in Mleçino to express their opposition to the forced change of Turkish names.
"Once again, we are here to honour and pay tribute to the first peaceful protest against the Bulgarianisation process. We go back in time 39 years to hear the story of the organisers of this peaceful protest. They fought for a name, for a religion, they protested to protect their culture and identity." These words were spoken by the Mayor of Ardino (Egerdere) Izzet Saban at the commemoration ceremony in front of the memorial fountain in the village of Mlechino (Sütkesiği) on the occasion of the first peaceful protest rally against the forced name change of the Turkish and Muslim population in the country.
In his speech, President İzzet Şaban said, "Every year on this date we should gather in this square for ourselves and our future and we want to give our messages from here. Because such events should never happen again in our country. We want these events to take their rightful place in our history, in the history of modern Bulgaria. Because history is memory, but history is also a lesson. After 1984, our struggle for rights and freedoms continued until it turned into unity and solidarity and turned into a political party, the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (HÖH) under the leadership of our honorary president Dr Ahmed Doğan. At that time, HÖH was working to restore our rights and freedoms that had been taken away from us, but today HÖH has become a modern and liberal party that actively participates in the political process in Bulgaria and Europe."
He emphasised that as local government representatives of HÖH, they have shown that they can achieve success in times of pandemic and crisis and have proven this over time. "Just two months ago we held local elections in our country. From this high podium I would like to thank every citizen of Ardino Municipality for supporting us in achieving this great result, we assure you that we will work hard to justify this trust. We have achieved a convincing result in these elections. We won all the mukhtars' offices except one and 25 out of 29 councillors in the new municipal council. During the election campaign I said in the meetings that the last period was difficult, but I expected this period to be better. And I was not wrong. Already in the first months, the Chairman of the HÖH Parliamentary Group and our HÖH representatives ensured that in the State budget adopted a few days ago, for the first time in a long time, funding for priority projects of our municipalities was allocated. We thank them!", he said.
On the occasion of Christmas, Izzat Shaaban greeted all Christians and wished them health, peace and prosperity. Izzat Shaaban also wished peace and prosperity to the whole world on the occasion of the upcoming New Year.
The commemoration event was attended by HÖH Vice President Assoc. Prof. Dr. Hasan Azis, MEP and ALDE Co-Chair Ilhan Kucuk, MEPs Ceyhan Ibryamov, Elvan Gürkas, Adlen Shevkheved, Sezgin Mehmed, HÖH Kardzhali Provincial Chairman Resmi Murad, Turkish Republic. Consul General of the Consulate General of the Republic of Turkey in Plovdiv Halit Islam Tarı, Provincial Chairman of the Youth Branch of the HÖH Ersin Ömer, Regional Mufti of Kardzhali Basri Eminefendi, Deputy Mayor of Kartal Municipality in Istanbul and President of Kartal Balkans Association Olcay Özgün, HÖH Istanbul Representative Fahri Vatansever. There were political prisoners from Sütkesiği region and 7 municipalities in the province, as well as political prisoners and relatives of martyrs from Turkey - Bursa, Istanbul, Çorlu, Kırklareli, Tekirdağ, İzmir and Eskişehir.
Mayors of Kardzhali, Momçilgrad, Cebel, Kirkovo, Krumovgrad and Chernouchene, heads of HÖH municipal organisations from the district, former MPs, mayors of municipal councils, members of municipal councils and mukhtars of settlements also attended the event.
During the commemoration ceremony, Ayhan Polat and Bilal Aydın, imams of Bursa Ulu Mosque, recited the Sala and Basri Eminefendi, Regional Mufti, prayed for all martyrs and veterans. Wreaths and flowers were laid in front of the fountain monument.
Güner ŞÜKRÜ-Kırcaalihaber
