Turkish party comes second in Bulgarian elections
In addition to the European Parliament (EP) elections, general elections were also held in Bulgaria yesterday.
With about 77 per cent of the votes counted, the Citizens' Party for the European Development of Bulgaria (GERB), led by former Prime Minister Boyko Borissov, came first in Bulgaria with 24.8 per cent of the vote.
The Turkish party Movement for Rights and Freedoms (HÖH) came second with 15.85 per cent of the vote, the pro-European Union (EU) and pro-NATO alliance Continue the Change - Democratic Bulgaria (PP-DB) came third with 14.99 per cent, and the nationalist and pro-Russian Vizrajdane (Rebirth) party came fourth with 14.99 per cent.
HÖH takes 4th place in the European Parliament elections
In the European Parliament elections, which were held on the same day as the general elections, the Turkish-founded HÖH Party ranked fourth with 12.71 per cent of the votes.
In the elections for the European Parliament, GERB in first place received 22.94 per cent of the votes, PP-DB in second place received 15.28 per cent and Vizrajdane (Rebirth) in third place received 14.56 per cent.
Participation rate 30 per cent
In both elections, the turnout rate dropped to a record low, reportedly around 30 per cent.
Bulgaria's 17-seat parliament is expected to include deputies from the top six political parties, including the Turkish party HÖH.
FEP Party in Greece ranked first in Western Thrace
In the European Parliament elections in Greece, the Friendship, Equality and Peace Party (FEP) ranked first in two of the three provinces in Western Thrace.
With the counting of almost all the votes, the FEP Party, supported by the Western Thrace Turks, became the first party with approximately 36 per cent of the votes in Rhodope and 27 per cent in Xanthi.
It was noteworthy that the FEP Party received almost 2 times more votes in Xanthi than the New Democracy Party which won in almost the whole of the country.
