At a conference to mark Ataka’s third birthday, Siderov dwelt on the subject of Ahmed Dogan, leader of the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF), which has had a share of power since 2001 as part of a succession of ruling coalitions.

It was no surprise that Siderov addressed the issue of the MRF given that it has been a key theme in all of his public statements since the formation of Ataka in 2005.
The MRF represents mostly Muslim Bulgarians of Turkish descent, making it predictably a “favourite” subject for both Ataka and Siderov.

As MRF leader, Dogan has been Siderov’s “usual suspect” for all the troubles Bulgaria has been experiencing since the days when the country came under Ottoman rule in 1396.

For Siderov, Dogan and the MRF have always meant one thing: Turkish interference in Bulgaria. His anti-MRF messages paid off well for Siderov in 2005 when Ataka became the fourth-largest group in Parliament just three months after the party was formed.

Back then, it was simple for him. All Siderov had to do was to speak out loud on all those things that many Bulgarians who had been crushed by the burden of Bulgaria’s painful transition from communism to democracy had on their mind. No other politician would address the subject, given Bulgaria’s European Union aspirations. At first surprised by Siderov’s “hate speech”, the media and the public got used to his frequently disparaging remarks about the Roma and the Turks, and Siderov quickly embraced the image of Bulgaria’s sole defender against foreign influence.

One of Ataka’s most memorable media stunts was in Varna in 2006, when Bulgaria was commemorating the life of its most loved national hero, Vassil Levski, who fought against the Ottoman Empire in the hope of forming a republic that would see all religions equal before the law. Ataka supporters set fire to fezzes and shouted “Down with the MRF”. The same year, Siderov was ordered by the Sofia regional court to refrain from inciting discrimination. On March 13 2008, Siderov was once again sentenced by the same court for his statements against the Turks and the Roma in Bulgaria, when he said that they were responsible for the “genocide Bulgarians were subject to during the centuries of Ottoman rule”. Human rights group the Bulgarian Helsinki Committee lodged both court actions.

That was why Siderov’s April 17 statement came as a surprise.

He once again addressed Dogan and the MRF, but in a much different manner. He did not say anything about the MRF’s “anti-Bulgarian nature” or how “corrupt it is”. Instead, he issued a polite invitation to Dogan to meet him for a debate on the future of Bulgaria. “Dogan is a real factor in Bulgarian politics and he should take his place in a direct conversation on Bulgaria’s future, the same as any other party,” Siderov said.

Siderov saw himself as the initiator and moderator of a roundtable to find the right formula for governing Bulgaria. It was the first time that Siderov had mentioned Dogan’s name outside of the context of anti-Bulgarian slogans.

Siderov showed that he had finally started believing in opinion polls. Previously, he had consistently alleged that those surveys had been “fixed” by the ruling parties.
On April 17, he said that he had no illusions that Bulgaria could be ruled by just one party.

“Enough with the wars, let’s fight for the Bulgarian nation and its revival,” Siderov said.

Siderov quoted polls that said that Ataka would be one of the parties represented in Parliament after the 2009 elections.

One such survey was published by party mouthpiece Ataka newspaper on April 29.

“Ataka is the third-largest political party with 5.3 per cent of public approval,” the newspaper said, quoting an Alpha Research poll.

First with 25.7 per cent, according to the survey, were the Citizens for the European Development of Bulgaria (abbreviated as GERB in Bulgarian) led by Sofia mayor Boiko Borissov and second, with 16.3 per cent, was the Bulgarian Socialist Party, currently the majority partner in the coalition Government. Fourth was the MRF with 4.4 per cent.
Siderov had more surprises for journalists when he said that he wanted to stop his fights with the media. “In this fight I was addressed with great spite,” he said.
So far no official reaction has come from Dogan and the MRF to Siderov’s invitation to debate.

Given what Siderov has said about Dogan and the MRF in the past three years, it could take some time before Dogan would be prepared to share a place at Siderov’s roundtable.

Extracts from Siderov’s public speeches made in the past three years on the subject of Ahmed Dogan and the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF)

The opening session of Parliament, August 2005:
“As a result of the numerous forgeries, breaches of the law and crimes, the ethnic, anti-Bulgarian and unconstitutional party the MRF managed to change the result of the elections and took third place, moving Ataka to the fourth. The Turkish party is not wanted by Bulgarians.”

Siderov’s presidential campaign message to the town of Samokov in the Rila mountain, October 2006:
“I will ban the MRF as illegal; I will demand the $10 billion leva that Turkey has owed Bulgaria since the 1913 war; I will ban news in Turkish from the airwaves of the public (broadcaster) Bulgarian National Television.”

Siderov on the upcoming municipal elections in the town of Kurdjali, which has a large population of Muslim Bulgarians. June 2007, Ataka newspaper:
“In Kurdjali, the land that has always been Bulgarian, this ancient Thracian land, the message for the elections should be just this: a common front against the MRF. We will cut out the cancer called the MRF and Bulgaria will become a normal country once and for all.”

Siderov’s speech on the occasion of Bulgaria’s national day March 3, the anniversary of when the country was liberated from Ottoman rule, March 3 2008:
“We say – let’s put an end of the new Turkish rule of Bulgaria. This should be the year when we start our liberation from the new Turkish yoke and from the Turkish rule of the MRF. This year will be the beginning of the end of MRF presence in power. We call on all parties in Bulgaria to take an oath that they will no longer rule together with the MRF. If they do, they will become traitors to the Bulgarian people. They should take the oath now, not after the elections.

“You have to ask every politician who comes to you whether he intends to rule together with the MRF. Every politician should know that if he forms a coalition with the Turkish party, which is a successor of a terrorist organisation that killed women and children, he could never call himself a Bulgarian politician. Let us cry it out loud: ‘Down with the MRF.’

“We are the guarantee that no matter what government will be formed tomorrow, we will set out our conditions, the first of which is to keep the MRF out of power.
“Ataka will participate in the next elections alone because it is strong enough and confident. We have our tactical relations with the opposition at the moment but these contacts follow our principles and we will never go beyond them.

“I want a new monolith Bulgaria, I want an end to the theft, I want a new policy on incomes and a revision of all the privatisation deals and I want a stop to the construction of mosques, even in areas where Muslims live. 

“I am against Turkish being the language people are asked to speak in the Agriculture Minister (the minister is from the quota of the MRF). I don’t want people to speak Turkish in the city halls in Kurdjali, Razgrad, Turgovishte, Shoumen and Silistra. I want everyone of you to say this every day – ‘Down with the MRF’.”