DECLARATION

Dear representatives of media,

On the third day of the holy feast of Ramadan Bayram was committed another one act of aggression and violence based on Islamophobia. The assault was extremely boldly, unscrupulously andimpudently. It is more worrying the fact that the act was done by young women towards one helpless and defenseless family in the center of cosmopolitan European Sofia. Everything this is because they were wearing headscarves which for centuries were folk costumes of the Balkan people.  This act is extremely worrying, and not only the Bulgarian Muslims but also all other ordinary citizens, professing different religious values are disgusted and shocked with such an inhuman behavior.  The Muslim Denomination – Grand Mufti’s Office strongly condemns this fascist act of violence based on hate towards Islam. Direct responsibility for this criminal act have politicians, political fractions, media, journalists, academics who incite ethnic and religious hatred in our country in order to win political, economic and financial benefits. This is a result of the impunity of those who 6 years ago attacked those who prayed in front of the only mosque in Sofia and set fire to the prayer rugs. This blasphemy probably is related to the fact that a person who is an obvious national populist is the chair of the body at the Council of Ministers that is in charge of the ethnic policy. In a social environment where far nationalists pull old women at the boundary, Islamophobic attacks are a normal result. This act is not the first of this kind despite of the many signals and warnings of Grand Mufti’s Office. What happened don 27^th of June will remain in the modern Bulgarian history as one black spot and it will be a sticking point on the road to the Bulgarian EU Presidency. This attack is not a hooligan act but a more worrying phenomenon to which the state must say stop!. If the country and the competent authorities do not make adequate and concrete decisions for the termination of the Islamophobic wave in Bulgaria the Muslim community is deeply worried that there could be set fire to the ethnical rug from the smoke of which to be affected all peaceful citizens of the Republic. This story was once experienced on the Balkans but Grand Mufti’s Office will not be a part of such a scenario. As till now, it will work also in the future for the prosperity and the welfare of the Bulgarian people. We from Grand Mufti’s Office call upon first of all the Bulgarian society to stand against the offensive of national-populism and Islamophobia. We do believe that all political parties, civil society organizations media, journalists, academics and citizens will make efforts to stop this aggression which seized the Bulgarian people. The departure from the European values and democratic norms will contribute to the increase of the gap between the different religious and ethnic groups. If Europe and in particular Bulgaria wants to be big and strong it must fight with Islamophobia in the same way as it fights against other segregations.