Turkish embassy in Sofia

Two Bulgarian policemen have been suspended from duty following a Turkish lorry driver's complaint that one of them slapped him as he refused to bribe them.

Muhsin Kazan, 52, was driving his lorry back to Turkey from Germany last week when two Bulgarian policemen stopped him near the country's capital Sofia for "improper passing."

Bulgaria's ambassador to Turkey, Angel Cholakov, was summoned to an emergency meeting at the Turkish Foreign Ministry late last night for talks.

Gendarmerie and Police in front of the Turkish Embassy in Sofia, Protecting it from Protests

The distortion of the words of the Ambassador of the Republic of Turkey to the Republic of Bulgaria Hassan Ulusoy and the subsequent resonance are a cause for disappointment. This is said in a position of the Turkish embassy in Bulgaria, after a diplomatic scandal started on Saturday because of an ambassador's statement during an event with Prime Minister Boyko Borisov.

A protest over the statements by the Turkish Foreign Minister is taking place outside the Turkish embassy in Sofia, Focus News Agency reports. The protest staged by IMRO (VMRO)- Bulgarian National Movement party began at 08:30.

Bulgarians with dual citizenship - Bulgarian and Turkish - as well as Turkish citizens living in this country can vote in the national referendum on constitutional amendments in Turkey as of today, BNR said.

Bulgaria's new ethnic-Turkish party, Democrats for Responsibility, Freedom and Solidarity, DOST, denied having links to the Turkish government and confirmed its pro-NATO and pro-EU orientation on Tuesday.

The Bulgarian foreign ministry has no information on Turkey having imposed bans on two key figures of the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (DPS) from entering the country.

Turkey has reportedly banned two politicians from an ethnic Turkish Bulgarian party, the Movement for Rights and Freedoms, MRF  -  its honorary chairman Ahmed Dogan and MP and media mogul Delyan Peevski - from entering the country, Turkish media reported on Thursday.

Ahmed Dogan, the honorary chairman of Bulgaria's Movement for Rights and Freedoms (DPS) party and lawmaker Delyan Peevski have been barred from entering Turkey, several media outlets have reported.