Ethnic groups

On the occasion of 100 days since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, Sofia Municipality has set up a special installation - a blue canvas, on which anyone who wishes can leave a yellow flower, a symbol of empathy for Ukrainian citizens.

A 100-meter blue canvas with yellow roses and toys has been placed on the capital's Slaveykov Square.

Some 100 Yezidi families, who plan to repatriate to the southeastern province of Mardin from Europe after four decades, have found themselves in a "road battle" with Assyrians living in the nearby village.

Hungarian President Katalin Novak ruffled diplomatic feathers in Romania on Sunday when she posted a picture of herself climbing a mountain peak in Alba County in the centre of Romania standing by a stone painted in Hungarian colours.

Housing rent prices in the Mediterranean province of Antalya have skyrocketed from 2,500 to around 10,000 Turkish Liras (from $170 to nearly $680) due to high demand from Ukrainians and Russians, Antalya Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ATSO) executive Mustafa Ayanoğlu has said.

Athletes from the Ukrainian Paralympic team have been stranded in Istanbul for weeks as they failed to return to their countries after the Russian invasion started.

The athletes arrived in Istanbul on Feb. 14 for training and were supposed go back to Ukraine in March.

As the war broke out, they could not return to the country and spent some 10 days at a Turkish athlete's home.

Adi Mulahalilovic, the former pianist of the popular Yugoslav-era band Hari Mata Hari, has joined an initiative bringing together musicians from 50 countries to record an original composition in support of Ukraine.

More than 7,000 Ukrainians entered Bulgaria through three border crossings with Romania from midnight on February 24th to the morning of February 28th. Only four of them have applied for protection, Lora Lyubenova, a spokeswoman for the General Directorate of Border Police, told BTA.

A total of 10,624 Ukrainian citizens entered Romania through the 6 border crossings.

This was announced by Romanian Interior Minister Lucian Bode. He specified that 3600 of them have passed through the country on the way to Bulgaria and Hungary. Of the current 7,000 or so Ukrainians, only 11 have sought asylum in the country, Bode said.

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The Directorate for Cooperation with the Diaspora and Serbs in the Region

Ecumenical Patriarch Vartholomeos has sent a letter to Turkish Culture and Tourism Minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy denouncing the ministry's move to desecrate one of Eastern Orthodoxy's most sacred shrines, the monastery of Soumela in Trebizond, Turkey, by granting permission to film a television ad with frenzied young people dancing as a DJ on screen plays music.