FBIS-EEU-89-158: Bulgaria - Pan-Turkish Propaganda Denounced

This document, dated August 17, 1989, is an intelligence report from the Foreign Broadcast Information Service (FBIS) concerning political and media developments in Bulgaria. The primary focus of the text is a summary of a 2,900-word article published in the Bulgarian newspaper RABOTNICHESKO DELO by Mikhail Yanchev. Yanchev’s article, titled 'Pan-Turkism-Imperial Passion of Turkey,' denounces what it describes as Turkish propaganda aimed at Muslims living outside of Turkey, specifically criticizing the concept of pan-Turkism and the influence of Turkish scholars and political figures like Prime Minister Ozal. The report details Yanchev's arguments regarding the 'homecoming' of Turks and the alleged manipulation of history and language to promote pan-Turkist agendas. In a separate, smaller section of the report, the document addresses a 'Warning Tip' regarding a 'Ban on Flying Saucers Made of Straw.' This section notes that a recent sensational story about an unidentified flying object landing near Moscow was a fabrication. The report explicitly states that this story was created to compensate for a 'summer shortage of interesting news.' The document concludes by noting that the danger of such 'launching areas' for fabricated stories is a concern, and it transitions into a brief report on agricultural delays in Bulgaria, specifically regarding the collection of straw from harvested fields in various municipalities.