No, video does not show assassination attempt on Bulgarian Prime Minister

What’s the claim?

A video social media users are claiming shows an “assassination attempt on Bulgarian Prime Minister Ahmed Dogan” is being widely shared on Facebook and X (formerly Twitter). Archives of such posts can be found here and here.

Screenshot of the viral video shared online. (Source: X/Facebook/Screenshot/Modified by Logically Facts)

However, the claim is false. The video shows an assassination attempt on Bulgarian politician Ahmed Dogan, not the prime minister of Bulgaria. 

How did we debunk it?

At the timestamp of 0:14 seconds, the text “VIII NATIONAL CONFERENCE JANUARY 19, 2013,” written in Bulgarian, is visible on a banner in the background. 

We found the original video uploaded by The Guardian on January 21, 2013. At 0:13 seconds in the video, we can see the same text as in the viral video.

Comparison of Viral video and The Guardian video. (Source: The Guardian/Screenshot)

According to The Guardian, on January 19, 2013, during the Eighth conference of the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF) party, which was held in the Palace of Culture and Sports in Varna, Bulgaria, a man identified as Oktai Enimehmedov attacked Ahmed Dogan while he was delivering a speech.

Dogan is a leader of the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF), which represents the Turkish minority in Bulgaria. The report stated that the attacker climbed up onto the stage and aimed a gun at Dogan's head. 

Dogan escaped, and security personnel apprehended the attacker. The BBC and Politico also corroborate these details. Bulgarian newspaper Capital (КАПИТАЛ), posted multiple images from the incident.

The viral post also designates Dogan incorrectly. He is not the Prime Minister of Bulgaria. The current Prime Minister of Bulgaria is Nikolay Denkov, who was elected as Prime Minister on June 6, 2023. 

The verdict

A video from 2013 of an assassination attempt on Bulgarian politician Ahmed Dogan has been misrepresented as an assassination attempt on the Prime Minister of Bulgaria. Therefore, we have marked this claim as false.