The events took place just one day after the traditional commemoration of the May protests and the expulsion of 360,000 Turks from Bulgaria in the summer of 1989 and shortly before the Bulgarian elections. Muslims gathered for Friday prayers at the city's only mosque. Since the mosque can accommodate up to 700 people (while the city has 30,000 Muslims) the remaining worshipers were forced to perform their worship in the temple courtyard. The rally started one day after the protesters got permission from the municipality to organize a protest and announced the theme "protest against the loudspeakers of the mosque". According to reports, the initial idea was to protest next to the park, close to the mosque. But later, due to the request of Volen Siderov, the protesters moved right in front of the shrine.
