1989 Revisited: 9th November, Bulgarian leader Todor Zhikov forced to resign

Within the Bulgarian Communist Party there were those who looked to the reforms Gorbachev was pursuing in the USSR. In May 1989 Zhikov had ordered that the ethnic Turk population of Bulgarian be expelled. In addition to international condemnation this was also the source of considerable unrest within the CP.

9 November, just after he returned from a trip to China, (former Foreign Minister) Mladenov and his colleagues persuaded Zhivkov to resign (under threat of execution), which he did the next day.[3] Mladenov was then elected to Zhivkov’s old posts as general secretary of the party and chairman of the State Council. The latter post was equivalent to that of president.

However protests followed, similar to those in the DDR and the position of the BCP weakened.