A group of artists and NGO activists, many of them supporters of the Zaev SDSM party and his Colored Revolution, wrote an open letter against the expected appointment of musician Arben Beni Sakiri as the new director of the MKC youth cultural center.

Sakiri was also an outspoken supporter of Zaev, throughout the Colored Revolution, and has allegedly set his sights on the MKC center as the reward for his troubles. The signatories, on the other hand, support the current director Ruse Arsov and laud his contributions.

Mr. President of the Government of the Republic of North Macedonia, we strongly urge you not to include MKC in your “purge”. Don’t destroy what works. This is not negative propaganda against Mr. Arben Sakiri, who is already publicly celebrating his coming appointment. We have full respect for him as a musician, but it is clear that he doesn’t have the necessary experience to manage this institution. Any change in MKC would constitute destruction of one of the brightest continuous institutions in Macedonia, a brutal blow against the fragile tissue of the independent cultural scene with unimaginable consequences for the years to come, a scene which can be your best ally in the coming accession to the European Union, the open letter adds.

Signatories are circulating it online under the hashtag don’t touch MKC – #НеГоЧепкајтеМКЦ.