ANKARA

The National Press Club of the Bulgarian News Agency (BTA) in the Turkish capital of Ankara held a meeting on "Culture and Education – A bridge between Bulgaria and Türkiye" before a Sofia Opera and Ballet performance at the media fraternity gala on Tuesday.

The meeting hosted by BTA was attended by Bulgaria's Ambassador to Ankara Anguel Tcholakov, BTA General Manager Kiril Valchev, Trakia University Rector Prof. Dobri Yarkov, Sofia Opera and Ballet Director Plamen Kartalov, Orchestra Conductor Sunay Muratov, Bulgarian National Radio (BNR) General Manager Milen Mitev, Sofia Opera and Ballet soloists Gabriela Andreeva and Martin Iliev, Balkan Immigrants Economic Research and Social Assistance Foundation (BISAV) General Manager Yuksel Yozkale and other guests.

At the meeting, Ambassador Tcholakov said culture is the element that connects the two countries and touched upon the importance of the "Tosca" opera, which will be performed on Wednesday to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Türkiye's founding.

Tcholakov recalled that Bulgaria organized 15 events in Türkiye to commemorate the republic's 100th anniversary, the first of which was a calendar prepared for the republic's founder Mustafa Kemal Ataturk's days in Sofia, Bulgaria's capital.

BTA General Manager Valchev also noted that the proceeds of the "Tosca" opera, which will meet art lovers in Ankara, will be donated to the regions affected by the Feb. 6 twin earthquakes in Türkiye's southern provinces, which he also described as the "disaster of the century."

Referring to the Bulgarian-Türkiye relations, Valchev referred to the words of Ataturk and said, "Ataturk said in 1931 that he would never forget the beautiful moments he had in Bulgaria (that) he would always be a friend of the Bulgarian people, and that Bulgaria and Türkiye should always remain friends."

Valchev emphasized that this opera was specifically chosen for the 100th anniversary of the republic and noted that it was one of Ataturk's favorite operas.

Sofia Opera and Ballet will stage its first opera performances in the country as part of a tour titled "Bulgaria Celebrates Türkiye: Happy Centennial of the Republic."

The event, within the scope of the tour organized by the Bulgarian Embassy in Ankara with the support of the Bulgarian Ministry of Culture, will be held under the patronage of Bulgarian President Rumen Radev's wife, Desislava Radeva, and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's spouse Emine Erdogan.

One of Ataturk's favorite operas

Sunay Muratov, a Turkish-Bulgarian dual citizen, is the opera's musical director, under the direction of Plamen Kartalov.

The cast includes Radostina Nikolaeva as "Floria Tosca," Kostadin Andreev as "Mario Cavaradossi" and Ionut Pascu as "Baron Scarpia."

Tosca is known as one of the favorite operas of Ataturk, who frequently watched the performances of the Bulgarian Opera Ensemble when he was a military attache in Sofia between 1913 and 1915.