The meeting “Culture and education – a bridge between Bulgaria and Turkey” will be organized today in the national press club of BTA in Ankara.

Today, the meeting “Culture and education – a bridge between Bulgaria and Turkey” will be organized in the national press club of BTA in Ankara.

The event is organized by BTA. The meeting will take place before the staging of the opera gala performance “Tosca” of the Sofia Opera and Ballet in Ankara and Istanbul (November 8, 2023 and November 11, 2023). The gala tour of the Sofia Opera and Ballet is entitled “Bulgaria congratulates Turkey: Happy Centenary of the Republic!” and is under the patronage of Mrs. Desislava Radeva, wife of the President of the Republic of Bulgaria, and Mrs. Emine Erdogan, wife of President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The meeting “Culture and education – a bridge between Bulgaria and Turkey” is planned to be attended by the director of the Sofia Opera and Ballet Academician Plamen Kartalov, as well as the rector of Thrace University – Stara Zagora, Prof. Dr. Dobri Yarkov. The event will be opened by the general director of BTA Kiril Valchev, it is planned to be attended by the ambassador of Bulgaria H.E. Angel Cholakov.

The tour of the Sofia Opera in Turkey with the performance “Tosca” by Giacomo Puccini is the idea of ​​the Bulgarian Embassy in Ankara and personally of Ambassador Angel Cholakov with the support of the Bulgarian Ministry of Culture.

The event will be entirely charitable in nature, with the financial proceeds being donated to help the areas in Southeast Turkey affected by the devastating 7.7 and 7.8 magnitude earthquakes in February this year.

The performance “Tosca” by the opera director Plamen Kartalov will be conducted by Sunai Muratov, who has dual citizenship (Bulgarian and Turkish). The main roles are played by Radostina Nikolaeva (Floria Tosca), Kostadin Andreev (Mario Cavaradossi), Ionuc Pascu (Baron Scarpia).

The choice of the work is related to the figure of the visionary, reformer and friend of Bulgaria, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, who during his period as a military attache in Sofia (1913-1915) was actively involved in the cultural life of the Bulgarian capital and was a regular spectator of the performances. of the Bulgarian Opera Society. “Tosca” was among Atatürk’s favorite operas.