A military tattoo marked the 120th anniversary of the Ilinden-Preobrazhenie Uprising on Wednesday evening.
It was held at the Monument to the Unknown Soldier in Sofia, and attended by Prime Minister Nikolay Denkov, who chairs the National Committee to commemorate the anniversary, President Rumen Radev, who reviewed the troops and delivered an address, and Vice President Iliana Iotova.
Addressing those gathered, Prime Minister Denkov said August 2 is a symbol. It is the date when Bulgarians in Macedonia and Thrace proved that the idea of a democratic republic in which Bulgarians, Turks, Jews will be equal in every respect had not been hanged with the revolutionary Vasil Levski in 1873. This idea lent meaning and gave courage to thousands of fighters who sacrificed their life in the name of freedom and equality among all peoples.
President Rumen Radev said the Ilinden-Preobrazhenie Uprising became the most massive expression of the Bulgarians' will for freedom. The uprising transcended its time because its results went far beyond its immediate political and military objectives.
Radev also said that guarantees for the constitutionally enshrined equality of Bulgarians in the Republic of North Macedonia and the preservation of the cultural and historical heritage there will make the legacy of the Ilinden fighters of 1903 come true. This cannot fail to happen because the citizens of both Bulgaria and the Republic of North Macedonia revere that legacy and the ideals of the uprising, the President said. United Europe is based on the same ideals and principles, "that is why I believe that where there is a common history, an aspiration for dialogue, trust and understanding, there is also a common European future," he said.
The uprising broke out on August 2, 1903 for the liberation of the Bulgarian population in Macedonia and Eastern Thrace, which after Bulgaria’s liberation in 1878 remained within the territories of the Ottoman Empire under the Berlin Treaty.
/MT/
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