site.btaYasar Ali Gunes, Ivan Milushev Open Exhibition at BTA Press Club in Ankara

A joint exhibition of artists Yasar Ali Gunes and Ivan Milushev titled Closeness opened at the BTA National Press Club in Ankara on Wednesday. 

The exhibition was opened by Bulgarian News Agency (BTA) Director General Kiril Valchev and Bulgarian Ambassador to Turkiye Angel Cholakov. 

The event was organized by the Bulgarian Embassy in Turkiye and BTA.

The opening ceremony was attended by senior officials, including representatives of diplomatic missions in Turkiye.

Valchev said that when it opened the National Press Club in Ankara earlier this year, BTA set itself the goal of bringing the peoples of Turkiye and Bulgaria even closer together.

"It is fair to say that encouraging people to live together in peace and prosperity is one of the modern dimensions of the holiday that Bulgaria celebrates today: the National Awakeners' Day, when we pay tribute to those whose novel ideas, perseverance, patience and courage have led Bulgarian people.

The inauguration took place in the presence of Bulgarian Vice President Iliana Iotova and distinguished Turkish guests on February 2 - the exact day of Atatürk's return from Bulgaria to Turkiye 108 years ago. He is known to have said that 'getting along well with our neighbors and all states is the essence of Turkish politics.' This is also an aspiration in present-day Bulgarian politics.

BTA is working to enhance mutual understanding and closeness between Bulgaria and Turkiye through the dispatches of our correspondents in Ankara, Nora Cholakova, and in Istanbul, Nahide Deniz, as well as with the daily exchange of information between the Anadolu Agency and BTA.

We also do it with events like today's - the opening of the exhibition Closeness of works by artists Ivan Milushev and Yashar Ali Gunes. The artists themselves are an example of closeness, as both were born in Bulgaria, graduated from the National Academy of Arts in Sofia and their works can be seen in galleries and collections around the world.

But the works that we present here together with the Bulgarian Embassy in Turkiye, have more than just a closeness in life: we see an artistic closeness as well. Because, if I may use Ataturk's words again, through their works they 'look at the world with an open heart, full of pure feelings and friendship'.

It is with such an open-hearted view of the world, full of pure feelings and friendship, that nations can overcome what has distanced them from each other in the past and build their modernity in proximity. Turkiye set an example with the establishment of a modern republic a hundred years ago and Bulgaria congratulates it for that with a series of events during these festive days. Some will be held here, at the BTA National Press Club in Ankara, which on November 7 will host a meeting on 'Culture and Education: a Bridge between Bulgaria and Turkiye' before the opera galas of the Sofia Opera and Ballet. I want to borrow the motto of the galas to conclude my brief remarks: Bulgaria congratulates Turkiye: Happy centenary of the Republic!," BTA Director General said. 

Ambassador Angel Cholakov said that it was symbolic that the exhibition was opened on November 1 when Bulgaria celebrates the National Awakeners' Day. 

Both Yasar Ali Gunes and Ivan Milushev were born in Bulgaria in 1956 and graduated from the National Academy of Art in Sofia.

Milushev was born in Blagoevgrad (Southwestern Bulgaria). He has staged more than 40 solo exhibitions in Bulgaria and abroad and has participated in international exhibitions with oil paintings and watercolours. He has been the director of the art gallery of his native town since 2013.

Yasar Ali Gunes was born in the village of Gabrovo. He has won many awards, including international ones, for painting and sculpture. He has taught sculpture at Dokuz Eylul University of Izmir for nearly 30 years.