site.btaSliven to Host BTA Conference on 150th Anniversary of April Uprising

A conference dedicated to the 150th anniversary of the 1876 April Uprising will be held at the BTA National Press Club in Sliven on Thursday. It is the third in BTA's series of events aimed at sparking discussions to mark the anniversary of the uprising.

The inaugural forum was held in Ruse (on the Danube), followed by a conference in Vratsa (Northwestern Bulgaria).

The conference will be opened by BTA Director General Kiril Valchev. Journalist Boyko Vassilev will be the forum's moderator. The Rector of the St Kliment Ohridski University of Sofia, Prof. Georgi Valchev, will make a special appearance.

The conference will also be attended by Sliven Mayor Stefan Radev and Archimandrite Stefan from the Metropolitan of Sliven. Among the participants will be Deputy Mayor of Sliven for Economic Development Stoyan Markov, the Director of the Regional History Museum in Sliven, Assoc. Prof. Nikolay Sirakov, and the curator of the Revival department at the museum, Viktoria Mihneva. The Kotel Historical Museum will be represented by curator Ivan Ivanov.

The discussion will also include Hristo Kolev, Chairman of the Stoil Voivoda Foundation and Mayor of the village of Neykovo, Georgi Georgiev, historian and teacher at the Professional High School of Economics, students from the Young Revivalists Club, journalist Dobroslav Ivanov, the Director of the Hristo Botev Primary School in Sliven, Denko Delchev, with pupils from the school, as well as pupils and a teacher from the Vasil Levski Primary School.

Similar forums will be organized at the BTA national press clubs in Veliko Tarnovo and Panagyurishte, which together with Vratsa and Sliven used to be centres of the four revolutionary districts during the 1876 uprising.

BTA's series of conferences are part of a joint initiative with Bulgarian National Television (BNT) and Bulgarian National Radio (BNR), called “14 Centuries of Bulgaria in Europe”, aiming to commemorate anniversaries in Bulgarian history that are significant for European history through to 2032, when 1,400 years will be marked since the establishment of the first Bulgarian state in Europe - Old Great Bulgaria.