“Guardian of Heritage” Award Plaque

Yesterday in Sofia, a special event was held under the theme “The Oldest Wonders of Bulgaria and Turkey,” organized by the Standard media, the Cultural Heritage Society, and the Embassy of the Republic of Turkey. The event took place in a packed hall and was attended by Bulgarian business leaders, politicians, cultural figures, archaeologists, and numerous representatives of Turkish companies in Bulgaria. Greetings to the forum were delivered by Slavka Bozukova, Chair of the Cultural Heritage Society; H.E. Mehmet Sait Uyanık, Ambassador of the Republic of Turkey to Sofia; Marian Bachev, Minister of Culture; and Grozdana Karadzhov, Deputy Prime Minister of Bulgaria. The organizers honored three leading prehistoric archaeologists with the “Guardian of Heritage” honorary plaque: Prof. Dr. Necmi Karul of Istanbul University – head of the major prehistoric project “Taş Tepeler” (“Stone Hills”) in the Şanlıurfa region of southeastern Turkey; Prof. Vassil Nikolov, Ph.D, Sc.D., Full member of BAS – director of the Provadia-Solnitsata prehistoric project; Assoc. Prof. Hristo Popov – Director of the National Archaeological Institute with Museum at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, and former head of the Ada Tepe archaeological project. The awardees briefly presented their research. Prof. Vassil Nikolov, Ph.D, Sc.D., Full member of BAS expressed his gratitude and drew a parallel between the early civilization of the Pre-Pottery Neolithic in southeastern Turkey (10th–9th millennium BC), centered at sites such as Nevali Çori, Göbekli Tepe, and Karahantepe, and the first European civilization, represented by sites like Provadia–Solnitsata (6th–5th millennium BC). He also spoke about his long-standing academic collaboration and friendship with Prof. Mehmet Özdoğan and Prof. Necmi Karul of Istanbul University. The event concluded with performances by a folklore dance ensemble from Edirne (Turkey) and the Nevrokop Ensemble from Bulgaria, featuring a special appearance by Nikolina Chakardakova.