site.btaBulgaria Commemorates 139th Anniversary of April Uprising

Bulgaria Commemorates 139th Anniversary of April Uprising


Klissoura/Koprivshtitsa, May 1 (BTA) - Observances were held
Friday in the towns of Klissoura and Koprivshtitsa to
commemorate the 139th anniversary of the April Uprising.

Organized by a revolutionary central committee, the uprising
against Ottoman rule broke out on April 20 (old style) 1876.
Although unsuccessful, it was the highest point of the National
Liberation Movement and achieved its political aim, drawing a
strong response from Western Europe and Russia which a year
later started a war with Turkey that resulted in the liberation
of Bulgaria.

Celebrations traditionally take place in the centres of the
armed struggle for independence.

Attending were National Assembly Chair Tsetska Tsaceva, MPs,
state officials, mayors and military personnel.

In her address Tsacheva said: "There are places, where shame has
 never set a foot. They are the foundations of history and an
embodiment of heroism."

Over 100 volunteers reenacted the 1876 events in a tradition
dating from 1900.

Later in the evening President Rosen Plevneliev will attend a
tattoo in the town of Panagyurishte, another hotspot during the
uprising, where he will take the salute of military units and
will deliver a speech.