Bulgaria marks 118 years since the Ilinden-Preobrazhenie uprising

The traditional celebrations dedicated to the 118th anniversary since the outbreak of the Ilinden-Preobrazhenie uprising were held in the Popovi Livadi area near Gotse Delchev, Southern Bulgaria, on August 2.

The event was attended by Bulgaria’s Vice President Iliana Yotov. She said that any attempt for stealing parts of Bulgarian history, to divide the heroes into "ours and yours, foreign and own", is an insult to their memory.

According to Yotova, the textbooks on literature and history in our secondary schools do not pay enough attention to the Ilinden-Preobrazhensko uprising.

She noted that "we cannot be angry with anyone when we do not teach our own children patriotism and history."

Yotova added that "we will not accept the language of hatred and our firm position is already heard in Europe." According to her, more archives should be read.

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Ilinden-Preobrazhenie uprising of August 1903 was an organized revolt against the Ottoman Empire, which was prepared and carried out by the Internal Macedonian-Adrianople Revolutionary Organization. The name of the uprising refers to Ilinden, a name for Elijah's day, and to Preobrazhenie which means Transfiguration. The revolt lasted from the beginning of August to the middle of October and covered a vast territory from the eastern Black Sea coast to the shores of Lake Ohrid.

The uprising is celebrated today in both Bulgaria and North Macedonia as the peak of their nations’ struggle against the Ottoman rule

During the uprising in Macedonia and Thrace, more than 26,000 rebels fought 289 battles against 350,000 Turkish troops. 994 revolutionaries were killed. 201 villages were set on fire. 4,694 civilians were killed. 25,000, residents of Macedonia and Edirne, fled to the Principality of Bulgaria.