By Gizem Nisa Demir
SOFIA, Bulgaria (AA)—Serdar Karagoz, Anadolu's president and CEO, on Monday attended the 128th anniversary events of BTA, Bulgaria's national news agency, as well as the award ceremony for the 52nd "Balkan Athlete of the Year" poll, which brought together Balkan news agencies, including Anadolu.
Romanian swimming champion David Popovici won the "Balkan Athlete of the Year" award through voting.
Nikola Jokic, a Serbian basketball player, came in second, while Bulgarian weightlifter Karlos Nasar took third place. Turkish national basketball player Alperen Sengun, who plays for the Houston Rockets in the NBA, was also included in the top 10 ranking.
All top 10 athletes received plaques, and Sengun's plaque was presented to Karagoz.
- ‘Both news agencies want Bulgaria-Türkiye relations to develop on every platform’
Speaking at the ceremony, Karagoz expressed his satisfaction at attending the “Balkan Athlete of the Year” awards and said: “BTA is one of Anadolu’s partners both in the European Alliance of News Agencies (EANA) and likewise in the Association of Balkan News Agencies (ABNA-SE). Both news agencies want Bulgaria-Türkiye relations to develop on every platform.
“In this sense, by supporting each other, they have adapted their content accordingly. In this sports survey, athlete Alperen Sengun was also awarded in Bulgaria.”
Karagoz emphasized that the Bulgarian News Agency has focused on journalism activities in the Balkans for 128 years, adding: “A lot has changed over 128 years; Türkiye and Bulgaria are focusing not on the past but on the future. We discussed with BTA what could be possible regarding Türkiye-Bulgaria partnerships in the future.
“I was invited to Sofia to celebrate BTA’s 128th anniversary. I wish them many more years and thank them.”
- ‘Anadolu and we share a partnership that goes back many years’
BTA Director General Kiril Valchev noted that the “Balkan Athlete of the Year” ceremony, organized since 1973, was held this time on Feb. 16, marking BTA’s founding day. He underlined that Anadolu’s participation in the voting carried special meaning and value for them.
Highlighting that the poll represents one of the best examples of cooperation among Balkan news agencies, Valchev said: “Anadolu and we share a partnership that goes back many years, and in the past four years this cooperation has intensified and gained strength on an institutional basis.
“Thanks to the agreement we signed, a daily and regular news flow is ensured between the two agencies. In addition, the BTA Bureau in Ankara constitutes an important pillar of our cooperation.”
The ceremony concluded in the evening with a dinner reception organized to celebrate BTA’s 128th anniversary. Former BTA directors general, representatives of Balkan news agencies, guests, and numerous members of the press attended the event.
- Anadolu CEO tours BTA archive
During his visit, Karagoz also toured the BTA archive, where he examined various materials and met with Desislava Sevova, head of BTA’s Reference Department. He observed the process of digitizing photo negatives in the agency’s photo archive.
Valchev and Sevova showed Karagoz several bulletins and thematic files, including documents dating back to 1923, the year the Republic of Türkiye was proclaimed.
Karagoz reviewed content related to Türkiye, newspaper pages, and bulletins, and also visited BTA’s new newsroom, multimedia center, and National Press Club. Praising the archive, its materials, and organizational structure, Karagoz examined photographs displayed in the main archive storage under the theme “yesterday and today.”
Sevova also presented him with a 1959 “Sport” file, containing mostly basketball-related content, noting that Karagoz is also a board member of the Turkish Basketball Federation.
Karagoz said he was impressed by the photographs and added that BTA’s thematic files contain comprehensive information related to Türkiye.