As an EU applicant country, the Republic of Turkey spares no effort for presenting a successful application. One of the strategies is the active participation in Europe's cultural dialogue.

In this connection, in November 2005 the first retrospective exhibition “Picasso in Istanbul” was opened by Picasso's grandson Bernard Ruiz-Picasso in the Sakip Sabanci Museum.

On February 4-5, Sabanci Holding, the organizer of this unique for Turkey event, invited journalists from Bulgaria and Romania to see the exhibition, which was put up with the support of the Sabanci family. I was among the very few Bulgarian journalists who had the unique chance of actually seeing Pablo Picasso's art in this exhibition, comprising 135 works – paintings, sculptures, ceramics, textile and photographs, kindly provided by private collectors and famous museums, including the Picasso museums in Barcelona and Paris, as well as by the Foundation “Almine y Bernard Ruiz-Picasso para el Arte”.