The relics found recently in the town of Sozopol are still to be tested and proven that they belonged to St. John the Baptist, thinks top Bulgarian archaeologist Nikolay Ovcharov.

“These are relics which are believed to belong to St. John the Forerunner. I am going to watch with interest if there are any additional tests to prove their origin,” Ovcharov stated Tuesday with respect to the uncovering of the relics on the St. Ivan Island in the Black Sea by the team of Prof. Kazimir Popkonstantinov.

The doubts and criticism voiced in the media by a group of “anonymous archaeologists” believed to have included Ovcharov with respect to the prematurely sensational nature of the discovery led to an exchange of insults between him and Bulgaria's Diaspora Minister and notable historian Bozhidar Dimitrov.

The Bulgarian Archaeologists’ Association has demanded an apology from Dimitrov, who made it clear he will not apologize for referring to the Bulgarians as a “fucking people” and to the Bulgarian archaeologists as “fucking colleagues” who are envious of Popkonstantinov’s discovery. He even made further controversial remarks about the Bulgarian women.  

“The statement of Minister Dimitrov with respect to the Bulgarian archaeology have provoked primitive sentiments. The archaeology in Bulgaria is already 130 years old, and it does not deserve such insults,” Ovcharov believes.

The recent war of words between him and Dimitrov has rekindled a long-lasting conflict between the two men.

The conflict between Bozhidar Dimitrov and Nikolay Ovcharov goes back two years ago when Dimitrov claimed he had established the identity of the mysterious muralist of the 13-th century Renaissance like-images in the Boyana Church near Sofia, a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Ovcharov disputed Dimitrov’s claims, which has unleashed a war of words in which both researchers criticized each other’s work and discoveries going as far as outright insults.

Prof. Nikolay Ovcharov is perhaps the most famous Bulgarian archaeologist at present. He is known for researching the ancient Thracian settlements Tatul and Perperikon in the Rhodope Mountains and the medieval Bulgarian capital Veliko Tarnovo. Sometimes called "The Bulgarian Indiana Jones", Ovcharov has been often criticized by his colleagues for seeking to achieve media sensationalism with his public appearances and demonstrations of his finds.

Bulgaria’s Minister without a portfolio in charge of Bulgarians abroad and of state policy on religions, Bozhidar Dimitrov, is a famous historian known for his nationalist views, focusing much of his research on medieval Bulgaria, the ancient Buglarians, Macedonia's role in Bulgarian history, and relations with contemporary Macedonia.

He is a former member of the Council of the Bulgarian Socialist Party, and a former Director of the Bulgarian National History Museum. He is also known to have been a collaborator of the former State Security service of the communist regime spying most notably on the Vatican.

Dimitrov gave up the post at the National History Museum upon joining the Borisov government of the center-right GERB party in the summer of 2009 as a Minister without a portfolio in charge of the Bulgarians Abroad and of religions. Dimitrov is famous for making controversial comments - such as the one that Bulgaria may veto Turkey's EU accession.

At one point Bulgarian PM Borisov joked that he was afraid that some day, upon coming home from a visit abroad, he might find out that Dimitrov had declared war on some of Bulgaria's neighbors.

Earlier on Tuesday, the opposition Bulgarian Socialist Party to which Dimitrov used to belong demanded that he should quit politics altogether because of his scandalous statements.

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