Culture and Tourism Minister Ertuğrul Günay has said his ministry will give all the support it can to "Troya" (Troy), the newest show by the Anadolu Ateşi (Fire of Anatolia) folk dance troupe, which premiered this week in İstanbul.

The Culture and Tourism Ministry will do its best to get the show staged abroad, Günay said, in comments he made to reporters after watching a performance of the show Wednesday night at the İstanbul Show Center. Günay said the ministry considered the fact that the show depicted a story from Turkish history to be very important. "I would love to see our artists turn this [ancient story] into a universal project and create an occasion that would promote Turkey around the world. This is why we, as the ministry, will give all the support we can to this project," the minister said. Noting the opening of the Year of Turkish Culture in Russia earlier this week, the minister said the Presidential Symphony Orchestra (CSO) along with singers and stage actors successfully represented Turkey in a performance of Fazıl Say's "Nazım Hikmet Oratorio" on Tuesday night in Moscow. "Of course we [should] appear before the world with the improvements in our economy, but more importantly with our achievements … in cultural and artistic fields," Günay said. The play features regional folk dances from all across Turkey.

"Troya" saw 10,000 people at its first two performances on April 8 and 9, according to a written statement the troupe released on Thursday. The show, under art director Mustafa Erdoğan, depicts over 3,000 years of history in Anatolia, taking Homer's legend of Troy as its starting point. The show is the outcome of a seven-year effort and is slated for performances in various provinces of Turkey throughout summer.