The 31st annual Musa Anter and Martyrs of Free Press Journalism Awards were presented at a ceremony held at the Cemil Candaş Cultural Centre in İstanbul on Sunday, celebrating the commitment of journalists to freedom of expression in the face of continued repression. The event honoured the legacy of Kurdish journalist Musa Anter, who was assassinated in 1992, and other journalists who have died in the line of duty.
The hall was adorned with banners reading ‘The free press cannot be silenced’ alongside photos of Musa Anter and Gurbetelli Ersöz, giants of journalism who gave their lives in the fight to bring the truth to the people. Representatives from political parties, unions, civil society groups and women’s organisations joined journalists in the tribute. The ceremony began with a moment of silence, followed by chants of slogans Jin, Jiyan, Azadî (Woman, Life, Freedom) and Şehit Namirin (Martyrs are Immortal).
Speaking on behalf of the Yeni Yaşam newspaper, journalist Kibriye Evren paid tribute to Anter’s son, Anter Anter, who died two days before this year’s award ceremony, on the anniversary of his father’s assassination. She went on to draw attention to the role of the free press in giving voice to Kurdish suffering. “We do not practise neutral journalism. We take the side of the oppressed, the people and women. Attacks have always happened, but they did not and will not make us give up,” she stated.
Tuncer Bakırhan, co-chair of the Peoples’ Equality and Democracy (DEM) Party, described Musa Anter’s life as a reflection of the Kurdish people’s experience. “His story is full of death, massacres and disappearances, but it is also a story of truth and struggle,” he added. Bakırhan also recounted the tragic story of the Yaşa family in Diyarbakır (Amed), whose commitment to selling the Kurdish newspaper Özgür Gündem led to multiple members of the family being murdered. “We will never give up,” he said.
Later in the ceremony, the Kurdish politician Gültan Kışanak spoke about the heavy price paid for truth in journalism. “The tradition of the free press has taught me the value of truth, which is as precious as the martyrs we honour today,” she remarked.
The awards ceremony concluded with prizes in various categories.
Cengiz Anıl Bölükbaş (T24) won the Turkish News Award for his report İliç’te göçüğe giden yol: Siyanür sızdırdı, ruhsatı iptal edilmedi, vergi borcu silindi, kârlarını katladı (The road to collapse in İliç: Cyanide leaked, [but] the licence was not revoked, the tax debt was erased, profits multiplied). His report detailed the catastrophic environmental impact caused by cyanide leakage at the İliç gold mine due to government negligence.
Dilan Babat (JINNEWS) received the Jury Special Award for her visual piece Konuş Sen Nerelisin? (Speak, Where Are You From?), which threw a spotlight on the 31 March local election in Şırnak (Şirnex), in which Turkish soldiers being bussed to polling stations from outside the region were challenged by an elderly Kurdish man.
Silava Ebdulrehman Mihemed Emîn of the Hawar News Agency (ANHA) won the Kurdish News Award for her report Çîrokek sûdwergir a ziman û têkoşîna azadiyê (A story of language and the struggle for freedom), which focussed on preservation of the Kurdish tongue and the broader fight for freedom.
Müjdat Can (Mezopotamya Agency – MA) won the Photography Award for his photo showing the effects on livestock of wildfires between Diyarbakır (Amed) and Mardin (Mêrdîn), illustrating the devastation caused by the fires to the environment and to animals.
Rahime Karvar (Kadın İşçi) won the Women’s Journalism Award for her series documenting the struggles of female agricultural workers, drawing attention to the harsh conditions and gender-based challenges these workers face.
Gulîstan Tara and Hêro Bahaddîn received posthumous Honour Awards for their dedication to journalism, both journalists having been killed in a Turkish drone strike in Iraqi Kurdistan a month before.
