The winners of the 31st Musa Anter and Free Press Martyrs Journalism Awards have been announced, Mezopotamya Agency reported on Wednesday. The awards, established to honour the legacy of prominent Kurdish intellectual and journalist Musa Anter, recognise the work of journalists operating under difficult and dangerous conditions. Anter, known as Apê Musa (Uncle Musa), was a respected journalist and intellectual who dedicated his life to promoting Kurdish culture, identity and freedom of expression.
Anter was assassinated on 20 September 1992, by Turkey’s JİTEM (Gendarmerie Intelligence and Anti-Terrorism Unit). He was 72 at the time of his death, in Turkey’s largest Kurdish-majority city Diyarbakır (Amed). His murder was linked not only to his journalism, but also to his influential role as an intellectual defending Kurdish rights. In 2006, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) found JİTEM responsible for his death and Turkey was fined for the crime.
Since his death, the Musa Anter and Free Press Martyrs Journalism Awards have been held annually as a tribute to his legacy and a reminder of the ongoing risks faced by journalists in Turkey.
The competition had six categories: Turkish News, Kurdish News, Video News, Photography (News Photography), Cartoons and Women’s Journalism. The awards ceremony will be held on 22 September at the Şişli Cemil Candaş Cultural Centre, İstanbul.
Onca saldırılara rağmen her seferinde daha güçlü ayağa kalkan, gücünü halktan alan Özgür Basın’dan halklarımıza davettir;
Gazetecilik ödüllerinde hep birlikte olalım, hakikati birlikte haykıralım!
Tarih: 22 Eylül Pazar
Yer: Cemil Candaş Kent Kültür Merkezi
Saat: 18.30 pic.twitter.com/RjVOdpTa11— Yeni Yaşam Gazetesi (@yeniyasamgazete) September 10, 2024
The award in the Women’s Journalism category was given in memory of Gurbetelli Ersöz, the first female editor-in-chief of the newspaper Özgür Gündem, which is closely associated with both the Kurdish struggle in the 1990s and Anter’s legacy. Reporter Rahime Karvar (writing for Kadın İşçi) won the prize for her series on the struggles of women agricultural workers.
In the Turkish News category, Cengiz Anıl Bölükbaş (T24) won the top prize for his investigative report “‘The Road to Collapse in İliç’: Cyanide Leaks, Licence Not Cancelled, Tax Debts Wiped Out, Profits Soared”. In the Kurdish News category, the award went to Silava Ebdulrehman Mihemed Emîn of the Hawar News Agency (ANHA) for her piece “A Story of Language and the Struggle for Freedom”.
Müjdat Can from Mezopotamya Ajansı (MA) won the photography prize for a powerful image of animals injured during a fire in Diyarbakır on 20 June 2024. The jury noted that Can’s photo vividly captured the devastating effects of the fire on nature and wildlife, underscoring the grave and unjust consequences of human negligence and environmental destruction.
(The second photo on this link will be embedded here)
Dilan Babat from all-female, Kurdish news agency JINNEWS received a special jury prize for her video “Where Are You From? Speak”. Halil İbrahim Çoban also received a special mention in the Cartoon category.
This year’s Honour Award is being given in memory of female, Kurdish journalists Gulîstan Tara and Hêro Bahadîn, who were killed in a Turkish drone strike in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq in August 2024. Pexşan Ezîzî, a Kurdish journalist and women’s rights activist facing the death penalty in Iran, will receive the Honour Award.
