Hrant Dink Award Granted to Nebahat Akkoç and Agnes Kharshiing

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International Hrant Dink Award has been granted every year since 2009 on September 15th, which is the birthday of Hrant Dink.

This year, the 11th International Hrant Dink Award has been given to Nebahat Akkoç, who has been working to raise awareness about women's rights and to struggle against male violence, and to Agnes Kharshiing, who has been defending the rights of the poor, women, children and disadvantaged groups where she lives as well as for environmental rights.

This year's Hrant Dink Award was granted to Akkoç and Kharshiing in a prize-awarding ceremony in Lütfi Kırdar Congress and Exhibition Hall in İstanbul yesterday evening (September 15).

International Hrant Dink Award also provided a platform where children's call to everyone to join the Global Climate Strike on September 20 could be expressed. Demanding the declaration of a climate emergency, children invited adults to join them on climate strike.

Awards granted by Murat Çelikkan and Ercan Kesal

Given the same award in 2018, journalist Murat Çelikkan, the director of the Truth Justice Memory Center in Turkey, granted this year's award to Agnes Kharshiing working for the rights of poor, women and chilldren in India.

"The people should start to raise its voice, help the vulnerable and support them when their human rights are violated", Kharshiing said while receiving her award and added, "It is only in this way that humanity can overcome hate. There are so many things that we can do together to bring peace to the world and fill the hearts of children with love, not fear."

Nebahat Akkoç received her award from actor Ercan Kesal. Holding a brief speech of thanks, Akkoç said, "I am receiving this award on behalf of all women who try to stand up against violence by risking all prices to pay and enable us to dream a new world with the methods that they have developed themselves while coping up with their own violence."

Osman Kavala remembered

The ceremony was presented by Ece Dizdar and Maral Ataman, the students of Hrant Çizmeciyan and Büyük Ev Ablukada took the stage.

The opening speech of the ceremony was held by İbrahim Betil, the Advisory Board member of Hrant Dink Foundation. Touching upon the people currently behind bars in Turkey, Betil was met with a long ovation when he mentioned arrested businessperson Osman Kavala.

After Betil's opening speech, the below video of "Inspirations", where "the ones who inspire humanity with what they have done against violence, pain and human rights around the world", was screened:

About International Hrant Dink Award

International Hrant Dink Award is presented every year to individuals, organizations or groups that work for a free and just world free from discrimination, racism and violence, who take personal risks for achieving those ideals, who break the stereotypes and use the language of peace and by doing so give inspiration and hope to others. By means of this Award, the Hrant Dink Foundation aims to remind to all those who struggle for these ideals that their voices are heard, their works are visible, they are not alone, and also to encourage everyone to fight for their ideals.

Each year the award is granted to two individuals; one from Turkey and one from abroad. In addition to the award itself, after an annual scanning and reviewing process, the Award Committee makes a selection of individuals, institutions, organisations and initiatives that pursue activities in line with the principles of Hrant Dink Award and announces their names to the public during the award ceremony under the title of "Sparks" or "Inspirations".

Jury members

The 2019 International Hrant Dink Award Jury consisted of the Mwatana Organization for Human Rights and Murat Çelikkan, the winners of the award last year, as well as human rights activist and former judge Albie Sachs, political scientist Ayşe Kadıoğlu, writer, actor and movie director Ercan Kesal, human rights activist Özlem Dalkıran, historian Ronald Grigor Suny, artist Sarkis, musician and political activist Serj Tankian, women's rights activist Zainab Salbi and Human Rights Foundation Chair Rakel Dink.

Award Winners

The previous winners of International Hrant Dink Award were as follows:

2009 - Journalist and writer Alper Gümüş and writer Amira Hass
2010 - Conscientious Objection Movement of Turkey and legist Baltasar Garzon Real
2011 - Journalist writer Ahmet Altan and human rights defender Lydia Cacho
2012 - Writer İsmail Beşikçi and International Memorial Society
2013 - Human rights defender Natasa Kandic and Saturday Mothers/People
2014 - Forensic specialist and human rights defender Şebnem Korur Fincancı and activist Angie Zelter
2015 - Women's rights defender Samar Badawi from Saudi Arabia and LGBTI+ Association Kaos GL from Turkey
2016 - Theresa Kachindamoto, the head of a tribe who works for the human rights of children in Malawi, and Diyarbakır Bar Association
2017 - Artist Ai Weiwei from China and lawyer Eren Keskin
2018 - Truth Justice Memory Center Director Murat Çelikkan and the Yemen-based Mwatana for Human Rights Organization

(TP/SD)