Winners of Ayşenur Zarakolu Freedom of Expression and Thought Awards Announced

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Winners of 16th Ayşenur Zarakolu Freedom of Expression and Thought Awards have been announced. The awards will be given with the ceremony to be held today (May 9) at Human Rights Association (İHD) İstanbul Branch at 7 p.m.

İHD İstanbul Branch Award Committee announced the winners:

Ayşe Çelik (Teacher Ayşe), in the name of all who say “Don’t let children die, don’t let mothers cry”,

Selahattin Demirtaş, in the name of all imprisoned MPs and elected people,

Onur Hamzaoğlu, in the name of doctors who are arrested and facing pressure for demanding peace

Murat Sabuncu, in the name journalists who are under pressure,

Sezin Uçar, in the name of all imprisoned lawyers,

Boğaziçi University students, in the name of all imprisoned students,

Özgürlükçü Demokrasi Newspaper, in the name of newspapers and broadcasting organizations, which are closed or whose operations are halted,

Hasan Ceylan, in the name of human rights defenders who are in prison or under pressure.

About Ayşenur Zarakolu

Ayşe Nur Zarakolu (9 May 1946 – 28 January 2002) was an author, publisher and human rights advocate. She was co-founder, with her husband Ragıp Zarakolu, of notable Turkish publishing house Belge and, in the 1980s, became the director of book-distribution company Cemmay, the first woman in the nation to hold such a position.

Zarakolu's publications brought her into frequent conflict with Turkish press laws; in 1997, the New York Times identified Zarakolu as "one of the most relentless challengers to Turkey's press laws".

Issues Zarakolu helped publicize in Turkey include the Armenian Genocide and human rights of Kurdish people in Turkey. Imprisoned multiple times for her publications, she was designated a prisoner of conscience by Amnesty International and her legacy continued to face legal challenge in Turkey after her death.

She has received multiple awards and honors for her work and the Human Rights Association of Turkey (Turkish: İnsan Hakları Derneği İHD) bestows the Ayşe Zarakolu Freedom of Thought prize in her honor. (Source: Wikipedia)

(AS/TK)