Turkish cartoonist wins top prize at international competition


Sıla Eroğul, 11, came first in the International Tourism Cartoon Competition's young cartoonist category. To contribute to Turkey's recognition in world tourism and to show how tourism is seen from the eyes of cartoonists, the sixth edition of the competition is held in two main categories - adult cartoonists and young cartoonists. Pavel Gabriel Virgil from Romania ranked first in the other category. The competition received 915 cartoons from 60 countries. In the adult cartoonist category, Ukrainian artist Oleksy Kustovsky came second followed by Bulgarian artist Trayko Popov. A special award in the memory of Professor Atila Özer of the Anadolu University was presented to Iranian Heibat Ahmadi. Honorable mentions were made for Farzane Vaziritabar, Hamed Mortazavi and Alavi Alizera Pakdel from Iran, Marek Simon from the Czech Republic and Afri Diyansyah from Indonesia. To encourage young people under 17, the young cartoonist category opened this year for the first time. Honorable mentions went to Arda Yılmaz, 14, Ekim Saraç, 14, Melisa Demircan, 12, Nehir Ergüven, 9, and Yasemin Güler, 12, all participating from Turkey. In collaboration with the Association of Tourism Writers and Journalists (TÜYED) and Anatolia Tourism Research Magazine, the competition was supported by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and sponsored by Er Yatırım, Concorde De Luxe Resort, Akra Barut, Club Nena, Club Calimera Serra Palace, Beze Global, IC Hotels Green Palace and GMC Organization. The winners will receive their awards at a ceremony in Antalya's Akra Balut Hotel on April 24.