President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan awarded the recipients of the 2023 Grand Presidential Culture and Art Awards in a ceremony held on Wednesday.

In his speech, the president said: "We see cultural and artistic activities as a cement that unites society with all its segments. We strive to embrace all perspectives in our country without confining ourselves to narrow viewpoints. We see societies worldwide delicately balancing the richness they possess in various fields, from architecture to literature, from many parts of the world. Wherever we’ve taken responsibility, we’ve endeavored to preserve ties with the past while working toward development and growth."

"We are investing heavily not only in technology but also in culture, arts and other spheres of life. We need to confront the reality of ideological factions that homogenize the worlds of culture, arts and academia," he added.

The recipients of the award were announced as Süleyman Uludağ in the field of science, Ali Birinci in the field of culture, Emel Sayın in the field of music, Ilhami Atalay in the field of painting, Hasan Aycın in the field of caricature, Sami Şekeroğlu in the field of cinema, Refik Anadol in the field of digital art, Sinan Genim in the field of architecture and Nazan Bekiroğlu in the field of literature.

The Loyalty Awards were given to Attila Ilhan, Barış Manço, Ismail Hakkı Uzunçarşılı, Muhsin Ertuğrul and Samiha Ayverdi.