The 2022 Grand Presidential Culture and Art Awards Ceremony was held, in pomp and glory, to honor the best names in Türkiye's culture and arts arenas.
In his speech at the ceremony, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan stated that they consider it their duty to support everyone and all artists who enrich the country's cultural heritage.
"We will continue to support everyone who draws their inspiration from these lands and produces works for the benefit of the country, nation and all humanity. I hope the century of Türkiye will be the century of art and our artists," he added.
Turkish singer Ajda Pekkan, who is usually dubbed a "superstar," was deemed worthy of the award this year; while Yılmaz Erdoğan, Ayla Algan, Süleyman Saim Tekcan, professor Hayreddin Karaman and Yavuz Bülent Bakiler were honored for their contributions to cinema, theater, painting, science and literature, respectively.
On the other hand, Varol Yaşaroğlu bagged the award for cartoon animation, Ömür Akkor and Yunus Emre Akkor were awarded for their contribution to gastronomy sciences, Tan Sağtürk for dance-ballet, Hilmi Şenalp for architecture, Sevan Bıçakçı for crafts and Gülbün Mesara for traditional art.
Aşık Veysel Şatıroğlu, the 20th century's greatest minstrel, whose legacy continues to ceaselessly spread in Türkiye and all over the world through his universal themes crafted simply yet masterfully, upholding Anatolian folk poetry and music, was deemed worthy of the loyalty award this year.
Continuing his speech, Erdoğan said, "We strive for a Türkiye that does not discriminate between its artists but embraces them all. Just as we respect Necip Fazıl, who died with a conviction sentence, so do we honor Nazım Hikmet."
Reminding of the offer to relocate the grave of Ahmet Kaya, who was lynched for his desire to sing in Kurdish, to Türkiye, Erdoğan added, "We also put an end to the ideological bigotry that has, for many years, condemned our culture-arts community to monotony and hollowed our cultural life. This is the reason why Türkiye's culture-art arena has become richer in the last 20 years, and the branches of art that were ignored before are successful today."