ISTANBUL. – The Hrant Dink Award, which the international Hrant Dink Foundation presents every year since the death of Hrant Dink, was presented this year, too.

The award ceremony was held on Sunday evening in Istanbul, informs Agos Armenian bilingual weekly of Istanbul.     

Renowned Istanbul-Armenian rock musician Hayko Cepkin delivered opening remarks at the event.

At the end of the event, the panel of judges, who were from Turkey and also invited from abroad, announced this year’s recipients of the Hrant Dink Award. They are the Saturday Mothers of Turkey—human rights defenders who have been gathering every weekend since 1995 to demand information on their loved ones who disappeared in 1990s—, and Serbian human rights activist Nataša Kandić.

To note, the annual Hrant Dink Award is presented to courageous public activists, or journalists, who fight for human rights and freedom of speech.     

Hrant Dink was the founder and chief editor of Istanbul’s Agos Armenian bilingual weekly, who was gunned down in 2007 in front of his office building.