The 2013 International Hrant Dink Award was presented to laureates Saturday Mothers / People from Turkey and Natasa Kandic from Serbia, on September 15, 2013, with a ceremony organized by the Hrant Dink Foundation held at the Lütfi Kırdar Exhibition Center in Istanbul.
The award ceremony began with a song by Hayko Cepkin. The awards ceremony was hosted by Olgun Şimşek. In her speech, one of the members of the Award Committee Ayşe Kadıoğlu pointed out to the fact that the award winners were identified by an international jury in a two-round selection process, out of the nominees who were nominated before the April 15th deadline, just like in previous years and that the award winners common characteristic is their courage to remember, to face the history and to struggle for peace.
At the ceremony, Bogazici Jazz Choir, in addition to Turkish and English songs, also sang an Armenian song, Gomidas’ Yel Yel.
Before the awards presentation, Inspirations, a group of people and institutions from Turkey and from all corners of the world who multiply hope for the future with the steps they take, were saluted with a film acknowledging their achievements. The Inspirations of 2013 included Khassan Baiev from Chechnya who carried out medical operations for the injured on both sides of the conflict in the First and Second Chechen-Russian wars of 1994-96, The Landfill Harmonic Orchestra in Paraguay, Israeli graphic designer Ronny Edry, the Army in Reality – Panagn Iraganum from Armenia, Invisible Children, Inc. in the USA which has brought awareness to the atrocities carried out in Central Africa in one of the world’s longest-standing conflict zones, by the Lord’s Resistance Army, and from Turkey Emek Bizim, İstanbul Bizim Platformu, the Emek Movie Theater Belongs to Us, Bremen Mızıkacıları Perküsyon Grubu, the Town Musicians of Bremen Percussion Group, established by the Beyond Disabilities Association, Hakikat Adalet Hafıza Merkezi, the Truth Justice Memory Center, Haydarpaşa Dayanışması Platformu, the Haydarpaşa Solidarity Platform, Karadeniz İsyandadır Platformu, theBlack Sea Revolts Platform, the Taksim Platform, the Gezi Park Library, the Volunteer doctors who provided medical support in the Gezi Park, and a group of women who came together on the seventh day of the Gezi Resistance to paint over or modify homophobic and sexist slogans sprayed and painted on walls around Taksim Square, İstiklal Street and Gümüşsuyu.
The award statue was presented to Saturday Mothers / People from Turkey by jury members Rakel Dink and Alexander Cherkasov, representing the International MEMORIAL Society presented the award to Hanım Tosun, İkbal Eren and Emine Ocak from the Saturday Mothers / People.
The second laureate of the 2013 International Hrant Dink Award, Natasa Kandic was presented her award by İsmail Beşikçi and Ali Bayramoğlu. Kandic stated that she was honoured by the award named Hrant Dink who was a fighter to build relations between Turkish and Armenian people on the basis of dialogue, peace and empathy, and a world without discrimination, racism and violence. She said that she related the awards with two notions, the true experience at the time of wars and the responsibility of the individuals at the time of transitions.
