"homer Award" Goes To Editor Personnely Sued By Erdogan Over Syria Trucks Coverage

- Within the annual Troy International Festival in Aegean province of Çanakkale, Homeros Science, Culture and Art Award was given to editor-in-chief of Cumhuriyet daily Can Dündar, that President Erdoğan has demanded a life sentence after the daily’s coverage showing Turkish security forces while discovering weapons being conveyed to Syria on a truck belonging to the state intelligence agency.

Under the theme of “We live together”, at the 52th festival at Troy Ancient Site Çanakkale Mayor Ülgür Gökhan of Republican People’s Party gave the award to Dündar on August 10. Mayor Gökhan made a speech at the ceremony, and explained that the reason Dündar was chosen because he has been a journalist who has never gave up on speaking up for peace and living together.

“People keep asking why this prize went to Can Dündar. I am responding from this ancient site that had been destroyed for 9 times in the past. Because he is a journalist who has never stopped telling the truth, even if he had been driven from nine villages… Because he is doing journalism in a country where being a journalist telling the truth is heroised” said Gökhan, having referred to Dündar’s words “The honour of justness keeps people alive; it is the disgrace of silence that kills them”.

Dündar made a speech and thanked the festival for the prize, also for promoting peace, having referred to the recent terror acts in Turkey .

“I receive this award on a very special day. We are frankly living the ‘bloody Friday’ today. Receiving a peace award just on the day of war's return, is weird, honoring and hopefull for me ” Dündar said while receiving the award.

"The news we submitted on trucks was important on journalism basis. But more than that, the way that we defended our story was important. I was not alone at that stage. We defended it alltogether with the friends in the newspaper" Dündar said, speaking about the his coverage showing Turkish security forces while discovering weapons being conveyed to Syria on a truck belonging to the state intelligence agency.

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