Aydin Dogan Award Presented at a ceremony in field of Turkish music

The 17th Aydin Dogan Award, which was given this year in the field of Turkish music, was presented on April 16 to Professor Nevzad Atlig and the Turkish Music Foundation. The awards have been given in the name of the founder of the Aydın Dogan Foundation and Dogan Holding Honorary Chairman Aydin Dogan since 1996. A selection committee of seven people including Professor Alaeddin Yavasca, Professor Adnan Koc, Dogan Hizlan, Erol Sayan, Fatih Salgar, Gonul Pacaci, H. Ozgen Gurbuz, Mehmet Guntekin and Serap Mutlu Akbulut decided on Feb. 7 to give this year's award to Atlig due to his services to Turkish music for the last 65 years and to the Turkish Music Foundation for its effective projects in the field of Turkish music. At a ceremony held at Istanbul's Hilton Convention Center, the Aydin Dogan Foundation President Hanzade Dogan Boyner said the foundation had been established to focus on the fields of education, communications, culture and arts. "The Aydin Dogan Award has a special place for us. Every year, we give the award to a person in the field of literature, arts, music or science for contributions in one of these fields. This year's field was Turkish music, which is said to have been forgotten and overwhelmed by globalization. But Turkish music is one of the strongest ties that bring us from the past to the future; it is our common heritage. This year the selective committee has decided to give the award to Atlig and the Turkish Music Foundation," Boyner said, congratulating Atlig and the Turkish Music Foundation. Following the speeches, the award was presented to Atlig and the chairman of the foundation, Professor Erol Belgin, by Aydın Dogan and EU Minister Egemen Bagis. The ceremony ended with a concert given by the Turkish Music Choir.