PM president culture and arts award to Altan

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan yesterday presented the Culture and Tourism Ministry's High Culture and Arts Award to columnist Cetin Altan in a ceremony held at Istanbul's Aya Irini (Hagia Eirene) Museum. Speaking at the ceremony, Culture and Tourism Minister Ertuğrul Gunay said that as a columnist, Altan had always supported the will of the nation and democracy. Gunay also said Altan getting his award from Erdogan himself was very meaningful. Also speaking at the ceremony, Erdogan praised Altan for his efforts to strengthen Turkish democracy and stressed the importance of freedom of expression, adding that in recent years Turkey has taken remarkable steps to strengthen this right.