Presidental awards handed out

President Abdullah Gul yesterday bestowed the 2008 Presidential Grand Culture and Art Awards on novelist Yasar Kemal, architect Turgut Cansever and classical music composer Alaaddin Yavasca. Due to illness, Cansever's wife and daughter accepted the honor on his behalf. Addressing the awards ceremony held at the Cankaya Presidential Palace, Gul said that the awards express the respect of Turkish society and the state for artists' role and their position in society. "Kemal transformed our traditions into monumental works of art, Yavasca recreated the Anatolian music tradition by forging a new synthesis, and Cansever presented society with a glorious blend of the human-oriented architectural tradition of Anatolia and Islam in modern, creative forms," he added. Also addressing the ceremony, Kemal criticized the world education system, saying, "Globalization harms different cultures and languages. We will realize a multicultural society."