Tuesday, October 06, 2026
Ödül Töreni Yapıldı (Girne 2026) Award Ceremony Held (Kyrenia 2026) At the Ceremony Held at the Kyrenia Municipality’s New Service Building
2026 CARTOON AND HUMOR SERVICE AWARDS PRESENTED
Awards were presented to the artists who won the top prizes in the 15th
International Cartoon Contest—traditionally organized by the Kyrenia
Municipality and the Cypriot Turkish Cartoonists Association as part of the
25th International Olive Festival and Olive Humor Festival 2026—as well as to
the recipients of the 2026 Golden Olive Humor Service Awards.
OLIVE FESTIVAL CANCELLED THIS YEAR DUE TO NATIONAL MOURNING;
ONLY THE AWARDS CEREMONY TOOK PLACE...
A nationwide period of mourning was declared—resulting in the cancellation of
musical venues and festive events—after a passenger ship traveling between
Kyrenia and Mersin sank off the coast of Kyrenia on August 30, 2026, causing
the drowning deaths of 18 of the 267 passengers on board. In accordance with
this decision, the traditionally held International Olive Festival was
cancelled, and only a modest awards ceremony was organized for the cartoon
contest.
A SOMBER AWARDS CEREMONY...
The awards ceremony, held on September 30, 2026, at the Kyrenia Municipality’s
New Service Building, was attended by a large gathering of guests. Among the
attendees were Kyrenia Mayor Murat Şenkul; Eskişehir Metropolitan Municipality
Mayor Ayşe Ünlüce—who was in Kyrenia to offer condolences regarding a recent
maritime tragedy—and Adana Metropolitan Municipality Deputy Mayor Güngör Geçer,
along with their accompanying delegations.
SPEECHES AND AWARD PRESENTATIONS...
Prior to the awards ceremony, speeches were delivered by Kyrenia Mayor Murat
Şenkul, Cypriot Turkish Cartoonists Association President M. Serhan Gazioğlu,
and General Secretary Hüseyin Çakmak. Following the speeches, awards were
presented to the cartoonists who won prizes in the 15th International Cartoon
Contest, as well as to the artists deemed worthy of the 2026 Golden Olive Humor
Service Award. The awards were presented by Kyrenia Mayor Murat Şenkul,
Eskişehir Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Ayşe Ünlüce, Adana Metropolitan
Municipality Deputy Mayor Güngör Geçer, Kyrenia Municipal Council Member and
Head of the Culture and Arts Committee Ziya Egemen Sencer, Cyprus Turkish Cartoonists
Association President M. Serhan Gazioğlu, General Secretary Hüseyin Çakmak, and
Kyrenia Municipality Culture and Arts Department Head Aysun Çelik.
SPEECHES BY AWARD-WINNING CARTOONISTS
The guest cartoonists attending the ceremony delivered meaningful speeches
regarding the event. The artists who attended the ceremony by invitation and
received awards are: Ömer Çam (Turkey), Alessandro Gatto (Italy), Jugoslav
Vlahovic (Serbia), and—from Cyprus—Arif Albayrak, Dolgun Dalgıçoğlu, Hüseyin
Özel, and Mustafa Kemal Kasapoğlu.
INTERNATIONAL CARTOON EXHIBITION ALSO OPENED...
Following the award ceremony, an exhibition was opened featuring the winning
works from the 15th International Cartoon Contest, which saw the participation
of 148 cartoonists from 44 countries with a total of 586 entries. The cartoon
exhibition, hosted at the Kyrenia Municipality’s New Service Building, will be
open to visitors until October 16, 2026.
INTERNATIONAL OLIVE HUMOR FESTIVAL
ORGANIZING COMMITTEE
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