Emine and Maside Ocak are awarded
Emine and Maside Ocak are awarded
Photograph of two members of Cumartesi Anneleri, ‘The Saturday Mothers’ – a group of human rights defenders – receiving the 2019 PEN Duygu Asena Award at a ceremony held at Tiyatro Yan Etki Maya Cüneyt Türel Sahnesi in Istanbul on 11 March 2019, two days after International Women’s Day. Cumartesi Anneleri initially began staging silent sit-in demonstrations every Saturday in Istanbul’s Galatasaray Square to protest against the murder of Hasan Ocak in 1995. The group went on to protest against the disappearance and murder of other victims, and Ocak’s mother Emine Ocak, second from right, and his sister Maside Ocak, end on the right, received this award from the Turkish Centre in recognition of their efforts to defend human rights. It was presented by Zeynep Oral, president of the Turkish Centre (2015-), second from the left, and İnci Asena, end on the left, sister of the late Duygu Asena, after whom the award is named.























