'Respect for History Local Conservation Awards' Found Their Owners

The 18th “Respect for History Local Conservation Awards” organized by Izmir Metropolitan Municipality found their owners with a ceremony. Speaking at the ceremony where 31 applications were deemed worthy of the award, the President Tunç Soyer“Together, we will protect the future of this country and the dreams of its people. And you will see, Izmir will be the place where the Turkey of the future is built”.

Organized by the Izmir Metropolitan Municipality, the Respect for History Local Conservation Awards, which have become the symbol of sensitivity to the city's history, found their owners with a ceremony for the 18th time. 31 applications were deemed worthy of the award. At the ceremony held at the İzmir State Opera and Ballet Alhambra Stage, the architect and poet Cengiz Bektaş, who was the Chairman of the Selection Committee in 2018 and passed away in 2020, was commemorated.

Speaking at the award ceremony, Izmir Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Tunç Soyer“I would like to remind you that this project is not a competition. With the Respect for History Local Conservation Awards, we are building an immortality bridge that carries İzmir's past to the future. This award is an expression of our respect not only for history but also for the future. Because a society that does not understand its past has no future. For us, the past is not a memory to be remembered. It is a light that guides the construction of our future. That's why every value of ours awarded today is the guarantee of our future.”

If we lose our dreams, we lose everything

Expressing that they will continue to work tirelessly to build the future with the inspiration they get from İzmir's 8-year-old culture, the President Tunç Soyer“The only way we can transform life is to protect our dreams at all costs. Whether it receives an award here or not, all the values ​​of İzmir are the work of people who do not stop dreaming for this city, for the country, for our planet. Real heroes who give life two while taking one for themselves. Tailor Erdoğan Akıner in Tire, master of gusseted boots Hasan HüseyinÖter, Kadriye Yağcı in Kemeraltı and many more. That's why we never stopped dreaming and building the future with great determination. We will not give up. This is the password to bequeath to our children not only the past but also the future. Because we know that our dreams are our common country with no borders. And if we lose our dreams, we lose everything. Together, we will protect the future of this country and the dreams of its people. And you will see that Izmir will be the place where the Turkey of the future is built”.

This award ceremony is the work of great devotion.

Burçin Altınsay Özgüner, President of the International Council of Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) Turkish National Committee, Master Architect and Conservation Expert said, “It is a great honor for me to be invited to serve on the selection committee and to serve as the chairman. By 2023, it will be the twentieth anniversary of this beautiful award. It is not an easy thing to improve the qualifications of the competition and expand its scope. In countries like ours, this is a very difficult task. It takes a lot of dedication. Ensuring that cultural assets are recognized and recorded, such a rewards program is something like no other. This floating President Tunç Soyer and the previous term presidents for protecting this beautiful competition," he said.

They received their awards from President Soyer

President Soyer presented the Special Jury Prize in Life in a Historical Building to Birgül and Rakıp Kitapçı, owners of Yavuz Bookstore, Ruhşen Cingöz representing Sacide and Rüştü Sevgel Evi (Birgi), the owners of Yavuz Bookstore, and Ruhşen Cingöz, representing the Historical Environment and Cultural Heritage. He presented the Contribution to Conservation Award to Uluç Hanhan, the author of the İzmir Bay Shipwrecks, and his family.

Award-winning works

Special Jury Award in Life in a Historical Building Category
Yavuz Bookstore (Kemeraltı)

Life in a Historic Building Award
Meydan Cafe (Birgi)
Macide and İsmail Çakar House (Birgi)
Sacide and Rustu Sevgel Evi (Birgi)
Palombo Trade (Kemeraltı)
Kadriye Yagci (Kemeraltı)

Special Jury Award in the Category of Keeping Traditional Crafts Alive in Historical Places
Hasan Hüseyin Öter – Bellows Boots (Dash)

Survival of Traditional Crafts in Historical Place Award
Bayram Senver – Weaver (Birgi)
Hasan Ergenay – Bıçakçı (Kemeraltı)
Erdogan Akiner – Tailor (Dash)

Fundamental Repair Retaining Original Function Award
Ets Hayim Synagogue (Kemeraltı)
Elif Kocabıyık and Daniele Savasta House (Kemeraltı)

Contribution Award in Conservation of Historical Environment and Cultural Heritage
Uluç Hanhan – The Book of the Izmir Bay Shipwrecks
Selim Bonfil – “Jews from Izmir and Karataş Through the Eyes of Photo Gagin” Photography Project
Yaşar Ürük – A Selection of 16 Pieces from Scientific History Studies
Siren Bora – All Publications on Jewish Culture
Yılmaz Göçmen – A Hundred Years of Musical Notes
Nesim Bencoya – Sephardic Culture Festival
Saadet Erciyas – Izmir Ah! Tarık Dursun K's Neighborhoods (Book printed in Braille Alphabet)
Assoc. Dr. Yurdagül Bezirgan Arar – “City and Memory: Neighborhood District İzmir” TV Program

School Projects Encouragement Award on Historical and Cultural Heritage
Anafartalar Primary School-“My İzmir, My History, My Model” İzmir Historical Place Model Competition
Övgü Terzibaşıoğlu Anatolian High School – A Patriotic Rahmetullah from Izmir, Overshadowed
Effendi (Celebioglu)
SÜGEP Academy “An Example of Memory Space from Modern İzmir”
ITU Development Foundation “Our Hand-Weaving with Manis”
İzmir Private Çakabey Secondary School “Our Contribution to Preserving Our Cultural Heritage: Karabel Kaya
Relief Review”
UKEB Schools “If Pieces of the Past Converge Today”
Buca Bilsev College “Buca's Cultural Heritage”
Uğur Schools "Mysterious Journey of the Evil Eye Bead"
İzmir Private Turkish College Anatolian High School “Exemplary Republican Woman from İzmir Ayşe Mayda”
İzmir TED College “A Hidden Value İzmir Klazomen Quarantine Island”
Private Izmir American College “Travel-Commentary of Kemerlati”

Who participated?
Torbalı Mayor Mithat Tekin, International Council of Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) President of the Turkish National Committee, Master Architect and Conservation Specialist Burçin Altınsay Özgüner, İzmir State Opera and Ballet Director Aydın Uştuk, İzmir National Library Foundation President Ulvi Puğ, Kemeraltı Artisans Association President Semih Girgin, former Birgi Mayor Cumhur Şener, İzmir Metropolitan Municipality Deputy Secretary General Özgür Ozan Yılmaz, Metropolitan Municipality bureaucrats, headmen, jury members, award winners and art lovers.