Ragip Zarakolu, a prominent Turkish human rights campaigner and book publisher, received an Armenian state award on Tuesday for what President Serzh Sarkisian called a "remarkable contribution" to international recognition of the 1915 Armenian massacres in the Ottoman Empire as genocide.
Zarakolu was among more than two dozen mostly Armenian scientists, writers and artists chosen for annual presidential awards given by Sarkisian. He arrived in Armenia with his wife and daughter to accept the prize less than two months after being released from prison pending trial on controversial charges of aiding the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in Turkey.
"His activities have been an exceptional mission," Sarkisian said at the awards ceremony held in the presidential palace in Yerevan. "His struggle for conveying historical truth to the Turkish society is a brilliant example of high civic stance and courage."
Armenian News
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