The Istanbul award ceremony was hosted by Ece Dizdar and the opening speech was made by the President of Hrant Dink Foundation, Rakel Dink.

During her speech, Dink also referred to the ones who were jailed for expressing their thoughts, and concluded her words by saluting the human rights defenders who were detained and arrested on July 5 in Turkey.

The award ceremony started with Ayşenur Kolivar’s performance of 'Da im Yusuf Orti', a traditional Hamshen song. Brenna MacCrimmon, Muammer Ketencoğlu, women from the Sayat Nova Choir, Helesa and Dalepe Nena also took the stage during the night. 

The award jury for this year was composed of, Theresa Kachindamoto, Diyarbakır Bar Association, Étienne Balibar, Christophe Deloire, Rakel Dink, Atom Egoyan, Michel Marian, Murathan Mungan, feminist author and human rights activist whom we lost last June, Şirin Tekeli.