Daily News staff win journalism awards

ANKARA - Hürriyet Daily News

Daily News reporter Vercihan Ziflioğlu (R) and photo journalist Selahattin Sönmez (L) received their awards from the Contemporary Journalists Association.

Hürriyet Daily News journalists Vercihan Ziflioğlu and Selahattin Sönmez received awards from the Contemporary Journalists Association (ÇGD) at a March 26 ceremony marked by the main opposition leader’s criticism of restrictions on the media.

Ziflioğlu, a reporter at the Daily News’ Istanbul office, was given a special award in the name of journalist Behzat Miser, who passed away in 2010.

She was honored for a story revealing that an investigation into the 2010 murder of Catholic Bishop Luigi Padovese could not make headway due to a lack of support from the slain cleric’s family.

Sönmez, a photographer at the daily’s Ankara bureau, received the main photography award for a picture that captured a student being silenced by security guards during a protest against Energy Minister Taner Yıldız at Ankara’s Gazi University.

Speaking at the ceremony, Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu praised the award-winning journalists while denouncing restrictions and pressure on the media.

“Democracy in Turkey is faced with a very serious deadlock. The media is not free. This is a very tough period,” he said.

“I congratulate the journalists who keep up their work. They are the bravest people in society for trying to do something despite all sorts of pressure.”