Hürriyet presents 39th Golden Butterfly awards at ceremony

ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News

Kıvanç Tatlıtuğ

The 39th Altın Kelebek (Golden Butterfly) awards were presented on June 11 at a ceremony held at Istanbul’s Haliç Congress and Exhibition Center. The ceremony was attended by the stars of Turkish television. The awards, presented by daily Hürriyet every year in 26 categories, determine the best of the music and television world through votes sent in by Hürriyet readers via the Internet.

Speaking at the opening of the ceremony, Hürriyet CEO Vuslat Doğan Sabancı said, “Butterflies are the world’s most elegant and beautiful creatures. But unfortunately their life is too short, only 24 hours.

But I have consolation that they have big effects. A small flutter become huge and create hurricane in America. The Golden Butterfly is something like this. I welcome you to the valley of golden butterflies, who challenge against being a reptile.”

The big winner of this year’s awards was comedy TV series “Yalan Dünya,” which is aired on Kanal D. It won the award for Best Screenwriter (Gülse Birsel), Best Comedy Actress (Gupse Özay), Best Comedy Actor (Bertu Küçükçağlayan), and Best Comedy TV series.

Among the other winners of this year’s awards were Mehmet Ali Birand (Best Anchorman), Nazlı Tolga (Best Anchorwoman), Kıvanç Tatlıtuğ (Best Actor), Meryem Uzerli (Best Actress), “Muhteşem Yüzyıl” (Magnificent Century – Best Drama), Esra Erol (Best Female Presenter), and Acun Ilıcalı (Best Male Presenter).

Turkish pop star Tarkan received the “Song of the Year” award for his hit “Yakar Geçerim.” He could not attend the ceremony but another superstar of Turkish pop music, Ajda Pekkan, received his award for him.

Alongside Hızlan and Sabancı, other attendees of the ceremony were Doğan Holding Honorary Chairman Aydın Doğan’s wife Sema Doğan, President of the Executive Committee of Doğan TV Arzuhan Doğan Yalçındağ, Doğan TV Holding CEO İrfan Şahin, Hürriyet Editor-in-Chief Enis Berberoğlu, and Hürriyet columnist Doğan Hızlan, along with many guests from business and art circles.

Speaking about the ceremony, Hızlan said he had been following the awards from the beginning. “It has become a nice tradition to support artists. I hope it will continue for many years.”

Timur Savcı, the producer of the TV series “Muhteşem Yüzyıl,” received his award from Yalçındağ, while Erol took her award from Berberoğlu.