Osman Okkan is being awarded the Honorary Prize of the Turkey-Germany Film Festival in Nuremberg. As an investigative journalist, radio and television editor, as well as a director and producer of documentary films, Osman Okkan has received numerous accolades for his work—and not least for his cultural and social engagement. Yet, all these awards and recognitions are, in truth, a rebuke to the authorities who once publicly denounced him as “the most dangerous terrorist,” stripped him of his Turkish citizenship, and pursued legal action against him—a slap in the face. Okkan continues to advocate uncompromisingly for peace and reconciliation, human rights, democracy, and equality in both Turkey and Germany. He is regarded as a pioneer of international projects and encounters, fostering equal cultural exchange and dialogue on an equal footing. In recent years, he has dedicated his awards to political prisoners in Turkey, a challenge to the authorities in his homeland: by doing so, he highlights that the injustices he suffered are still ongoing and that thousands of people are politically persecuted or imprisoned in Turkey today.

Born in 1965, Osman Okkan came to Germany as a student sixty years ago, and through his life and work, he became part of the migration history between Turkey and Germany. Over these sixty years, as an academic, journalist, and human rights activist, he has tirelessly worked to bring different communities together and encourage dialogue among them.

In 1993, as an important step in this direction, he co-founded the KulturForum Türkei Deutschland. For this platform, he enlisted two eminent writers, Yaşar Kemal and Günter Grass, as honorary presidents—figures regarded in their home countries as “the conscience of society.” Internationally renowned composers Zülfü Livaneli and Mikis Theodorakis were recruited for the Turkish-Greek Friendship Initiative, of which he became spokesperson. For many years, he led the Journalist Program of the KulturForum, facilitating meetings and visits for journalists from both countries. This program enabled encounters at all levels, from grassroots communities to the chancellor’s office, and regularly included representatives of marginalized minorities.

Even before his documentary Mordakte Hrant Dink won the Golden Globe at the World Media Festival, Okkan founded the Hrant Dink Forum in Cologne, with Rakel Dink as its honorary president. This forum, aimed at fostering rapprochement between Turkish and Armenian societies, continues its work, particularly through events on the anniversary of Hrant Dink’s assassination. The Support Fund for Political Prisoners, co-founded by Osman Okkan, continues to provide vital assistance to political prisoners under challenging conditions, with support from democratic organizations and trade unions.

In 2022, the KulturForum Türkei Deutschland in Cologne organized an international symposium on Yaşar Kemal, and in 2023, it held a major event commemorating the 30th anniversary of the Forum’s founding, coinciding with the 100th anniversary of the Republic of Turkey. Distinguished figures from Germany, Greece, and Turkey participated. This event, held in the Grand Hall of WDR Cologne, brought together countless people committed to a democratic, free, and peaceful republic and in solidarity with those still persecuted or imprisoned for their political beliefs on the 100th anniversary of the Turkish Republic.

For me, as a journalist and cultural enthusiast, Osman Okkan remains a person, cultural mediator, and human rights activist who has initiated and shaped immensely important intercultural and media projects. He has been and continues to be a behind-the-scenes architect of a network that brings together people from the fields of art, media, science, and politics—also including trade unionists and members of civil society—networks that he began building sixty years ago and continues to nurture.

Thanks to Osman Okkan and the KulturForum, Dark Waters, composed by Fuat Saka—the world’s first symphony on flight and migration, one of the most important topics of our time—was realized. Initially performed in several European cities, it will be staged in February 2025 in Hatay, one of the epicenters of the 2022 earthquakes in Turkey, with artists from Turkey, Germany, and Greece participating.

Osman Okkan lives in Cologne and has been unable to enter Turkey for some time. Yet he continues to realize projects that focus on cultural dialogue, human rights, and democracy in both Turkey and Germany. At the same time, he is preparing a Turkish-European platform during the KulturForum leadership transition.

As a documentary filmmaker, he is currently working on a new project about eyewitnesses from the first generation of migrants, particularly Turkish pioneers in Germany’s trade union movement, such as Yılmaz Karahasan and Ülkü Schneider-Gürkan of IG Metall.

At the award ceremony of the Turkish Writers in Europe, it was said: “We are fortunate to live together in this world! This world, and Germany, are better thanks to your work! We are glad you are with us, Osman Okkan!”

On the occasion of the Honorary Prize in Nuremberg, I can only repeat this:

It is a true blessing to have you with us, Mr. Okkan…

Gürsel Köksal
Journalist, Frankfurt