Love and Affection Were Expressed Through Cartoons in Muğla

The 6th International Cartoon Competition organized this year by Muğla Metropolitan Municipality was held with the theme "Love/Affection." The competition, which attracted great interest from all over the world, saw participation from 344 cartoonists from 47 countries with a total of 997 works.

IMPORTANT NAMES IN THE SELECTION COMMITTEE

The selection committee meeting of the competition was held on May 30, 2026, at Türkan Saylan Contemporary Life Center. In the evaluations of the Over 18 Age Category, Honorable Mentions, and the Behiç Ak Special Award, Gürbüz Doğan Ekşioğlu, Şevket Yalaz, Abdülkadir Uslu, Mehmet Selçuk, Sarkis Paçacı, Aşkın Ayrancıoğlu, Savaş Ünlü, and Şeref Demirtaş representing Muğla Metropolitan Municipality served on the committee. For the Under 18 Age Category, jury members included Gürbüz Doğan Ekşioğlu, Şevket Yalaz, Abdülkadir Uslu, Mehmet Selçuk, Sarkis Paçacı, Savaş Ünlü, and Şeref Demirtaş.

FIRST PLACE IN THE OVER 18 AGE CATEGORY GOES TO CHINA

As a result of the jury evaluations, the first prize in the Over 18 Age Category was awarded to Liu Qiang from China. The second prize went to Oğuz Demir from Turkey, while the third prize was awarded to Faruk Soyarat from Turkey. Honorable Mentions were given to Ahmet Aykanat, Ozan Soydan, and Alexander Yakovlev from Russia.

YOUNG TALENTS WERE ALSO AWARDED

Zeynep Duru Göçmen won the first prize in the Under 18 Age Category, while Yusuf Bürümlüoğlu came in second. The Behiç Ak Special Award, a special prize of the competition, was given to Tuna Ceylan from Muğla.

PARTICIPATION FROM 47 COUNTRIES

In addition to Turkey, artists from 47 countries including Germany, America, Argentina, Australia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Algeria, Czech Republic, China, Indonesia, Estonia, Morocco, France, Croatia, India, Netherlands, Iraq, Iran, Spain, Italy, Kazakhstan, Colombia, Cuba, Lithuania, Hungary, Macedonia, Mexico, Egypt, Myanmar, Uzbekistan, Peru, Poland, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Syria, Thailand, Ukraine, and Uruguay participated in the International Cartoon Competition.

GOAL TO MAKE MUĞLA A CAPITAL OF CULTURE AND ART

Muğla Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Ahmet Aras stated that art is one of the most powerful universal languages that unite societies and said the following:

"We are extremely pleased that artists from 47 different countries around the world participated in our 6th International Cartoon Competition held this year with the theme 'Love and Affection.' Cartooning is an important art form that provokes thought, encourages questioning, and brings people together around shared values. We aimed to remind universal values such as love and tolerance through the power of art via our competition. In line with our goal to make Muğla one of the capitals of culture and art, we will continue to support national and international events. I thank all the artists who participated in our competition, our esteemed jury members, and everyone who contributed, and I wholeheartedly congratulate our award-winning artists."