Galatasaray Sports Club announces its support for the 2009 Çanakkale Art Prize – a joint initiative of the Gallipoli Memorial Club (Sydney) and Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart University.

Galatasaray Sports Club, home of Australian and former Liverpool star Harry Kewell, will be the patron of the 2009 Çanakkale Art Prize, taking the opportunity to promote the warm and enduring friendship between Turkey and Australia.

The 2009 competition will be launched at a media conference called by Adnan Polat, President of Galatasaray Sports Club, and the Galatasaray players.  Organisers expect a record number of paintings for the 2009 Çanakkale Art Prize by the close of entries on 20 July 2009. 

Media Conference:  13.00, 11 April 2009, GS Sport Facilities Florya

The Australian Consul in Çanakkale and Chair of the Çanakkale Art Prize Organising Committee, Peter Rennert, welcomed the launch of the 4th year of the 10 year competition.  Consul Rennert said “The friendship between Australia and Turkey is an example to all nations.  Our first contact was as adversaries on the bloody battlefields of the Gallipoli Peninsula in 1915.  The Çanakkale Wars and Gallipoli Campaign became part of our shared history and our respective cultures and national identities.  However, adversaries of the past became close friends and the Çanakkale Art Prize has become part of that friendship”.

Consul Rennert added that the involvement of Galatasaray gave special meaning to the 2009 Çanakkale Art Prize competition.  Galatasaray, which suffered heavy losses during the Çanakkale Wars, is now home to an Australian football legend.  The Club is building on the friendship between Australia and Turkey through their example.

The Gallipoli Art Prize, the Australia counterpart to Çanakkale Art Prize, also shares the same themes of loyalty, respect, love of country, bravery and mateship, recognition of the extraordinary vision of Ataturk and the special friendship between our two nations.  On completion of the project for the Centenary of the Canakkale Wars, the twenty winners and other selected paintings will be exhibited in Turkey, Australia and New Zealand.

Çanakkale Art Prize Jury members include Prof. Rahmi Aksungur, Prof. Doc. Ali Akdemir, Prof. Doc. Süleyman Saim Tekcan, Bedri Baykam and Peter Rennert.  The Prize is also supported by Işık University, Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University and CASIAD.

Further details about the Prize can be found at www.gelibolumemorial.net

For Detailed Information and Interview Request
Australian Consulate Çanakkale (Nurdan Kulluk): 0 286 218 17 21-102-0 533 380 3635
Çanakkale Art Prize Organization Committee Secretary (Özge Büyük): 0 506 590 70 85