President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan attended a literary award ceremony Friday in Istanbul in memory of Turkish poet and philosopher Necip Fazıl Kısakürek.

Necip Fazıl was a poet, novelist and activist known for his contributions to Islamic thought in Turkey. He passed away in 1983.

Speaking at the Necip Fazıl Kısakürek Awards for Literature and Research, Erdoğan said it was not easy to win an award that carries the name of Necip Fazıl.Prof. Dr. Teoman Duralı (L) and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan

Erdoğan congratulated Prof. Dr. Teoman Duralı who was awarded the Prestige Award, Ahmet Murat who was awarded in the poetry category, Necip Tosun in the story-novel category, Ahmet Özalp in the opinion-research category, Betül Nurata and Emre Ergen in first work of art category, and Bosnian Cemalettin Latic in the international award category.Minister of Culture and Tourism Numan Kurtulmuş (L) and Betül Nurata

Erdoğan praised Kısakürek and said he had devoted his life to the "great Turkey" ideal.

He said his government has been working to realize the revolution which Necip Fazıl waited for his whole life.

"If we are exposed to constant attacks from inside and outside today, if we are dealing with defamation… the reason is that we do not give up on our fight."