Every year the Turkish Presidency gives prestigious culture and art awards that recognize the life-long achievement and contributions of prominent Turkish scholars, novelists, actors, musicians and artists from different fields. While celebrating individual works and contributions, these awards also underline the vibrancy of Turkey's scholarly, cultural and artistic landscape – an area very few people know outside Turkey as the international media's primary focus is politics to the detriment of other spheres of life in Turkey.Announced on Republic Day on Oct. 29, this year's awardees are Münir Özkul in cinema, Orhan Gencebay in music, Rasim Özdenören in literature, Mehmet Genç in history, Hüseyin Kutlu in traditional arts and Cemil Meriç in the posthumous category. Each recipient represents a certain genre of work in contemporary Turkish cultural and artistic life. Each comes from different backgrounds and employs different talents and perspectives to master their craft. But each also completes the mosaic of Turkey's rich cultural landscape that extends from the traditional to the modern and the creative syntheses that emerge at the intersection of the two.Özkul is one of the most recognizable faces of modern Turkish theater and cinema. In his numerous roles since the 1950s and 60s, Özkul perfected the traditional art of Turkish theater and became a household name as a poor but disciplined, humble, dignified and funny character in various plays and movies. He remains a well-known figure to millions of Turks who grew up with his movies. Some of his plays and movies tell the funny story of the head-spinning transformation of average Turkish families in big cities. He is now an old man and receiving medical care with his family but still remembered as one of the most loveable figures of modern Turkish theater and cinema.Orhan Gencebay received the music award this year. A giant of contemporary Turkish music, Gencebay is a prolific artist and has influenced generations of musicians from traditional folk music to pop and rock. For many years, his music was banned from public TV and radio on the grounds that his "arabesk" music (not to be confused with "arabesque" in architecture) was a deviation from traditional and modern forms. Until recently, the so-called elites of Turkish modernity ridiculed Gencebay's music and discarded it as low-level music for the crowds. But his fans grew over the years and Gencebay produced some of the most memorable pieces of contemporary Turkish music. His songs tell stories of love, separation, respect, unity but also a dignified rebellion against the injustices of the modern world. He developed his unique style combining traditional folk music together with classical Turkish music, Arabic, Indian and modern pop styles. He also played in a number of movies bringing his musical talent and acting to the screen. Turkey has now overcome the "arabesk" debate and embraced Gencebay's music as a unique genre in its own right.Rasim Özdenören received the literature award this year. This is particularly fitting because Özdenören is a prominent novelist and essayist and continues to produce in his mature age. Using a simple style of writing, he is able to express complex issues in a clear and lucent way. His wide-ranging interests and literary output have earned him a serious following among Turkish intellectuals, university students, teachers and poets. He is part of the literary tradition of such prominent names as Nuri Pakdil, Cahit Zarifoğlu, Erdem Bayazit, Mehmet Akif İnan, Ali Kutlay and his own brother Alaeddin Özdenören. Last year, a TV series called the Seven Beautiful Men covered the life stories of these novelists and poets including Rasim Özdenören himself.Then we have Mehmet Genç, a prominent and highly respected professor of Ottoman history. Genç is an expert on Ottoman social and economic history and produced some of the finest works of interdisciplinary historical writing in recent years. He places Ottoman history within a world-history context and seeks to identify the major trends that shape historical processes. His books and articles on the Ottoman socio-economic history are considered among the most authoritative works in the field. Genç is also an excellent teacher and trained many talented students, many of whom have become professors in various Turkish universities as well as abroad.Hüseyin Kutlu received the traditional arts awards. After Hasan Çelebi, who received the same award in 2011, Kutlu is considered to be the most prominent calligrapher in Turkey and around the world. His forte is the classical genre of Ottoman calligraphy and he has produced some of its extraordinary examples. A prolific artist, he has held many exhibitions and penned the calligraphy design of numerous buildings including the Tokyo and Berlin Mosques outside Turkey. He continues to produce superb work in classical calligraphy and trains many students. In addition, Kutlu has dedicated his life to the revival of traditional Islamic-Ottoman arts and the exposition of its spiritual and ethical significance in the modern world.Last but not least, the late Cemil Meriç was given the posthumous award this year to recognize his special place in the history of contemporary Turkish thought. As a concerned intellectual, he has influenced generations of young intellectuals and artists in their quest to understand themselves as well as the modern world without inferiority complex towards and demonization of the West. He was a first-rate thinker with a solid anchor in his own tradition and history. He was extremely well-versed in Western literature and thought on the one hand and the late Ottoman and Republican intellectual life on the other. Died in 1987, Meriç never ceased to be a source of inspiration for seekers of knowledge and remains a widely read author today.These awardees have been chosen from among numerous artists and scholars who continue to enrich the cultural and artistic life of contemporary Turkey. The depth and breadth of their works speak volumes about the vibrancy and resilience of Turkish intellectual and artistic life in an age of globalization that prioritizes fame over craftsmanship, appearance over substance and utility over meaning.