Turkish civil society leader Osman Kavala will receive the 2025 Goethe Medal, Germany’s official badge of honor for contributions to international cultural exchange, Turkish Minute reported, citing the Goethe-Institut announcement on Tuesday.
Kavala, who is serving a life sentence in Turkey without parole on charges widely viewed as politically motivated, was selected along with Chinese linguist Li Yuan and Belgian author David Van Reybrouck.
The Goethe Medal, awarded annually since 1955, recognizes individuals whose work fosters intercultural dialogue and promotes the German language and culture abroad.
A jury led by German writer and curator Thomas Oberender praised Kavala as an “untiring initiator” who continues to create cultural space and support civil society despite his imprisonment.
Kavala founded Anadolu Kültür in 2002 to promote cultural diversity, human rights and reconciliation across Turkey and its neighbors. His organization launched projects such as the Diyarbakır Arts Center and the Istanbul-based Depo art space.
The Goethe-Institut said Kavala’s work has remained central to regional peacebuilding efforts even after his arrest in 2017 and subsequent life sentence in 2022 over his role in the 2013 Gezi Park protests.
The Goethe Medal will be presented at a public ceremony in Weimar, Germany, on August 28, the birthday of German writer Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.
This year marks the 70th presentation of the award, and the ceremony will be held publicly for the first time, alongside the Kunstfest Weimar arts festival.
Goethe-Institut President Gesche Joost said the 2025 recipients represent “courageous approaches” to shaping society through language, art and civic engagement.
Li Yuan is a professor who has modernized German-language instruction in China, and Van Reybrouck’s advocacy for participatory democracy and global historical research has influenced political discourse.
The award is seen as a symbolic rebuke of authoritarianism and a call for cultural dialogue, especially in light of Kavala’s continued imprisonment, which has drawn condemnation from the European Court of Human Rights and international watchdogs.
South African writer and activist Zukiswa Wanner, the first woman from the African continent awarded the Goethe Medal in 2020, surrendered the award in 2024 in protest of Germany’s support for Israel’s military campaign in Gaza. Wanner criticized what she called Germany’s “uncritical” stance toward Israel and said keeping the award would conflict with her values.
