Jailed Turkish businessman and civil society leader Osman Kavala has been awarded the 2025 Goethe Medal, Germany’s official badge of honor for contributions to international cultural exchange, the Bianet news website reported on Friday.
Kavala, who is serving a life sentence in Turkey without the possibility of 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.
Kavala’s wife, Professor Ayşe Buğra, accepted the medal on his behalf during a ceremony in Weimar, Germany, on August 28, the birthdate of German writer Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, and delivered his acceptance remarks.
In his message from prison, Kavala praised the universal value of human dignity, recalling Goethe’s role in shaping the concept. “The Goethe Medal will be a symbol reminding me of the meaning of human dignity and strengthening it,” he said, adding that literature allows people to share the emotions and sensitivities that make such concepts resonate.
“External assaults do not inevitably destroy a person’s sense of dignity. Even in the harshest of circumstances, this sense can continue to empower individuals, giving them the strength to resist pressure and oppression,” he added.
Kavala also noted the long-running cooperation between Goethe-Institut and Anadolu Kültür, the civil society organization he founded in 2002, saying the medal honored not only himself but also his colleagues who carried on the work in his absence.
Kavala founded Anadolu Kültür as a not-for-profit cultural institution in 2002 when individuals from various fields of the art world, the business world and civil society came together to support the production and sharing of culture and art in cities across Turkey and abroad. 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 peace-building efforts even after his arrest in 2017 and subsequent life sentence in 2022 over his role in the 2013 Gezi Park protests.
This year marks the 70th presentation of the Goethe Medal, with past Turkish recipients including former prime minister Sadi Irmak, archaeologist Ekrem Akurgal, linguist Şara Sayın and exiled writer Doğan Akhanlı.
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 attracted condemnation from the European Court of Human Rights and international watchdogs.