Kyiv hosted an award ceremony for the finalists of the fifth Ukrainian-Crimean Tatar literature contest Qırım inciri (Crimean Figs).

The ceremony began with a moment of silence in honor of the fallen defenders of Ukraine. In their opening remarks, the hosts noted that during the fifth Qırım inciri competition, the jury received 268 entries: 237 original works in Ukrainian and Crimean Tatar as well as 31 translations, with 20 works submitted in the new nomination “Essays on Crimea”.

“The fifth Qırım inciri ceremony means a lot to us during the full-scale invasion. You will not see some of the authors, some of the authors are performing under pseudonyms because they are under occupation,” said Alim Aliiev, founder of the literature project.

Afterward, the winners were announced, and the finalists were awarded.

The Permanent Representative announced the first nomination winner, who noted in her speech that Qırım inciri is very important because the issue of culture is a matter of national security.

“For me, Qırım inciri is a truly remarkable event, and I am very grateful to the hosts, especially to my friend Alim Aliiev. I will say in the words that Myroslav Marynovych once said that the return of Crimea should be a task not only for the Crimean Tatars. This phrase impressed me greatly at the time, and this nomination is about prose on Crimea but in Ukrainian. Those who applied for this nomination are Ukrainians and representatives of other nationalities, which means that Crimea is of great value for the citizens of Ukraine,” the Permanent Representative emphasized.

Winners in the nominations:

Prose about Crimea in Ukrainian–Dzhan Hul with his work Dağ çayı. Mountain Tea.

Prose in Crimean Tatar– Mustafa Kyik with his work BosağAda Beklerken.

Poetry about Crimea in Ukrainian –Ada Yelahina with a selection of poems Let Me Not Come.

Poetry in the Crimean Tatar language – Muhtar Muhtarov Tınçlıq yoq.

Children’s literature about Crimea–Aliie Kendzhe-Ali, a selection of poems.

Essays about Crimea –Diliaver Zinedinov About Crimea, and one of the most amazing people of Crimea.

Translation of a work of fiction from the Crimean Tatar language into Ukrainian–Mustafa Osmanov, translation of Osman Osmanov’s work The Last Head Teacher of the Zincirli Madrasa.

Translation of a work of fiction from Ukrainian into Crimean Tatar –Leilek, Mamure Chabanova, translation of Bohdan Lepkyi’s work From Poltava to Bendery.

Mumine Saliieva, wife of political prisoner Seiran Saliiev, received the “Words of Freedom” award, which is presented annually to authors who are political prisoners in Russia, and Pevat Zeti received the “For the Development of Crimean Tatar Literature” award.

In the end, the organizers presented the award to Nariman Dzhelyal, who won it in 2022 while in Russian captivity.

The event ended with a concert featuring the trio of Usein Bekirov and Safiie Lenter-Kyzy.

The ceremony also featured a fair with Crimean merchandise and the Letters to a Free Crimea campaign.