Istanbul’s Imprisoned Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, wins Paweł Adamowicz Award for defence of local democracy

Award also recognises Mary Crilly's powerful role in confronting sexual violence.

Ekrem İmamoğlu, Mayor of Istanbul, has been awarded the fifth edition of the Mayor Paweł Adamowicz Award for his defence of democracy, solidarity and the independence of local government in the context of sustained political pressure, hate campaigns and attempts at political disqualification.

The award was presented during a plenary session of the European Committee of the Regions in Brussels on 5 March by the President of the European Committee of the Regions, Kata Tüttő together with Magdalena Adamowicz, Member of the European Parliament and Aleksandra Dulkiewicz, Mayor of Gdańsk. The jury also awarded a special recognition to Mary Crilly, founder and director of the Sexual Violence Centre in Cork, Ireland, for her long-standing work with victims of sexual violence, domestic violence and human-trafficking, her contribution to public debate and policy change on these issues.

Presented for the fifth time, the prize was established by the European Committee of the Regions in cooperation with the City of Gdańsk and the International Cities of Refuge Network (ICORN). It is awarded to local leaders in politics and civil society who combat intolerance, radicalisation, hate speech and xenophobia. The Award recognises the efforts of elected representatives, officials, organisations and citizens who, despite significant risks, work to strengthen democracy at local level and promote more open and inclusive communities.

Established to honour the legacy of the late Mayor Paweł Adamowicz, the Award was announced on 13 January 2026 in Gdańsk and formally presented during the plenary session of the European Committee of the Regions in Brussels. The jury unanimously selected Ekrem İmamoğlu, democratically elected Mayor of Istanbul and Chair of the Union of Municipalities of Türkiye, as the laureate of the fifth edition of the Award.

The Award was accepted on his behalf by Nuri Aslan, Acting Mayor of Istanbul, as Mayor İmamoğlu, a major opposition figure, was arrested in March 2025 and removed from office on politically motivated charges that the European Committee of the Regions has condemned as an attack on local democracy. Twenty-seven other opposition mayors and hundreds of local officials have also been arrested in Türkiye over the past two years. The CoR enlargement opinions as well as recent meetings of its Working Group Türkiye repeatedly underlined that this is incompatible with Türkiye's obligations as a candidate country.

The jury underlined that throughout his mandate Mayor İmamoğlu has promoted inclusive, transparent and citizen-centred urban governance, strengthening democratic participation and accountability at local level. His administration has introduced transparent budgeting, digital participation tools, gender-equality programmes and climate-friendly policies, contributing to a renewed model of local democracy based on solidarity and social justice. The jury said that his continued commitment to democratic values and local self-government has made him a symbol of democratic resilience in Türkiye and beyond.

The jury also awarded a special recognition to Mary Crilly, founder and director of the Sexual Violence Centre in Cork, Ireland. For more than four decades, Ms Crilly has played a central role in advancing human rights, equality and non-discrimination in Ireland, particularly through her work on sexual violence, domestic violence and human-trafficking. Her sustained advocacy has contributed to significant changes in public policy, legislation and institutional responses, improving protection and support for victims.

The fifth edition of the Mayor Paweł Adamowicz Award received 25 nominations, of which five candidates were shortlisted. The other shortlisted nominees were (in alphabetical order):

• Alexei Gorinov: A Russian human-rights defender and former Moscow municipal councillor who openly condemned the war against Ukraine. Because of this, he was imprisoned as a political prisoner and is currently held in degrading conditions despite suffering from a serious respiratory illness and having part of his lung removed.

• Pınar Selek: A Turkish sociologist and human-rights activist who has spent over three decades defending women, LGBTQ+ people, refugees, and ethnic minorities. Due to her activism, she has faced persecution, imprisonment, and exile, yet she continues to advocate for peace, democracy, feminism, and social justice from France.

• Tiro Association for Arts: A Lebanese cultural organisation founded in 2014 that works to make art accessible to marginalised communities, including youth, refugees, and people with disabilities. It restored theatres in Tyre and Tripoli into public cultural spaces and promotes dialogue, freedom of expression, and women's empowerment through artistic initiatives like the Art and Peace Bus.

Paweł Adamowicz, Mayor of Gdańsk, was assassinated in January 2019 following a prolonged campaign of hate speech. He was a committed advocate of European values and an active member of the European Committee of the Regions.

Quotes:

• Nuri Aslan, Acting Mayor of Istanbul, said: "By awarding the Paweł Adamowicz Award to Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, Europe sends a clear and powerful message: the defence of democracy remains a core European value, and solidarity with those who uphold it knows no borders. Today we accept this award on behalf of our Mayor and on behalf of all courageous individuals around the world who continue to defend democracy, justice, and freedom. In Türkiye we remain firmly committed to defending the will of the people, the rule of law, and pluralistic democracy. We also know that international solidarity and strong democratic institutions are essential for the preservation of peace and stability in the world."

• Mary Crilly, founder and director of the Sexual Violence Centre, Cork: "I'm so grateful to the EU, over the years, who, kind of, forced the hand to Ireland and other countries to amend legislation [on rape], to put things in place, so we all benefit from who we are. (...) Sexual violence is looked at as something that women do, that it affects women: it doesn't, it affects everybody"

• Kata Tüttő, President of the European Committee of the Regions: "This award is an orienting award - that celebrated the kind of leadersip that chooses the morally right over wrong, even and especially when that is the harder path. This award celebrates a type of courage that institutions cannot legislate. Most awards reward: achievement, success, outcomes. This one honours something rarer: civic courage under exposure. Leadership that stayed open in a hostile environment. The award orients to the courage to remain human when politics rewards armour. It celebrates presence in a time of performative politics Today, politics rewards visibility without responsibility, performance without presence. Staying open means absorbing hostility without mirroring it, refusing the psychological relief of enemy making, staying when withdrawal is more rational."

• Magdalena Adamowicz, Member of the European Parliament and widow of Mayor Adamowicz: "The Paweł Adamowicz Award - named after my murdered husband - is not a gesture. It must be our commitment. That Europe sees those who pay a personal price for values which we all must once again learn to defend - with courage and at any cost. Ekrem - you are paying that price. We must not allow you to be left alone. We must not allow only brave individuals to defend that without which none of us would want to live."

• Aleksandra Dulkiewicz, Mayor of Gdańsk: "The Mayor Paweł Adamowicz Award, a joint initiative of the Committee of the Regions, the City of Gdańsk and ICORN, exists so that the memory endures. Of course, we also have monuments, streets and other names, but by honouring already more than a dozen individuals and institutions, we highlight those who are willing to pay the price for remaining faithful to their values - like Ekrem İmamoğlu or Mary Crilly, who have paid that price in order to stay true to values that are the very foundation of the European Union and that many citizens aspire to: human rights, democracy and freedom of speech. These were the values of Paweł Adamowicz. If I had to express it in one word, it would be: solidarity."

More information:

• Video and photos from the debate.

• The winner of the Paweł Adamowicz Award was announced on 13 January 2025 at a ceremony in Gdańsk. The ceremony was part of a two-day celebration commemorating the 6th anniversary of the assassination of Mayor Paweł Adamowicz, as well as an opportunity to reflect on his legacy, honour the values he championed, and condemn all acts of hatred.

• Paweł Adamowicz was stabbed on 13 January 2019 while speaking at a charity event. His murder was preceded by a rise in hate speech directed at him. His last words, uttered just before he was attacked, were: "Gdańsk is generous, Gdańsk shares its good, Gdańsk wants to be a city of solidarity. This is a wonderful time to share the good. You are loved. Gdańsk is the most wonderful city in the world. Thank you!" Mr Adamowicz was committed to promoting the EU's fundamental values, and was an active member of the European Committee of the Regions.

• In 2025 Vitaliy Klitschko, Mayor of Kyiv (Ukraine), became the fourth laureate of Mayor Paweł Adamowicz Award. He was nominated for his extraordinary leadership in fostering civic engagement, even amidst the extreme challenges of war. Bassam Aramin and Rami Elhanan from the Parents' Circle Family Forum received special recognition from the jury as symbols of tolerance and beacons of hope and solidarity for their efforts to bring reconciliation between Palestinians and Israelis against the folly of hate and conflict. Other former laureates are: the Mayor of Cologne (Germany), Henriette Reker; the Mayor of Michałowo (Poland), Marek Nazarko; and an Italian NGO from Brescia, Local Democracy Agency Zavidovići,. Special Recognition awards have been given on two other occasions: in 2023, to the Mayor of Hola Prystan in Ukraine, Oleksandr Babich, who was abducted and remains imprisoned by the Russian occupiers; and in 2024 to Alla Myronova, Mayor of Inhulka, in Ukraine, for her courageous stand on behalf of her community, especially during Russian occupation.

• The author of the statuette, which will go to the winner, is the sculptor Krzysztof Bednarski. The statuette depicts a bird in flight, as a sign of freedom and independence. The bird soars from a world plunged into darkness towards light.

• The jury of the fifth edition was composed of: Magali Altounian (FR/renew E), chair of the CIVEX commission, European Committee of the Regions; Aleksandra Dulkiewicz (PL/EPP) mayor of the city of Gdańsk and member of the CoR; Annika Strömberg, chair of ICORN (International Cities of Refuge Network); Magdalena Adamowicz, MEP, widow of Paweł Adamowicz; Jelena Drenjanin (SE/EPP), Chair of the Governance Committee, Congress of local and regional authorities, Council of Europe and member of the CoR; Javier Zarzalejos (ES/EPP), chair of the LIBE Committee, European Parliament; Vitaliy Klitschko, Mayor of Kyiv, laureate of the previous edition.

• The European Committee of the Regions (CoR), as the political assembly of local and regional representatives in the EU and on the initiative of the Polish delegation to the CoR, unanimously adopted a resolution in February 2019 condemning hate speech and threats of all kinds against political leaders. The CoR, at its plenary session in November 2022, adopted recommendations in support of the European Commission's proposals to add hate speech and hate crimes to the list of offences recognised in EU policy via opinion on "Extending the list of EU crimes to hate speech and hate crimes" - drafted by Aleksandra Dulkiewicz, who succeeded Paweł Adamowicz as Mayor of Gdańsk.

• The International Cities of Refuge Network (ICORN) is an international organisation of 80 cities and regions in Europe and beyond, offering safe haven to persecuted writers and artists, advancing freedom of expression, defending democratic values and promoting international solidarity. More than 250 writers and artists have been offered residency in an ICORN city. In a safe environment, they continue to play a vital role, both in highlighting violations of human rights and free speech in their home countries, and in supporting colleagues in their country of origin. Mayor Paweł Adamowicz brought the City of Gdańsk into ICORN in August 2017.

• Website with information about Paweł Adamowicz

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