The Zeugma Museum in the southeastern Anatolian province of Gaziantep, famous for its vast collection of ancient mosaics, was also recognized at Thursday’s ceremony at the Çankaya presidential palace.

Author Selim İleri, Professor Şükrü Hanioğlu and musician Ahmet Hatipoğlu were honored with this year’s Presidential Grand Awards in Culture and Arts at a ceremony on Thursday in Ankara.

Selected by President Abdullah Gül, the Presidential Grand Awards in Culture and Arts are given in various fields of the arts each year to recognize and encourage contributions to Turkish culture by Turkish and/or foreign individuals and/or institutions.

The 2012 awards acknowledge achievements in the fields of literature, history, traditional music and archaeology.

İleri was deemed worthy of the award for “serving as a bridge between the traditional and new through his works … in which he blends his love for literature with his passion for İstanbul,” according to the award statement. Hanioğlu, a professor of Ottoman history, was selected for “developing an original account of history that carries Turkish history to a universal level,” while Hatipoğlu, a performer of classical Turkish music and Sufi music, was honored for “enriching Sufi and classical Turkish music with his original performance style” and thus helping these genres gain wider recognition. The Zeugma Museum was deemed deserving of an award for “exhibiting Turkey’s archaeological wealth on a global level.”

Speaking at Thursday’s ceremony, President Gül said cultural and artistic activities play a crucial part in the improvement of a country and added that “achievements in those fields never remain local” but belong to the whole of humanity.

“I am very pleased to see that the importance of culture and art is being recognized more and more in Turkey,” the president added.