Anadolu Agency, widening its network across the world within the scope of its centenary vision, offered for voting 22 photos from different regions worldwide such as Syria, Egypt, Palestine, Ukraine, the US, Philippines and France. Votes from over 12 thousand different IP addresses were submitted.
The photo selected by AA photo editors, included photographs depicting significant events happened in Turkey and across the world in 2013 such as the military coup in Egypt, Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines, the May-June Gezi Park protests in Istanbul, twin-bomb attacks in the southern Turkish town of Reyhanli near the Syrian border, the annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca (Hajj) and the crisis in Syria and in Gaza.
The photos were released with Turkish, English and Arabic captions and the results are as follows:
In the "News" category, the photo taken by AA photojournalist Musaab El Shamy titled "Shooting on pro-democracy protesters" in Egypt's Rabaa al-Adawiya Square was selected as the photo of the year. The photo, featured in Time Magazine's "the best ten shots of the year" list, was used by many international media institutions. The photo depicting the violent crackdown by Egyptian security forces against pro-democracy protesters, in which 200 people were killed and thousands wounded, was also selected by former Turkish ministers Zafer Caglayan, Binali Yildirim and Muammer Guler, and current National Defense Minister Ismet Yilmaz and Health Minister Mehmet Muezzinoglu.
Meanwhile, Cem Genco's photo titled "Blast in Reyhanli" came in second in the “News” category. The photo was also ranked among the year's best shots by the Huffington Post and Getty Images, and was widely used in international media. The photo received the vote of Turkish Finance Minister Mehmet Simsek.
The photo by AA journalist Eyuphan Kilic titled "Umayyad Mosque Bombed" which came in third was also used by local and international media. Turkish ministers Taner Yildiz, Cevdet Yilmaz and former minister of justice Sadullah Ergin voted for the shot.
- “Life” category
In the "Life" category, the photo taken by AA photojournalist Ezz Zanoo titled "Struggle for life in Gaza" was chosen as the best photo of 2013. The photo received the votes of Turkish Finance Minister Mehmet Simsek, Health Minister Mehmet Muezzinoglu and former Transportation Minister Binali Yildirim.
The photo taken by AA photojournalist Berk Ozkan titled "Istanbul, snow and seagull" came in second while Kadir Yildirim's "Storm in Inebolu" ranked third in the life category.
englishnews@aa.com.tr
