Türkiye's Avesta Becomes First Publisher to Win AAP's Freedom to Publish Award Twice

Which publisher just became the first to win the same freedom-to-publish award twice? On October 7, 2026, the Association of American Publishers awarded Avesta Publishing House, based in Turkey, the 2026 AAP International Freedom to Publish Award. AAP says the award recognizes a publisher outside the United States that has shown courage and fortitude in defending freedom of expression.

Avesta also received the award in 2005. AAP's release says it is the first publisher to receive the award twice. In 2019 the house was honored in the "Publisher" category of the Turkish Publishers Association's "Freedom of Thought and Expression Awards."

AAP says that in the years since those awards, Avesta has continued to operate under extremely difficult conditions, including threats, lawsuits and harassment.

What AAP's leaders said

"AAP first recognized Avesta's extraordinary contributions a little over twenty years ago and despite continuous threats and intimidation since that time their commitment to publishing has only grown stronger," said Maria A. Pallante, president and CEO of the Association of American Publishers. "We are moved to celebrate Avesta's brave, decades-long struggle because it underscores an essential fact: the battle for free expression is central to freedom more generally but is never truly won. It must be fought over and over, day by day, and decade after decade. On behalf of AAP's Board of Directors, membership, and staff, I thank Avesta's leadership and entire team for setting the standard for bravery, stamina and determination."

"On behalf of Avesta, we thank AAP's President, Board and staff for this extraordinary gesture," said Abdullah Keskin, the founder of Avesta. "Receiving AAP's Freedom to Publish Award for the second time provides an enormous boost to our mission of encouraging Kurdish literature, research and culture, casting a bright light that will illuminate our way forward on the long road ahead."

The list, and what has happened to it

Avesta was founded in Istanbul in 1995 with the motto "In Search of Lost Cultures." AAP says it has published more than 900 books in multiple languages, focused on Kurdish literature and on research into the history and traditions of the Kurdish people.

Between 1997 and 2007, AAP says, Avesta faced several lawsuits in Turkey's State Security Courts for roughly twenty of its publications, some of which were banned. In 2016 its warehouse in Sur/Diyarbakır was sabotaged. AAP says that attack left over 3,000 books burned or rendered unusable, and the bookstore was closed. In 2023, AAP says, the website was banned on false claims of "terrorist propaganda." Between 2017 and 2025, more than 20 of the house's books were banned by local courts.

Three titles the release names

AAP's release gives three examples.

Burhan's Book: I Left My Soul in That Land by Hüseyin Kalkan. AAP says that after receiving threats for his reporting, Kalkan was shot in the neck and paralyzed. In 2025, the Diyarbakır 2nd Magistrates' Court (Sulh Ceza Hakimliği) banned Burhan's Book along with four other books. The court ordered a moratorium on printing, distribution, and sale, and the confiscation and seizure of all existing copies.

Martyrs, Traitors and Patriots – Kurdistan from the Gulf War to the Present Day by Sheri Laizer. AAP says the Mersin 3rd Criminal Court of Peace issued a ban and seizure decision in 2017.

The Daughters of Kobani: A Story of Rebellion, Courage and Justice, by American author Gayle Tzemach Lemmon, published in Turkish translation by Avesta. AAP says the translation has faced multiple ban and seizure orders.

Who has won before

AAP established the International Freedom to Publish Award in 2002. It says that in bestowing the award it is guided by the principle that "if one of us is denied the right to publish that threat affects us all."

Previous recipients named in the release are Freedom Letters, a Russian and Ukrainian language publisher, in 2025; Januškevič Publishing House, a Belarusian publisher that now operates from Poland, in 2024; Venezuela-based Editorial Dahbar in 2022; Guatemala-based F&G Editores in 2021; and Bangladesh-based Jagriti Publishing House in 2020. In 2023 AAP did not name one publisher. It dedicated the award to publishing houses around the world that face government pressure, harassment, and threats.

AAP says it represents leading book, journal, and education publishers in the United States on matters of law and policy.

Why it matters for authors

A ban can be a court order with a title on it. AAP's release names specific books, courts, and years: a 2025 moratorium and confiscation order in Diyarbakır, a 2017 ban and seizure in Mersin, and multiple orders against a Turkish translation of The Daughters of Kobani. Authors and translators on a list like this can match those details against their own contracts and editions.

The physical list can be the loss. AAP says the 2016 sabotage of the Sur/Diyarbakır warehouse left over 3,000 books burned or rendered unusable, and closed the bookstore, and that the website was banned in 2023. That is stock and a sales channel, not only a line in a censorship report.

The award is for publishers outside the United States, and it can come twice. AAP has given it since 2002. Avesta is the first house to receive it a second time, after 2005, and it was also honored by the Turkish Publishers Association in 2019. The 2023 award went to no single publisher. It went to houses facing government pressure.

This week's desk coverage of the IPA freedom-to-publish report and the IPA Freedom of Expression Defenders Award is the international companion to this award.

Sources

• Association of American Publishers: Avesta Publishing House Receives 2026 AAP International Freedom to Publish Award (October 7, 2026)