Published February 06,2026

Subscribe

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan took part in voting for Anadolu’s annual “Images of the Year,” reviewing photos that captured defining moments of 2025 through Anadolu’s lens.

On his Thursday return flight from an official visit to Egypt, Erdogan reviewed 112 photos across six categories taken by Anadolu photojournalists and reporters, highlighting stories that resonated in Türkiye and around the world in 2025. The competition is sponsored by lifebox, Ajet, and ROKETSAN.

Anadolu’s President and CEO Serdar Karagoz also briefed Erdogan on the photos.

– President votes for photo he presented at UN General Assembly

In the competition’s News category, Erdogan selected Mustafa Hatipoglu’s photograph “Conqueror of the skies.”

In the Sports category, he voted for Esra Bilgin’s “Alperen,” featuring national basketball player Alperen Sengun during the FIBA Men’s European Championship semifinal between Greece and Türkiye last September.

For the Wildlife and Environment category, Erdogan chose Sebnem Coskun’s image “Dirty wings.”

In the special “Gaza: Starvation” category, Erdogan selected a photo by Ali Jadallah, recipient of the Presidential Culture and Arts Grand Award in photography, showing food being distributed to Palestinians fighting starvation in Gaza.

At the 80th UN General Assembly last September, Erdogan presented photos taken by Anadolu photojournalists to illustrate Israel’s genocide in Gaza, including Jadallah’s image.

Türkiye’s Communications Director Burhanettin Duran was also present during the voting.

– Voting

The contest, held by Anadolu since 2012, features four main categories this year-News, Wildlife and Environment, Sports, and Daily Life-plus two special categories titled “Gaza: Starvation” and “Portrait.”

Participants in the “Images of the Year,” which will be voted on worldwide with Turkish and English captions, can vote for as many photos as they wish.

The voting will continue on yilinkareleri.aa.com.tr until Sunday, Feb. 15 at 5 pm local time (1400GMT).