Muğla Metropolitan Municipality
5th International Cartoon Competition Specifications:
THEME: Love/ Deep Love.
💖 Love is expressed as "an attachment and care for something", Deep love, on the other hand, is "a profound affection for something".
💞 Situated at the heart of life, love is the greatest human emotion that makes the world a more liveable place. A person who values love benefits not only themselves but also their community, society, and humanity as a whole. This is because love arises through "care, responsibility, respect, and empathetic understanding". It is this feeling that makes the world more liveable.
🌱 Forms of love—such as love for people, nature, or animals—are in fact reflections of one’s love for oneself.
🐾 Loving nature and animals involves protecting and caring for them, thereby creating an awareness of the responsibility to leave a liveable world for future generations.
👨👩👧 Human love, meanwhile, is expressed through accepting differences, valuing others’ happiness, and offering assistance in times of need.
🕊️ The strongest foundation for societies to live in peace and prosperity is undoubtedly human love.
🔥 The root cause of unrest, conflicts, and wars across the world today, including in our own communities, is a “lack of love.” In a world devoid of love, anger and conflict are inevitable. It is only when love prevails that just, peaceful, and strong societies can emerge. Individuals who possess love for humanity, society, the environment, nature, and animals can build a world that is harmonious, happy, and peaceful. This competition has been organised to bring the importance of LOVE / DEEP LOVE once again to the forefront both nationally and internationally.
🙏 We hope that you will support this project—where we aim to bring together the universal power of Love and the universal power of cartoon—with your original works; we wish you success and extend our thanks for your contributions.
📜 Terms and Conditions of Participation:
1. The competition is organised at national and international levels and is open to all amateur and professional cartoonists worldwide.
2. Cartoons that do not comply with general moral standards, contain insults, serve political purposes, or include objectionable and harmful expressions will be disqualified. Cartoons generated by Artificial Intelligence (AI) will not be accepted.
3. Relatives of the selection committee members may not participate in the competition.
4. Drawing techniques are unrestricted. It is mandatory for participants to complete the entry form.
5. Entries must be submitted via email only. Cartoons should be at least A4 (21 x 29.7 cm) and at most A3 (29.7 x 42 cm) in size, with a resolution of 300 dpi in JPG format.
6. Submitted cartoons must not have received an award in any previous national or international competition. Cartoons deemed identical or similar by the selection committee, or those determined to belong to another artist, will not be evaluated.
7. Participants must include a short biography along with their cartoons.
8. Participants may submit a maximum of 5 (five) cartoons.
9. Participants under the age of 18 must attach a photocopy of their national ID card to their application.
10. Cartoons must be sent by the end of business on Friday, 22 May 2026, to karikatur.yarisma@mugla.bel.tr The email must be titled "Muğla Metropolitan Municipality 6th International Cartoon Competition" and include the artist’s full name, city, and country.
11. Muğla Metropolitan Municipality will cover the personal travel (bus or flight), accommodation, and hospitality expenses of the award winners only. (Expenses for guests accompanying winners will be their own responsibility). For winners in the under-18 category, the accommodation and travel expenses for one guardian will also be covered.
12. For prize winners who are unable to attend the ceremony, the prize money will be sent via bank transfer to the IBAN provided. The beneficiary is required to accurately fill out and sign the requested documents along with their IBAN. If the beneficiary fails to provide an IBAN, the right to the prize will lapse one year after the announcement of the results (Statute of Limitations). In such cases, the claimant shall have no further demand for prizes, royalties, or any other compensation.
13. Cartoons submitted to the competition will not be returned. Cartoons that win awards or are selected for exhibition may be used or published by Muğla Metropolitan Municipality for cultural purposes. Works selected by the jury will be collected in a commemorative album. These albums will only be sent to the award winners and participants whose works are published within.
14. For works that receive awards, honourable mentions, or are selected for exhibition/the album, the financial rights defined under Law No. 5846 on Intellectual and Artistic Works—specifically the right to adapt (Article 21), reproduce (Article 22), distribute (Article 23), represent (Article 24), and communicate to the public via signal, sound, and/or image transmission (Article 25)—shall be held jointly and indefinitely by the artist and Muğla Metropolitan Municipality. Muğla Metropolitan Municipality may use these works indefinitely, within Turkey or abroad, in Turkish or any other language, in any medium or material, provided the artist’s name is credited.
🧾 The Municipality will not permit the use of these cartoons for any other purposes under any circumstances. No additional fees will be paid for works selected for exhibition or the album.
🖼️ By submitting their work, all participants are deemed to have accepted the terms and conditions listed above.
🏆 Awards:
🥇 First Prize: 70,000 TL
🥈 Second Prize: 50,000 TL
🥉 Third Prize: 30,000 TL
🏅 Honourable Mention (3 recipients): 15,000 TL
🏅 Under 18 Category (Ages 10-18, 2 recipients): 7,500 TL
🎖 Behiç AK Special Award: 20,000 TL
👨⚖️ Selection Committee:
👤 Gürbüz DOĞAN EKŞİOĞLU (Dr. Lecturer, Yeditepe University, Cartoonist).
👤 Savaş ÜNLÜ (Humourist).
👤 Şevket YALAZ (Cartoonist).
👤 Abdülkadir USLU (Cartoonist).
👤 Sarkis PAÇACI (Cartoonist).
👤 Aşkın AYRANCIOĞLU (Cartoonist).
👤 Mehmet SELÇUK (Cartoonist, General Coordinator).
👤 Şeref DEMİRTAŞ (Representative of Muğla Metropolitan Municipality.
📅 Competition Schedule:
1. Submission Deadline: Friday, 22 May 2026, by the end of business.
2. Jury Evaluation Meeting: Saturday, 30 May 2026.
3. Announcement of Results: Wednesday, 03 June 2026.
4. Award Ceremony & Exhibition: The award ceremony and the exhibition of cartoons selected by the jury will be held at the Muğla Metropolitan Municipality Türkan Saylan Contemporary Life Centre.
📞 Contact Details
👩💼 Competition Coordinator : Perihan AYDIN
☎️ Telephone : +90 (0252) 212 26 14 (Ext: 1956)
📍 Address : Muğla Büyükşehir Belediyesi, Türkan Saylan Çağdaş Yaşam Merkezi, Menteşe/Muğla.
🌐 Website : www.mugla.bel.tr
⚠️ Note: Muğla Metropolitan Municipality reserves the right to amend these specifications should it be deemed necessary.
👉 The Entry Form.