On February 11, 2020, "Living Human Treasures Award Ceremony" was held at the Presidential Complex, Beştepe People’s Congress and Culture Center. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan delivered a speech at the ceremony.
Kırşehir's drum master Adem Göçer was awarded with the “Living Human Treasures and Representatives of the Legacy Transferred to the Future” by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism for his contribution to "Drum-Making" and the "Tradition of Abdallık".
During the ceremony, Mehmet Nuri Ersoy, Minister of Culture and Tourism, said, "The Living Human Treasure is not a title we have granted, but a title created by them with their lives and works."
Minister Ersoy reminded that Turkey is a party to the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage Convention in 2006, and he told that the intangible cultural implementations of the practices, representations, narratives, information, skills, tools, equipment and cultural venues that people accepted as part of their culture were seen as intangible cultural inheritance.
Noting that the definition of "Living Human Treasure" appeared at this point, Ersoy said: "Living Human Treasures are people with a high level of knowledge and skill necessary to recreate and interpret certain elements of intangible cultural heritage. It is surely the most effective way to protect the intangible cultural heritage, ensuring that the continuity, development and transfer of the knowledge and skills of these people to the next generations".
Those who were awarded for "Living Human Treasures" by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism are as follows:
