Photographer of the year 2014: Bulent Kilic – in pictures

The Guardian picture desk has chosen Turkish photographer Bulent Kilic, of AFP, as our hotly contested agency photographer of the year. Here’s a look back over 2014 through his lens, showing unrest in Ukraine, the refugee crisis on the Turkish-Syrian border and the harrowing MH17 air crash

  • Kiev, Ukraine, 20 February

    In February, Kilic covered the unrest in Kiev. Here, protesters catch fire as they stand behind burning barricades during clashes with police in the Ukrainian capital
    Protesters catch fire as they stand behind burning barricades during clashes with police February 20, 2014 in Kiev

  • Kiev, Ukraine, 20 February

    Protesters stand behind burning barricades during a face-off against police in Independence Square. Hundreds of armed protesters charged police barricades, despite a truce called just hours earlier by the country’s embattled president
    Kiev, Ukraine 20 February: Protesters stand behind burning barricades during a face-off against police in Independence Square. Hundreds of armed protesters charged police barricades, despite a truce called just hours earlier by the country's embattled president, Viktor Yanukovych

  • Kiev, Ukraine, 22 February

    People carry the coffin of a man killed during clashes, as they gather at Independence Square after protesters took control of Kiev’s charred city centre. They also seized Yanukovych’s lavish residence, which had been abandoned, on a day of dramatic twists and turns
    Kiev, 22 February People carry a coffin of a man who was killed during recent clashes, as they gather at Independence Square, after protesters took control of Kiev's charred city centre and seized Yanukovych's lavish residence on a day of dramatic twists and turn

  • Ankara, Turkey, 12 March

    A young girl kneels wounded during clashes between riot police and protesters following the funeral of Berkin Elvan, a 15-year-old boy who died from injuries suffered during anti-government protests in Istanbul
    A young girl is pictured after she was wounded during clashes between riot-police and prostestors after the funeral of Berkin Elvan, the 15-year-old boy who died from injuries suffered during last year's anti-government protests, in Istanbul on March 12, 2014. Riot police fired tear gas and water cannon at protestors in the capital Ankara, while in Istbanbul, crowds shouting anti-government slogans lit a huge fire as they made their way to a cemetery for the burial of Berkin Elvan.

  • Manisa, Turkey, 13 May

    A man kisses his son after he was rescued from a collapsed coal mine. At least 157 miners were killed in the disaster, following an underground explosion
    <strong>Manisa, Turkey</strong><br>13 May: A man kisses his son after he was rescued from a collapsed coal mine. At least 157 miners were killed in collapsed coal mine

  • Istanbul, Turkey, 23 May

    Armed militants from the Revolutionary People’s Liberation Party-Front during a demonstration in May, after the funeral of a protester
    <strong>Istanbul, Turkey</strong><br>23 May: Militants of the Revolutionary People’s Liberation Party-Front stand in the street with guns during a demonstration after the funeral of a protester who was killed

  • Istanbul, Turkey, 31 May

    A man protects a woman as they face a police officer dispersing protesters near Taksim Square, as the police blocked access during the one-year anniversary of the Gezi Park and Taksim Square demonstrations
    Istanbul, Turkey - 31 May A man protects a woman as they face a police officer dispersing protesters who gathered on the central Istoklal avenue near Taksim square, as the police blocked access to the square during the one year anniversary of the Gezi park and Taksim square demonstrations

  • Donetsk, Ukraine, 26 July

    Members of the Ukrainian State Emergency Service search for bodies in a field near the crash site of the Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 in the rebel-occupied Donetsk region of Ukraine. The airliner was believed shot down by a missile, en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, killing all 298 passengers and crew
    Donetsk, Ukraine 26 July: Members of the Ukrainian State Emergency Service search for bodies in a field near the crash site of the Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 near the village of Grabove

  • Hrabove, Ukraine, 2 August

    A woman walks with her bicycle past the wreckage of flight MH17
    A woman walks with her bicycle past wreckage of flight MH17 in the village of Hrabove

  • Hrabove, Ukraine, 2 August

    A Ukrainian girl cries as she stands by her luggage after leaving her home near Donetsk. A siege by government troops cut off water, electricity and food supplies in the area
    An Ukrainian girl cries as she stands on the road with her luggage after she left her home near the village of Hrabove (Grabovo), some 80km east of Donetsk on August 2, 2014. The insurgent stronghold of Lugansk in eastern Ukraine is on the verge a humanitarian catastrophe, the mayor warned Saturday, as a siege by government troops has seen water, electricity and food supplies cut off.

  • Sanliurfa, Turkey, 20 September

    A Syrian Kurd pours water on a child after they crossed the border between Syria and Turkey near the southeastern town of Suruc. Several thousand Syrian Kurds began crossing into Turkey in September, fleeing Islamic State fighters who advanced into their villages
    A Syrian Kurd pours water on a child after they crossed the border between Syria and Turkey near the southeastern town of Suruc in Sanliurfa province, 20 September 2014. Several thousand Syrian Kurds began crossing into Turkey a day earlier fleeing Islamic State fighters who advanced into their villages, prompting warnings of massacres from Kurdish leaders

  • Sanliurfa, Turkey, 23 September

    A Syrian Kurdish woman crosses the border between Syria and Turkey
    <strong>Sanliurfa, Turkey<br></strong>23 September: A Syrian Kurdish woman crosses the border between Syria and Turkey

  • Mursitpinar, Turkey, 28 September

    Turkish soldiers try to control their crossing gate as Syrian Kurdish people try to pass. Tens of thousands of Syrian Kurds flooded into Turkey fleeing an onslaught by Islamic State
    <strong>Mursitpinar, Turkey</strong><br>28 September: Turkish soldiers control the crossing gate as Syrian Kurdish people try to pass. Tens of thousands of Syrian Kurds flooded into Turkey fleeing an onslaught by the jihadist Islamic State (IS) group

  • Sanliurfa, Turkey, 23 October

    Islamic State militants stand during the explosion of an air strike on Tilsehir hill near the Turkish border at Yumurtalik village in October
    <strong>Sanliurfa, Turkey </strong><br>Islamic State militants stand during the explosion of an air strike on Tilsehir hill near the Turkish border at Yumurtalik village

  • Sanliurfa, Turkey, 29 October

    Heavily armed Kurdish peshmerga fighter convoys are greeted at Viransehir as they travel to join militias defending the Syrian border town of Kobane from Islamic State
    <strong>Sanliurfa, Turkey <br></strong>29 October: Kurds in Turkey greet peshmerga convoys at Viransehir. Heavily armed Kurdish peshmerga fighters were on their way by land and by air, joining militias defending the Syrian border town of Kobane, also known as Ain al-Arab, from the Islamic State group after setting off from Iraq

  • Bulent Kilic

    Kilic, centre, in the town of Suruc, Turkey
    Bulent Kilic in theTurkish town of Suruc, Sanliurfa
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