AKP moves to nominate Turkish town hosting Syrians for Nobel Prize

ANKARA

REUTERS photo

A deputy head of Turkey’s ruling party has filed an application with the Norwegian Nobel Committee to nominate the southeastern province of Kilis for the Nobel Peace Prize given that it is now hosting as many Syrians as its total population, the state-run Anadolu Agency has reported.

Sending the committee a one-page letter, Justice and Development Party (AKP) Deputy Head Ayhan Sefer Üstün asked the committee to award the southern Turkish town of Kilis a Nobel Peace Prize, stating Kilis would be a model for other cities in the world in regard to hospitality.

Üstün, a deputy head in charge of human rights issues within the AKP, praised Kilis and said the environment of peace and hospitality should serve as a model for other parts of the world.

“Turkey’s ‘open-door policy’ has been in place from the beginning. Our citizens have a sensitivity toward this matter, just like the government. Kilis is a city in Turkey’s south, which borders Syria. The population of Kilis is 129,000 and it hosts 120,000 Syrians – nearly its own population,” said Üstün, underscoring that Kilis residents and Syrians living in the town lived in harmony sharing many things in their professional and social lives.

Üstün asked the committee in his letter to think of the possible outcome if Syrians came to cities like Paris, London and Oslo in large numbers and to weigh the situation in Kilis before making a decision to add the town to the candidacy list for next year’s peace prize.