Atatürk peace award to revive after 25-year hiatus

ANKARA

An international peace award named after Türkiye’s founding leader Mustafa Kemal Atatürk will be conferred once more after a hiatus of 25 years, local media has reported.

The Atatürk International Peace Prize was bestowed upon individuals and institutions that have contributed to global peace, international friendship understanding and goodwill in line with the principle of "Peace at home, peace in the world" — a well-known quote by Atatürk.

Last given in 2000 to Turkish Cypriot founding president Rauf Denktaş, the award was first initiated in 1986.

However, it could not be awarded post-2000 due to legislative issues arising from the annulment and removal of certain articles in law of the Atatürk Supreme Council for Culture, Language and History, affiliated with the Culture and Tourism Ministry.

According to the strategic plan, the ministry will carry out the necessary preparations to present the Atatürk International Peace Award in 2025.

Candidates proposed by the award committee will be submitted for the approval of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. The final decision will be announced on Oct. 29 on the anniversary of the establishment of the Turkish Republic.

Among the laureates who received the award within a 14-year period are former Azerbaijani President Haydar Aliyev, the Turkish Red Crescent, the U.N. children agency UNICEF and American historian Bernard Lewis.

In 1992, the Turkish award committee announced that it conferred the prize on former South African President and activist Nelson Mandela, but he declined it, claiming that Türkiye saw human rights violations. However, in 1999, he reversed his decision and accepted the award.