Nobel laureate Aziz Sancar to take award to Atatürk’s mausoleum

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Turkish scientist Aziz Sancar, the 2015 Nobel laureate in chemistry, is set to take his award to the mausoleum of Turkey’s founding father, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, in order to express his “indebtedness” to the modern republic, daily Hürriyet has reported. 

“I will come to Turkey on the 19th of May [2016] and present my award to Atatürk at Anıtkabir [Atatürk’s mausoleum in Ankara],” Sancar told Hürriyet, preferring a significant day marking the beginning of the Turkish War of Independence and celebrated across Turkey as the Commemoration of Atatürk, Youth and Sports Day.

Sancar also expressed his gratitude to the republic which sponsored most of his education.
“This award was earned thanks to Atatürk,” he added. 

Sancar received his prize on Dec. 10 at a ceremony held in Stockholm, on a day that Tunisia’s National Dialogue Quartet were also presented the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo. 

Sancar, who works at the University of North Carolina, was among three scientists awarded the prize for their work on DNA repair. Sancar won the prize along with Tomas Lindahl and Paul Modrich for his work in mapping the cells which repair ultraviolet damage to DNA. Their research was an important step for treating cancer.
“I have observed in the U.S. [during my studies] how important it is for girls to be educated,” the laureate said at a ceremony in Stockholm a day earlier.

Sancar also communicated his request to educate girls to Ankara, through Turkey’s embassy at Stockholm.

“Please educate our girls very well,” Sancar reportedly told embassy officials.