I would give my everything for peace in Turkey: Nobel laurate Aziz Sancar

ISTANBUL

DHA photo

“I would give my everything, all of my scientific successes, including the Nobel Prize, for peace in Turkey. If there was a way to establish peace, I would do it. If I could, then I would give up my Nobel Prize,” Sancar said in his speech via teleconference on the second day of the Crystal Apple Festival in Istanbul, hosted by the Advertisers’ Association.



“I would be ready to give my Nobel Prize back so long as peace comes to my country. It has always been an issue that makes me sad and preoccupies my mind. It saddens me that terrorism in Turkey is not over,” he added, prompting applause and cheers from the crowd.



Sancar was invited to speak at the festival by journalist, writer and television producer Nebil Özgentürk, who has produced a new documentary on the Nobel laureate.



The Nobel laureate said “love for his country” had got him to where he is, adding that all parents “should teach their children to love their countries.”



“I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t have love for my country. Work hard. Teach your children to work hard and love their countries. Children should be taught that if one is beneficial for their country, he is beneficial for the whole world,” Sancar said.

Aziz Sancar, the winner of the 2015 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, has said he would “give my everything, all of my scientific successes” for peace in Turkey.