The Atatürk International Peace Prize (Turkish: Atatürk Uluslararası Barış Ödülü) is an award delivered since 1986 to award real people and organizations who have made memorable contributions to world peace in accordance of Kemal Atatürk's quotation, "Peace at Home, Peace in the World".[1] It has been created during the presidency of coup leader Kenan Evren,[2] by the Atatürk Association for Culture Language and History.[3] The award is to be awarded to candidates nominated by members of non-governmental organizations, the Senate of Turkish universities and also the Secretary Generals of the United Nations and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation. The President of Turkey as well as the speaker of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey can also present candidates.[1] After the prize was not awarded for 13 years after 2000, in 2013 it was decided to award it only every five years.[4] An award was to be given in 2015,[4][5] but was no ceremony is documented. The next award is planned to be given in 2020.[1]
Laureates of the Atatürk International Peace Prize
Nelson Mandela created an uproar in Turkish society as he has not accepted the prize. Following this decline to accept the prize, the newspaper Hürriyet published an issue with the headline "Ugly African" (Turkish: Çirkin Afrikalı).[7] Mandela changed his mind and accepted the award in 1999.[8]
Bernard Lewis was awarded on grounds that he contributed extensively to history scholarship with his accurate analysis of Turkey’s and in particular of Atatürk’s positive impact on Middle Eastern history.[10]
