Following the footsteps of Aziz Sancar

2015 Nobel Prize in Chemistry laureate professor Aziz Sancar felt like a breath of fresh air.

Because he has kept his Turkish citizenship even though he has been living in the United States for many years. Because he mentions the gains of the republic at every opportunity. Because one of the values he prioritizes is "hard work."

And because he said he would hand his Nobel certificate and medal to the Atatürk Mausoleum in Ankara (An?tkabir) on Youth and Sports Day on May 19, thus giving a symbolic message that the advances of the republic and Atatürk, the founder of modern Turkey, have their share in his success. 

It is because he is a classy, appreciative and modest person who would say, "This is Atatürk's and the republic's medal." It is because he is an admirer of Atatürk and as a republican Turkish citizen, he does not turn this attitude into a political protest. He does not reject the invitation of the president of the republic of Turkey, instead accepting his greeting with grace.  

It is because he has said, "God willing, we will place the medal in An?tkabir on May 19," (refuting those who alleged the opposite) reminding us that one can be a believer, pro-Atatürk and secular at the same time and that Turkey's majority is actually like this.    

It is because he did not fall into the trap of those who attempted to start a polemic by insistently asking, "What is his ethnicity?"

In other words, it is because he has reminded us of all of these features, those extraordinary characteristics of ours that we yearn for so much, that are about to be extinct, the ones that some people work very hard to make us lose. And it is because he made us feel how much we have missed them?

So many thanks, esteemed teacher...