Yemeni activist Tawakkul Karman, a key figure in the Yemeni revolt that toppled President Ali Abdullah Saleh, has said that her newly acquired Turkish ID card is more valuable to her than the Nobel Peace Prize she was awarded in 2011.
“Turkish citizenship is more valuable than the Nobel Prize,” Karman said, talking with Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu on Thursday.
Davutoğlu received the Yemeni rights activist at the Foreign Ministry residence in Ankara and presented her with her Turkish ID card, following her attainment of Turkish citizenship.
Speaking to reporters before the meeting with Karman, Davutoğlu said that the Nobel laureate, whose roots go back to the Turkish province of Karaman, and her struggle for democracy in the Arab Spring process is of great importance.
“We are honored by the fact that a member of a family from Anatolia led the struggle for freedom and democracy in the Middle East as a female,” Davutoğlu noted.
The Davutoglu-Karman meeting later continued behind closed doors.
Diplomatic sources said that Karman had told Davutoğlu how happy she was to become a citizen of the Republic of Turkey.
Expressing her gratitude to Davutoğlu, Karman said: “I feel proud to be a member of this supreme people and nation. I will put all my efforts into the upholding of these principles. I will be committed to maintaining Turkey’s interests all around the world.”
Davutoğlu also thanked Karman’s husband Muhammed al-Nahmi, saying that he is already considered extended family in Turkey. “We believe you will maintain the ties of your children with Anatolia,” Davutoğlu noted.
Karman is the first Arab woman to have won the Nobel Peace Prize. Karman became the face of the 2011 Yemen Uprising, and is known by Yemenis as the “Iron Woman” and “Mother of the Revolution.” In 2011, she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize along with Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and Leymah Gbowee. She is the first Yemeni, the second Muslim and the youngest woman to have received this honor.
Source: Todayszaman.com