The prize’s core value, in my view, is to combine cutting-edge academic work with political activism for democracy and peaceful conviviality.
Why should one nominate academics for the Voltaire Prize? As the prize is getting more and more established, it would bring scientists international recognition and prestige. Both countries and most importantly their residents have much to learn from each other in order to ease refugees’ acceptance into society. In Germany, on the other hand, Syrian refugees experience a lack of meaningful social existence however they feel generally safe and secure. For Syrian refugees, Turkey offered an immediate feeling of cultural integration and safety, while it did not give them the income security to pursue their future goals. Germany and Turkey have distinct approaches to immigration and asylum.
In the context of research, they compare their experiences of welcoming, hostility and structural hardships in both countries. What are your current research projects – also in terms of tolerance, international understanding and respect for differences? My current research is about Syrian refugees who lived in Turkey before coming to Germany. Part of the award money went to the funding of my own research and another part to a solidarity fund supporting Turkish academics who lost their jobs due to the political pressures in Turkey. I am yet to see if it will have a positive effect on my career prospects in Germany. What effects did the prize have on you? Receiving the prize was a great honor for me. In 2017, you won the Voltaire Prize for Tolerance, International Understanding and Respect for Differences. Five years later, Hilal Alkan looks back on the Prize and its meaning, but also on her research conducted in its spirit. Their hope was that people like Alkan could serve as role models, upholding the ideals of the Enlightenment for which Voltaire’s name stands, both in the future and specifically in difficult political times. Yet she has not been discouraged through all of it she has continued with her work and has not allowed her voice to be silenced.” The jury voted unanimously for Hilal Alkan, Günther added. She is a young scholar who is acting within an increasingly difficult political environment that cost her her academic position. explained the jury’s decision as follows: “Hilal Alkan is a wonderful choice to be honored with the inaugural Voltaire Prize. Chairman of the Jury and President of the University of Potsdam Professor Oliver Günther, Ph.D. After that, she came to Berlin where she has been doing research ever since. The prize went to the Turkish academic Hilal Alkan, who had signed a petition against the war in the Kurdish territories and denounced the actions committed by security forces against civilians. The University of Potsdam awarded the “Voltaire Prize for Tolerance, International Understanding and Respect for Differences” for the first time on June 22, 2017.
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