SHOTLIST: BUDAPEST, HUNGARY (MAY 21, 2025) (ANADOLU - ACCESS ALL) 1. VARIOUS OF CEREMONY WHERE NOBEL LAUREATE AZIZ SANCAR BEING PRESENTED WITH ALI-SHIR NAVA'I INTERNATIONAL AWARD 2. VARIOUS OF AZIZ SANCAR BEING CONGRATULATED BY TURKISH PRESIDENT RECEP TAYYIP ERDOGAN, KYRGYZ PRESIDENT SADYR JAPAROV, AND HUNGARIAN PRIME MINISTER VIKTOR ORBAN / PARTICIPANTS APPLAUDING SANCAR BUDAPEST, HUNGARY - MAY 21: Nobel laureate and Turkish biologist Aziz Sancar has been presented with the Ali-Shir Nava'i International Prize at the Informal Summit of the Organization of Turkic States (OTS) in Budapest, Hungary on Wednesday, May 21. The award was presented to Sancar by Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov, in recognition of his outstanding contributions to scientific research across the Turkic world. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban also joined the ceremony on stage, congratulating Sancar for his achievements. Sancar made history as the first Turkish scientist to win the Nobel Prize in chemistry in 2015. The Budapest summit follows recent high-level engagements within the OTS, including an informal summit in Shusha on July 5–6, 2024 and the 11th summit in Bishkek on Nov. 6, 2024, where leaders reiterated their commitment to deeper solidarity and collaboration across the Turkic world. Türkiye, alongside Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan, is a member state of the OTS, while Hungary, alongside Turkmenistan and Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, is an observer state of the organization. - Who is Aziz Sancar? Born in 1946 in southeastern Mardin province, Sancar was one of eight children in a family with little education. Thanks to his family's emphasis on education, he was able to study in Mardin up to university. After completing his undergraduate at Istanbul University Medical School, Sancar went to the US for a graduate education and obtained a Ph.D. in molecular biology from the University of Texas. He specialized in DNA repair and cell cycle and, in 2015, he won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry along with Tomas Lindahl and Paul Modrich for their work on DNA repair.