Held for the third time this year by the Mehmet Akif Inan Foundation, the Mehmet Akif Inan Awards were given to the winners with a ceremony held at Confederation of Public Servants Trade Union (Memur-Sen) Headquarters. At the award ceremony attended by Minister of Justice Abdülhamid Gül, awards were given in six categories.
Mehmet Akif Inan Awards, organized for the third time this year in order to keep alive the memory of Mehmet Akif Inan, the activist of Seven Beautiful Men, the poet-writer, found their owners with the award ceremony held at Memur-Sen Headquarters. While the awards were given to their owners in 6 categories, Minister of Justice Abdülhamit Gül also attended the program. In his speech at the award ceremony, Gul noted that Mehmet Akif Inan is a pioneering and brave trade unionist and is still with us with his works.
“AKIF INAN FOUGHT AS A MAN WITH A CAUSE”
Stating that Akif Inan is a pioneer and a brave trade unionist, Minister of Justice Abdulhamid Gul reminded that Inan is a man with a cause and said, "Akif Inan who is older brother of us, fought for rights and freedoms as a man with a cause. Akif Inan, made very important contributions to this country with his intellectual stance and intellectual wealth. He was an important name whose pen was action and whose pen was also his castle. It was one of the very important milestones that brought us to where we are today. Akif Inan dreamed of Masjid al-Aqsa, and when he woke up he would work for the realization of a just world, for the formation of a great Turkey again. He was dedicated to this cause.”
“A CIVIL AND NEW CONSTITUTION IS AN DUTY INFRONT OF US”
Underlining that Turkey needs a new constitution that guarantees rights, “We have a mission to ensure that the acquired rights are constitutionally guaranteed. A civil and new constitution, for which Memur-Sen also struggled, is a duty before us. All together, 84 million citizens, including civil servants and workers, men and women, young and old, say 'this is my constitution'. We all need a constitution to defend. We need non-governmental organizations such as Memur-Sen in this regard," Minister of Justice Abdülhamit Gül added.
SUCCESS AND INCENTIVE AWARD GIVEN TO THE INVENTOR OF THE TÜRKOVAC VACCINE
At the award ceremony, which took place after the protocol speeches, awards in 6 different categories found their owners.
As part of the Mehmet Akif Inan Awards, the 'Success and Incentive Award' went to Dr. Aykut Özdarendeli who is the member of Erciyes University Faculty of Medicine, Department of Medical Microbiology, who is the inventor of the Türkovac vaccine developed against the Covid-19 outbreak.
Özdarendeli received his award from the Minister of Justice Abdülhamid Gül, “Congratulations to our country and nation with the TÜRKOVAC vaccine. Good luck to our people. So many people have contributed to the development of this vaccine at many stages. I am receiving this award on their behalf,” he said.
AWARDS GIVEN TO THE WINNERS
At the Mehmet Akif Inan Awards, which was held for the third time this year, the "Special Jury Award" was given to Kartal Anatolian Imam Hatip High School Student İclal Dağcı for achieving learning many foreign languages, with her self-made studies during the pandemic period. “Culture, Art and Literature Award” was given to Director Mesut Uçakan. “Working Life and Labor Award” was given to Forest Worker Özgür Şimşek for his devoted work in forest fires in the summer months. “The International Value Award” was given to the Orphan Project carried out by Humanitarian Relief Foundation (IHH), and the “Loyalty to Outstanding Service Award” was given to Rasim Özdenören for his contributions to Turkish literature and the world of ideas.
“MEMUR-SEN IS A BIG PLANE TREE BUILT WITH AKIF INAN'S IDEAS”
Saying that Mehmet Akif Inan is a poet, thinker, teacher and also a man of action, the Chairman of Memur-Sen Ali Yalçın, who described Inan's responsibility towards history, civilization, the age and all humanity with his ideas that he faithfully fermented, expressing that Memur-Sen is his most important work, Yalçın said, “Memur-Sen is a big plane tree that Inan built with his founding ideas. If we are the largest labor organization in Turkey today, and we have been able to reach all over the world with our bravery, Akif Inan's founding ideas have a great share in this. It is these loyally organized ideas that gather us here today."
“INAN FORMED THE BASE OF THE SERVICE-CENTERED UNION UNDERSTANDING”
Pointing out that Memur-Sen is a labor organization based on the deep-rooted ideas of Akif Inan, the founding leader of Memur-Sen, “We consider the building blocks of a just world and the freedom struggle of humanity within this framework. We read the ideas of our founding chairman, with the concepts he inherited from our civilization, as an effort for a system in which humanity will live with dignity once again, by overcoming the monopolist capitalist order. They formed the basis of a service-centered understanding of unionism instead of the understanding of unionism that was condemned to be imposed by the 'isms',” Yalçın added.