This year's Franco-German Human Rights and Rule of Law Award was presented to human rights defender Nebahat Akkoç. The Ambassador of France Hervé Magro and the Ambassador of Germany Jürgen Schulz presented the award to Akkoç.
Nebahat Akkoç's award speech;
Dear Ambassadors, Dear Guests,
With the honor and excitement of receiving the Franco-German Prize for Human Rights, I would like to say a few words about the current situation we are in.
The first article of Universal Declaration of Human Rights states: “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.”
However, the World we live in shows that if people’s conditions are not equal and fair, it is not possible to talk about genuine equality of people and fair consequences for them.
On the one hand, we as KAMER, are struggling against the injustices and inequalities women in our own country suffer from.
There are still millions of women who cannot claim their right to education, are forced into marriage at an early age, are subjected to multiple forms of violence, lose their lives, and cannot access to justice.
On the other hand, we try to support thousands of women and children who had to flee from their countries, are seeking just a piece of land to live, while hundreds of them are perishing for this cause.
Achieving freedom and equality is wide of the mark for us.
People in Turkey admire Europe. Yet, what makes Europe alluring for us is not the life there but the European values. It is a yearning for a decent, free, and equal life.
We, women’s organizations in Turkey, had the biggest achievements during the first years of Turkey’s candidacy to European Union by basing our struggle on the European Values.
We are going through tough times. In times of trouble where it is hard to preserve values, we argue that salvation of humankind lies in holding onto “universal human rights norms.” Hence, we believe that these European values are precious and are not to be sacrificed at any cost.
I accept this award wishing that it brings luck and power to all women who struggle for a decent life, to women’s organizations working unstoppably to achieve gender equality and to my devoted friends at KAMER who go to great lengths in their work to create a fair and equal world.
With my warmest regards,
14.12.2021
Nebahat Akkoç
