German peace prize goes
to women in Turkey, Russia
AACHEN, Germany (AFP) May 07,
2004
This year's Aachen Peace Prize
is to go to women in Turkey and Russia for their work to promote
reconciliation and human rights, organisers of the German honour said
Friday.
Eren Keskin, a Turkish lawyer
and human rights activist, and the Soldiers' Mothers Organisation of St
Petersburg in Russia will be given the prize at a ceremony in this
western Germany city on September 1.
"If our prize can contribute
something to protecting these people who are under constant personal
threat, then we have achieved something," said Alfred Steinbicker, who
presides the awarding committee.
The Soldiers' Mothers
Organisation (SMO) campaigns to uphold the human rights of soldiers in
Russia, providing advice and support to them and their families. It has
been particularly outspoken concerning the current war in separatist
Chechnya, a conflict Moscow deems an "anti-terrorist" operation which
has been raging since 1999.
The Aachen Peace Prize, worth
2,000 euros, was set up in 1988. Last year's award winners were a
Palestinian-born activist and a Jewish historian.
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