Nobel winner Turk donates for orphaned Azerbaijani girl

By Ruslan Rehimov

BAKU (AA) - Turkey's Nobel chemistry laureate​​​​​​​ Aziz Sancar donated money for education of Hatice Shahnezerova, who lost her parents in an attack by the Armenian forces on the Azerbaijani city of Ganja.

Sancar was moved to hear about the attack and suggested to launch a fund for the education of children who were the victims of the war, according to Azerbaijan's state-run news agency Azertac.

It was noted that Sancar made donations to a bank account opened for Hatice’s education.

Three-year-old Hatice lost both of her parents and toddler sister in a ballistic missile attack of Armenian forces on Ganja on Oct. 17.

At least 26 civilians were killed in two attacks on Ganja during the conflicts in Nagorno-Karabakh.

Aziz Sancar is a Turkish scientist living in the US. He was awarded the 2015 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, along with Tomas Lindahl and Paul Modrich for their mechanistic studies of DNA repair.

Relations between the former Soviet republics of Azerbaijan and Armenia have been tense since 1991 when the Armenian military occupied Nagorno-Karabakh, also known as Upper Karabakh, a territory recognized as part of Azerbaijan, and seven adjacent regions.

New clashes erupted Sept. 27 and the Armenian army continued attacks on civilians and Azerbaijani forces, even violating humanitarian cease-fire agreements for 44 days.

Baku liberated several cities and nearly 300 settlements and villages from Armenian occupation during this time.

On Nov. 10, the two countries signed a Russia-brokered agreement to end fighting and work toward a comprehensive resolution.

The truce is seen as a victory for Azerbaijan, and a defeat for Armenia.

*Writing by Dilan Pamuk in Ankara