Aziz Sancar's childhood home in Savur, Mardin, opens as museum

The house where Nobel laureate Prof. Dr. Aziz Sancar was born and raised in Savur district of Mardin has been converted into the Aziz Sancar Museum. Culture and Tourism Minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy opened the museum. Attendees included Mardin Governor Tuncay Akkoyun, Savur District Governor Enes Emircan Buyuran, local mayors, AK Party Mardin provincial chair Mehmet Uncu, and Sancar and his family.

Ersoy said the historic building, with origins before 1938, preserves Savur's traditional residential architecture through its stone walls, courtyard and rooms. On the 395-square-metre first floor of the four-storey building, three halls display photographs, medical instruments, diplomas, academic gowns, gifts and awards, and files on his scientific work. The basement and other floors will be used by the Mardin Governorship as a reading room and science centre.

Sancar, who carried out his scientific work in the United States with a sense of responsibility to represent Turkey, said: “I worked day and night and succeeded. But Turkey always held first place for me.” He noted that the house's original character had been preserved and expressed hope that it would become a science home.