The Quadriga council has decided not to give out awards this year
after a public scandal. Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, Mexican
Secretary of Foreign Affairs Patricia Espinosa Cantellano, German
teacher of the Turkish language Betul Durmaz and Palestinian Prime
Minister Salam Fayyad will not receive awards.
The Quadriga has been awarded for contributions to politics, economics
and culture since 2003. Putin was to receive the award. The public
believes that the Russian prime minister does not deserve the award.
Jam Ozdemir of the “green” party resigned from the Quadriga council.
The founder of the Berlin fund Bela, Barbara-Maria-Monhaim, founder of
Wikipedia, Jimmy Wales, and historian Edgar Wolfrum also left it.
Czech President Vaclav Klaus said that he would abandon the award if
Putin receives it.
The award has previously been given to Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Shimon Perez.
However, Mikhail Gorbachev received the award before, despite attacks
on peaceful protesters in Tbilisi in April 1989 and in Baku in 1990.
Similar attacks were held in the Baltic area in January 1991.
Orkhan Sattarov, head of the European office of VK
