Once a year, Goethe Institute grants individuals the German Order of Honor, to encourage dialogue between cultures.

In 2019, Turkish German writer Doğan Akhanlı has been bestowed this award. It is noteworthy that it was Armenia that had nominated this writer for this honor.

Akhanlı has been persecuted and has been imprisoned several times in Turkey. The subject of Armenian Genocide depicted in his books has also played its part in this. In his novels, the writer speaks openly about the Armenian Genocide in Turkey, considers himself a mediator between the Armenian and Turkish peoples, and wishes to achieve reconciliation between the two peoples.

Last time Doğan Akhanlı visited Armenia in the spring of last year. In capital city Yerevan, he recited passages from his books. And it was after this reading that the Goethe Center in Yerevan had nominated him for this year’s German Order of Honor.