Turkish Nobel laureate's home to open as museum

MARDIN, Turkey

Nobel chemistry laureate Aziz Sancar's former home in southeastern Turkey will be converted into a museum.

Local authorities in the province of Mardin prepared the project to restore a part of the three-story and 36-room historical mansion in the Savur district, where the Sancar family once lived.

Mardin Governor Mustafa Yaman told Anadolu Agency that the mansion needed to be restored as it had long been vacant.

With the restoration project -- supported by the governor's and mayor's offices -- having been launched, Yaman said: "I believe we will finish the restoration in a very short time."

"Sancar is a valuable scientist and a role model for young people," he noted, adding: "We welcomed the decision to turn the house into a museum with the support of the governorship and the municipality."

Local and foreign guests coming to the district want to see Sancar's house. This restoration will also boost tourism in the district, he said.

Aziz Sancar had once worked in the district as a doctor, using the apartment "as a public hospital" for the local people, he noted, underlining that his uncle did not charge for his service and even provided medications with his own resources.

Sancar received the Nobel Prize in chemistry in 2015 for his work on cells that repair DNA damage.