ISTANBUL/ANKARA

Turkish first lady Emine Erdogan on Friday received the Dr. Beck Apitherapy Award for promoting bee products for medicinal purposes.

She hosted the International Apitherapy Federation's executives at the Vahdettin Mansion in Istanbul.

At the reception, Janos Kormendy-Racz, head of the Hungarian Apitherapy Association, presented the award to Erdogan for her contributions to the dissemination of apitherapy studies in Türkiye.

“This award is half Turkish, half Hungarian. The person you see in the picture has made great contributions to the use of bee products in the field of medicine and to the development of bee studies. I hope that it will be an occasion for us to go further in Turkey as well,” Kormendy-Racz said.

Dr. Ali Timucin Atayoglu, head of the international federation, and the accompanying delegates briefed the first lady about significant developments in the field.

He said Türkiye is among the leading countries in beekeeping and the second-largest country in honey production after China.

The prize was founded on the recommendation of Hungarian-Canadian apitherapist Michael Simics. Mihaly Fritz, one of Hungary's most prominent artists, designed the award.