Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Prime Minister of Turkey, has been awarded the King Faisal International Prize for Service to Islam. This was announced here on Monday by the award's Secretary General Dr. Abdullah Al-Othaimeen. The Islamic Studies branch of the award was withheld because the works nominated did not meet the set standards. Al-Othaimeen said members of the selection committees had made their decision at a series of two-day sessions from Jan. 9 to Jan. 11 this year. Erdogan was awarded the prize for his political and administrative achievements, and leadership in the Islamic World. According to the award committee, his tenure as mayor of Istanbul had been instrumental in the progress of that city. Following his election as prime minister, Erdogan embarked on a series of reforms that established him as a leading statesman in the world. Nationally, Erdogan had pioneered a major campaign for economic, social and cultural reforms that paved the way for substantial national development and placed Turkey among the world's leading countries, economically and industrially. This was achieved without compromising his ideals of democracy and justice, the committee stated on its website. He has also been known as a strong defender of Muslims all over the world, including the Palestinian people, it was stated. Winners of the other three of the award's five branches were Algerian Professor Abderrahman El-Houari Hadj-Saleh and Lebanese Professor Ramzi Mounir Balabakki, who shared the Arabic Language and Literature Award (Studies Dealing with Arabic Grammatical Thought.) Professor Hadj-Saleh received the award in recognition of his insightful analysis of Al-Khalil's linguistic theory, its relation to contemporary grammatical thought, its originality and its place among other grammatical concepts. He was also commended for his contribution to the advancement of Arabic linguistics and the Arabization movement. Professor Balabakki was recognized for his outstanding original research on Arabic grammatical thought. His publications, in Arabic and English, have enhanced Arabic grammar education in Western institutions and familiarized Western researchers with the fundamental manuscript of Si-Bawaihi, a revered ancient scholar and founder of Arabic grammar, whose thoughts and methods have profoundly influenced his successors to the present day. The Science Award (Mathematics) was jointly given to American Professor Enrico Bombieri of IBM von Neumann Professor Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton University, and Australian Professor Terence Chi-Shen Tao of James and Carol Collins Chair of Mathematics, University of California, Los Angeles. Professor Bombieri was praised for making pioneering contributions to various branches of mathematics. His work was characterized by its originality, power, clarity of exposition, and for addressing fundamental and difficult problems in number theory, algebraic geometry, complex analysis, and minimal surfaces. Professor Tao is a world-renowned mathematician working in a number of branches of mathematics including harmonic analysis, partial differential equations, combinatorics, number theory, and signal processing. He is known for his highly original solutions of difficult and important problems and for his technical brilliance in the use of the necessary mathematical machinery. The Medicine Award (Non-Arthroplasty Management of Degenerative Joint Disease) was jointly awarded to German Professor Reinhold Ganz of Chairman Emeritus, Orthopaedics Department, University of Bern, and Canadian professors Professor Jean-Pierre Pelletier, head of Osteoarthritis, Montreal University, and Professor Johanne Martel Pelletier, Joint Director of the Osteoarthritis Research Unit, Montreal University. Prof. Ganz dedicated his career to the study and treatment of diseases of the hip joint. He has carried out seminal anatomical research that contributed substantially to the understanding of the blood supply to the acetabulum and femoral head. He also devised a new surgical strategy for treatment of the prearthritic hip. These achievements have led to his recognition as a leading authority on conservative hip surgery. Professors Jean Pelletier and Johanne Pelletier contributed substantially to translational research in the field of osteroarthritis. Their original work has led to major discoveries in the pathophysiology of osteoarthritis, particularly joint catabolism and repair. These studies have paved the way for the identification of therapeutic targets. In addition they developed an innovative technology for the quantitative assessment of changes and alteration in cartridge and other articular tissues. Speaking at a press conference, Prince Khaled Al-Faisal, Emir of Makkah and head of the award committee, expressed thanks to King Abdullah, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, Crown Prince Sultan Bin Abdul Aziz, and Prince Naif Bin Abdul Aziz, Second Deputy Premier and Minister of Interior, for hosting the King Faisal Foundation and the King Faisal International Prize.
