Damla İrem Kılınç, a fourth-year student in the Department of Archaeology, has received the Dilan Sarıkaya Archaeology Prize from the Şirince Archaeological Society, a nongovernmental organization devoted to promoting the study of archaeology, anthropology, ethnology, philology and history. Co-founded by, among others, Ali Nesin, son of the famous Turkish writer Aziz Nesin, and Bilkent Department of Archaeology alumnus Tevfik Şerifoğlu, the Society began its work in 2015.
The prize was established to commemorate the death of archaeology student Dilan Sarıkaya in the 2015 Ankara train station bombing. Damla won this year’s award for her essay “Kutsal Arkeologlar, Hayalperest Definecilere Karşı” (Archaeological Saints Versus Imaginary Treasure Hunters); it can be downloaded at https://sirincearkeoloji.wordpress.com/kutsal-arkeologlar-hayalperest-definecilere-karsi/.