The awards that the Royal Kingdom presented traditionally to those who deserved it every April 24 were delayed this year due to the coronavirus outbreak. At the ceremony held in the Royal Concert Building in Amsterdam, 51 people who voluntarily acted on behalf of humanity met with their awards. Journalist Basri Doğan was among those who received this award.
Presenting his award to Basri Doğan, Amsterdam Mayor Femke Halsema said:
” Mr. Basri Doğan, Amsterdam is a city that attaches great importance to freedom. Free expression and thoughts are one of our most important principles. If anyone understands how important this is in this hall, it is you. You have been threatened with death many times because of your expressions and peaceful ideals. This is terrible and unacceptable. You are reporting to many media outlets about the importance of free expression and our multicultural society with your journalist identity. You are a social person and volunteer for many associations. You serve the Dutch society by contributing to integration and harmony in your work. You have organized programs in your neighborhood and you have been the organizer and chairman of the programs, but when the kitchen needs to be cleaned, you have also cleaned the place. In your works at Platform İNS and Witboek foundation, you are producing projects that will bring the discriminations into the agenda. You are doing these works with great sincerity. Because you are powered by multiculturalism, dialogue and democratic values. You actively build bridges between people and help people in need. For example, you help people who take refuge here by leaving because they think differently from their country of birth. Mr. Doğan, you have been a member of the Dutch Royal family and have been awarded the royal engagement.”
Stating that it is a very honoring thing to get a Royal Order from the Royal Family, Basri Doğan expressed his feelings as follows: “This is an engagement that is presented to a certain number of people every year. As a person of Turkish origin living in the Netherlands, it is a great honor to receive this award. In addition to my journalism profession, I volunteered as a Service Volunteer in different foundations and associations. I worked voluntarily on the Witboek Foundation, Platform İNS, Kunst van het Samenleven, Time To Help and Broken Chalk Platform, especially operating in and around Amsterdam. As a result of the activities we have done, the Dutch Royal Family deemed this award worthy of me. It is a great honor. This is also an appreciation and thanks to our projects for this community. I would like to thank both the Dutch state, the Royal Family and the Municipality of Amsterdam for seeing us worthy of this. ”