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December 8, 2002
LONDON -- Miss Turkey won the Miss World contest Saturday, bringing to a close an international pageant that incited deadly rioting in Nigeria.
Azra Akin stood at attention while her national anthem was played after accepting a tiara from last year's winner, Nigeria's Agbani Darego. Akin won $156,000.
"I hope I will represent the women of the world in a good way," she said. "I think it is good for a woman to have this position, and I hope I can make a difference."
Akin, who turns 21 today and was raised by her Turkish parents in the Netherlands, plays the flute and listed her passions as ballet and belly dancing.
Miss Colombia Natalia Peralta was runner-up. Miss United States, Rebekah Revels of North Carolina, was among the 10 finalists.
Ninety-two contestants took part in the show, which was moved to London after Muslim-Christian rioting last month killed more than 200 people, forcing it out of Nigeria.
The pageant's motto is "beauty with a purpose," and among this year's contestants were lawyers, businesswomen, architects and a doctor.
The 52nd pageant was held at the Alexandra Palace convention center in north London. Organizers say the show was broadcast in 137 countries to a global audience of more than 2-billion.
The Nigerian rioting was barely mentioned Saturday. "Our thoughts go out to the families that suffered," said co-host Sean Kanan, an actor on the American soap opera The Bold and the Beautiful.
Amina Lawal, the Nigerian woman sentenced to death by an Islamic court for adultery, gained a tribute. A statement read on behalf of the contestants remembered "all humans across the world who are threatened and abused."
The controversy began when several contestants boycotted the competition after Lawal was condemned to death. The government promised the sentence would not be carried out, and organizers pressed ahead.
But deadly rioting erupted when a Nigerian journalist wrote an article saying the Muslim prophet Mohammed would have approved of the contest and might even have taken one of the contestants as his bride.
In Nigeria, viewers tuned in with a mixture of regret and relief, with many agreeing the pageant had to be moved to avoid further bloodshed.
"This is just a contest between people who believe they are beautiful," said Halima Ibrahim, a civil servant and self-described "devout Muslim" who watched "out of boredom."
"I am just glad there is no more violence."