Cultural institute teaches Turkish tongue to thousands

By Saadet Firdevs Apari

ISTANBUL (AA) – This year an institute promoting Turkish culture taught the nation’s tongue to more than 15,000 people.

The Yunus Emre Institute instructed 15,184 people in over 1,100 courses on how to speak Turkish in 2019, the institute said in a statement on Thursday.

Seref Ates, the group’s head, said they hope to double the number of people who want to learn Turkish.

“We’re just following the path forged by our president and using our country’s soft power,” said Ates, referring to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

As the group offers more and more cultural activities, he added, 2020 is set to be the year of Yunus Emre, named after a Sufi poet at the dawn of the Ottoman era.

“We aim to open more than 10 new cultural centers throughout the year, from America to Africa,” he stressed.

After being founded in 2009, the institute has taught Turkish to over 170,000 people in 58 cultural centers, 23 universities, and 194 schools in various regions of the world.

The institute has held a variety of activities, including Turkish film festivals, to promote Turkish cinema and Anatolian cuisine.

The Yunus Emre Institute and Archers Foundation also carried out the Kemankes Project, which aims to promote traditional Turkish archery internationally and raise new athletes in 20 countries.

The institute now has over 50 cultural centers around the world offering artistic, social, and scholarly programs.

*Writing by Gozde Bayar