Turkey's Yunus Emre Institute releases documentary on Gagauz Turks

By Fuat Kabakci

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey's Yunus Emre Institute on Tuesday released a documentary telling the story of the Gagauz Turks of the Eastern European country of Moldova.

The documentary, posted on the institute’s YouTube channel as part of its Feel the Culture series, highlights the culture and history of the Gagauz people.

The documentary tells how Turkish language education started in 1934 in Moldova’s autonomous Gagauzia region after writer and poet Hamdullah Suphi Tanriover prepared a report on the wishes of the Gagauz Turks and presented it to Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of the Turkish Republic.

Turkish education still continues in Comrat, the capital of the Gagauzia region, with the help of the institute, the documentary says.

The Yunus Emre Institute has been operating in Comrat since 2015. The Mustafa Kemal Ataturk Library, established by the institute, continues to offer service to researchers in the region, according to the half-hour documentary.

Gagauzia is an autonomous region in the Eastern European country that is home to a mostly Gagauz population – an Orthodox Christian, Turkic community.

* Writing by Zehra Nur Duz.