Turkish students show great interest in Hindi language

By Sena Guler

ANKARA (AA) - Though the Hindi language is not so popular in Turkey, a group of Turkish university students in capital Ankara showed Friday their keen on the language of the South Asian country.

More than a dozen students from Ankara University's Indology Department -- the only Hindi language department in Turkey -- competed in the categories of story telling, poem reciting, singing and essay writing.

The event, which started with a Bollywood dance show by one of the students, was sponsored by the Indian Embassy to mark the World Hindi Day, which is also known as Vishwa Hindi Divas, and annually observed on Jan. 10 to promote the language worldwide.

After performing their parts, 12 winning students were awarded prizes by Vanaja K. Thekkat, charge d’Affairs of the Indian Embassy.

Merve Yanik, who performed the dance and also sang a Hindi song, was decorated with a cup for her successful stage.

The Department of Indology professors Yalcin Kayali and Esra Kokdemir were also presented with a cup for organizing the event under sponsorship of the embassy.

“We have been invited to the Indian Embassy as part of the Hindi Day celebrations,” Kayali told Anadolu Agency.

“Along with my colleague Esra Kokdemir, we have prepared our students for this program for nearly a month,” he said, adding that students from all grades participated in the event.

He added that they mark the day each year in the first week of March according to their academic schedule.