11th International Turkish Olympiads starts

The 11th International Turkish Olympiads organized by the International Turkish Education Association (TÜRKÇEDER) started on May 22 with a press conference held at the Atatürk Olympic Stadium in İstanbul.

The 11th Turkish Olympiads «International Language and Culture Festival» will take place between June 1 and 16 with the participation of 2000 students from 140 countries. During the Olympiads, there will be about 99 performances in 55 different cities across Turkey.

International Turkish Language Olympiads organizing committee Chairman Mehmet Sağlam, former chairman of Turkish Language Association and Turkish Olympiads Science Board Chairman Prof. Dr. Şükrü Haluk Akalın and the main sponsor of the Olympiads Bank Asya Deputy General Manager Murat Aydoğan were in attendance at the publicity meeting for giving details about the Olympiads.

Speaking at the press conference, Mehmet Sağlam said that «The International Turkish Olympiads has been taken place predominantly in Ankara and İstanbul for years; now it is spreading across Turkey. 140 different countries and diplomatic representatives and visitors of the participating countries will be present at the «International Language and Culture Festival »which will be held in İzmir that has a bid for the World's Fair Expo 2020, introducing Turkey and İzmir to the world before.»

Prof. Dr. Şükrü Haluk Akalın also stated that, «Turkish Olympiads is not an ordinary event. It is concrete evidence that the number of young people who speak Turkish is growing around the world and Turkish has become an international language. It is the name of a miracle which could not have thought 11 years ago.»

The Turkish Olympiads, which brings together hundreds of foreign students each year from Turkish schools established throughout the world, has been organized since 2003. Students will show performances in 19 categories such as songs, poetry, grammar, folk dances, theater and short films.

Each year, about 15,000 students around the world prepare for the Olympiads, but only the finalists who win at national competitions are invited to attend the huge international competition in Turkey. The competition will see gold medals given to the top 10 individuals, silver medals given to the top 10 percent of competitors and bronze medals given to the top 30 percent of competitors.

Adapted from Worldbulletin