A ceremony was organized jointly by the Yunus Emre Institute and the Social Sciences University of Ankara (ASBU) to award certificates to the academicians of the ASBU’s Department of Modern Languages who attended a certificate program for “Teaching Turkish as a Foreign Language.”  

The program was organized by the Yunus Emre Institute for the academicians, who will be assigned for teaching Turkish as a foreign language, to gain experience and expertise. The academicians who successfully completed the program were awarded their certificates at a ceremony at the ASBU which was also attended by President of the Yunus Emre Institute Prof. Dr. Şeref Ateş and President of the USBU Prof. Dr. Mehmet Barca.  

In his speech at the ceremony, President of the Yunus Emre Institute Prof. Dr. Ateş stressed the great contributions of universities to the images of their respective countries. Ateş expressed his desire to contribute to fill the 30 % quota for foreign students in the Social Sciences University of Ankara and cooperate with the university. He continued:  “In the years ahead, we would like to cooperate with the Social Sciences University of Ankara with regard to the Turkish Summer School that we organize every year in Turkey. This year we are working with 30 universities. As in previous years, this year, too, we will host international students in Turkey for one month. We will provide them the opportunity to speak Turkish in Turkey and interact with the Turkish people.”      

Even though the quota was limited this year for the Turkish Summer School, Ateş said, more than 100 thousand university students applied for the program from many countries across the world. “A positive perception about Turkey develops among the foreigners who come here to these lands and get in touch with the people here. Therefore, we also value the presence of foreign students in our universities.” he added.          

President of the Social Sciences University of Ankara Prof. Dr. Barca, for his part, pointed out that they wanted to cooperate with the Institute and that the Institute’s international recognition is a very important asset in this regard. He also emphasized the importance that the university attached to foreign language studies and foreign students.      

The flow of international students is felt considerably in Turkey,  Barca said, and the ASBU, which teaches in 11 languages, wants to add Turkish to this list as well. “We also  aim to increase the percentage of our instructors to 30 %. It is 20 % at the moment. We also desire to reach a 30% level of international students in our university. By teaching Turkish in our university, we aim to meet both our own need and the need of the state. Our academicians have received their Turkish Instruction certificates with the contributions of the Yunus Emre Institute. We thank President of the Institute Prof. Dr. Şeref Ateş and all Institute employees for their cooperation and contributions.” Barca concluded his remarks.