An 8-year old Japanese boy who witnessed the  July 15th coup attempt by the Fetullahist Terrorist Organization (FETÖ) has now become a voluntary Turkish ambassador thanks to the interest and compassion shown by the Yunus Emre Institute (YEE).  

The boy, named Filinger Damjan, and his family were trapped for hours on the night of 15 July 2016 at Istanbul’s Atatürk Airport, where they had a transfer flight, while they were travelling from Japan to Hungary. The boy was traumatized because of the events on that night. However, he  became interested in the Turkish language and people after he had met with the Institute. 

Filinger was very excited to visit the Mobile Mathematics Museum in Budapest, capital of Hungary. But, despite his love for mathematics, when he learnt that the mobile museum came from Turkey and that visits to the museum must be accompanied by Turkish teachers, he remembered the trauma that he had to endure on 15 July 2016 in Turkey and therefore he did not enter the mobile museum. 

This was noticed by the employees of the Institute and they showed special interest in Filinger. As a result, the kid’s views about Turkey and the Turkish people began to change and he has become interested in learning Turkish. Filinger started to learn by himself more about the historic friendship between the Japanese and Turks and he has become more interested in the Turkish culture. As he became more aware of the similarities between the two cultures, he diversified his research and started to share the information he learnt with his friends.  

His father, Ono Hisayoshi, who is a lecturer of Japanese Language and Culture in Hungary, said that the trauma that his son experienced on 15 July 2016 has now turned into a love for Turkey thanks to the Yunus Emre Institute. “In the past, he used to talk about Hungary to his Japanese friends, now he talks only about Turkey. The hospitality of the Turks have deeply affected my son Filinger. That’s why we are grateful to them. Now my son has started to learn Turkish. He wants to show his love for Turkey by speaking Turkish when we visit Turkey.” he added.