Turkish Minister of Culture and Tourism Numan Kurtulmuş who is visiting China, stated that they hold talks for opening a Yunus Emre Enstitüsü centre and said, "I hope that soon a Yunus Emre Enstitüsü centre will be opened in China.”

Minister of Culture and Tourism Numan Kurtulmuş who visited China, informed Anadolu Agency (AA) and Turkish Radio and Television Corporation (TRT) about his visits. Stating that they held talks to open a Yunus Emre Enstitüsü, Kurtulmuş said, "I hope in the near future it will be possible to open a Yunus Emre Enstitüsü centre in China." 

Minister of Culture and Tourism Kurtulmuş said that 2018 will be a good and valuable year in terms of Turkey and China relations.

Minister of Culture and Tourism Numan Kurtulmuş who visited Chengdu to participate in the 22nd General Assembly of the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) hosted by China as part of his official visit program, issued statements to TRT and AA.

"This visit is a landing to China"

During his China visits, Kurtulmuş said that meetings held with leading representatives of tourism sector and Turkish companies operating in China were "fruitful" and these meetings will be held regularly.

Kurtulmuş stated the following: "This visit is a landing to China, so to speak. We will continue to work with all our power to get results. I realized in these meetings with the Chinese that China attaches great importance to Turkey." 

Expressing that the Beijing administration regards Turkey as a strategic partner, Kurtulmuş marked that they seriously intend and aim to develop relations in all areas.

Underlining that Chinese minister requested for “Two million tourists to visit Turkey” in the bilateral discussion held the previous day, Kurtulmuş said, "This meeting has been extremely fruitful and I hope that this will lead to taking some steps which will yield results."

"Yunus Emre Enstitüsü to be opened in China soon"

Minister Kurtulmuş stated that the contacts are expected to considerably contribute to the development of tourism in Turkey and strengthening the cultural activities between China and Turkey, and continued as follows:

"We held talks to inaugurate a Yunus Emre Enstitüsü centre in China. Hopefully, soon we will be able to open a YEE centre in China. We will take steps for the Chinese to open a Confucius Institute in Turkey in the same way. Currently they are in contact with some university centres. Thereby both the conference and the talks with the Chinese have been fruitful."

Kurtulmuş added that bilateral talks will take place with the ministers of countries affiliated with UNWTO and the steps to be taken in the field of tourism will be discussed with concerned countries. Turkey is a founding member of the UNWTO established in 1975. Minister of Culture and Tourism Kurtulmuş will also gather with Azerbaijani Minister of Culture and Tourism Ebulfez Garayev as part of his contacts in Chengdu.