Turkish Education Center of the Yunus Emre Institute (YEI) in Cap Manuel Barracks in Dakar, the capital of Senegal, had its fourth term graduates.

Turkey's Ambassador to Dakar Ahmet Kavas, Turkey's Dakar Military Attaché Colonel Levent Güldağı, Dakar YEI Director Merve Işık Elsıkma, Senegal Military Education Department Head Colonel Masamba Thiam, and representatives of Turkish institutions attended the closing and graduation ceremony of the fourth term Turkish course held at Dakar Yunus Emre Institute on June 29th, 2022.

In his speech at the ceremony, Ambassador Kavas thanked Dakar Yunus Emre Institute Director Elsıkma, who organized Turkish lessons, Turkey's Dakar Military Attaché Colonel Güldağı, and Yunus Emre Institute Trainer İmran İpek.

Colonel Güldağı said that Senegalese officers, non-commissioned officers, and privates who completed their Turkish education attended various military courses in Turkey.

Güldağı stated that as part of the military training and cooperation agreement between the two countries, Turkish training courses were also provided in Istanbul for long-term training to be held in Turkey, and noted that 132 Senegalese officers and non-commissioned officers graduated from the courses in Turkey since 2016.

SENEGALESE SOLDIER READ POEMS OF MEHMET AKIF ERSOY AND YUNUS EMRE

Dakar Yunus Emre Institute Director Elsıkma said that they carried out Turkish teaching activities within the scope of military cooperation in many different countries, especially in Somalia, Senegal, Gambia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Elsıkma reminded that since 2018, they had given Turkish lessons annually at Cap Manuel Barracks in Senegal in order to contribute to the military cooperation agreement signed between Turkey and Senegal.

Noting that they had come to the end of the 9 month Turkish training program that started in October last year, Elsıkma said, "I believe that the military internships that the soldiers who learn Turkish during the 9-month training period will receive in the Turkish Armed Forces will greatly contribute to both their professional development and the continuity of the cooperation between the two countries."

Elsıkma also thanked Yunus Emre Institute Trainer Imran İpek and congratulated the soldiers.

Senegalese soldiers recited the poems "Çanakkale Şehitlerine’’ (To the Martyrs of Çanakkale) by Mehmet Akif Ersoy and "Come Let Us Meet" by Yunus Emre.

16 soldiers who successfully completed the course received their diplomas from Kavas, Güldağı, Elsıkma, and Thiam.

Soldiers then presented gifts to Ambassador Kavas, Güldağı, Elsıkma, and İpek.

The ceremony ended after the reception.