The “Turkish archery is on the world stage” program of the Kemankeş Project which is cooperatively carried out by Yunus Emre Institute and Archery Foundation to introduce traditional Turkish archery to the four corners of the world and to contribute to intercultural dialogue by raising athletes in this branch and held in 16 different countries as of its first year was held by Yunus Emre Institute Amman on 20.04.2018.

In his speech at the program, Mr. Murat Karagöz, the Ambassador of the Republic of Turkey to Amman, emphasized that Yunus Emre Institute made a significant contribution to Turkey-Jordan relations through its activities in Jordan and stated that it sustained its contribution through archery courses starting with Kemankeş Project.

Mr. Bilal Erdoğan, a founding member of the Board of Trustees of the Archery Foundation, underlined peace and friendship in his speech. Stating that while nowadays weapons are used for mass destruction, Turkey is using weapons to bring peace as it did in the history, Mr. Erdoğan explained that he deeply felt the friendship between these two countries even though he had been in Amman just for a half day and wished this friendship to be improved further.

In his speech, Prof. Dr. Şeref Ateş, the President of the Yunus Emre Institute, as the hosting institute, explained about Kemankeş Project which started with Archers Foundation and stated that they wanted to introduce the archery, which is not only a national sport of the Turks but also one of the important cultural values of them, to the world.

After speeches, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Erkan Göksu gave a conference titled “Historical and Cultural Background of Turkish Archery”. At the conference, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Erkan Göksu conveyed valuable information about the historical development of the archery, arrow crafting, the materials used for arrow crafting and the history of the Turkish archery. He also explained how to set up a bow while Mr. Bilal Erdoğan, on the other hand, demonstrated to the Jordanian guests how it is to be practiced.

The conference continued with an exhibition titled “Kemankeş Turkish Archery“. Visitors to the exhibition received information about arrow crafting and archery from the bow master Ali Ercan Özek.

The last stop of the program was the performance of the archery trainees of the Yunus Emre Institute Amman. By shooting arrows, Mr. Bilal Erdoğan also joined trainees who performed what they learned during archery courses which started with Kemankeş Project. The program, to which a lot of Jordanian guests attended, came to an end with giving presents and offerings.