The 10th anniversary of the establishment of Yunus Emre Institute has been marked with several events in Istanbul.

A celebration ceremony was held on Saturday, May 4 at the Esma Sultan Mansion with the participation of local and foreign guests. A live music performance by the band "Trio" welcomed the guests who had a chance to get to know the Turkish culture closely at the stands for traditional handicraft such as marbling, calligraphy and silk cocoon processing.

The program moved on with a concert by ney player Burcu Karadağ accompanied by a symphonic orchestra, and the screenings of short films, and Institute President Prof. Dr. Şeref Ateş delivered the keynote speech.

"We are all parts of the same essence."

Prof. Dr. Şeref Ateş stressed the importance attached by the Republic of Turkey to peace and culture, noting that Yunus Emre Institute, established 10 years ago, has been successfully maintaining its mission to building bonds with the world and increasing the friends of Turkey since then.

Pointing out that the mission of building bonds between Turkey and the world is not a task which Yunus Emre Institute can handle alone, Ateş indicated that the Institute has established the Cultural Diplomacy Academic to perform training and awareness raising activities so that this task can be shouldered by the masses. He stated that they have added science diplomacy to the Institute's arsenal to building bridges between Turkey and other countries via knowledge and science.

President Ateş underlined that the Institute gets its inspiration from Anatolia's wisdom and traditions in setting its own path, and asserted that the mankind needs Yunus Emre Institute and the peaceful philosophy of Yunus Emre more than ever.

"For 10 years, we have been working to spread goodness and beauty around the globe and discover common points among out aesthetic tastes. All languages speak the same tongue, but with their unique styles and variations. We see each culture and lifestyle as unique and special and we believe that this uniqueness is vital for the continuation of humanity. Each event has essentially a single, profound meaning: that is, we are all parts of the same essence. If we destroy our opposites or alternatives, we destroy ourselves at the same time," he said.

Term presidency transferred to the Katara Foundation

During the 10th anniversary celebrations, the handover ceremony for the term presidency of the Global Public Diplomacy Network (GPDNet), for which Yunus Emre Institute has been acting as the term president since 2016, has been held.

With the signing ceremony between Institute President Prof. Dr. Şeref Ateş and Katara Director General Dr. Halid bin İbrahim El Sulaiti, the term presidency of the GPDNet was transferred to Katara Cultural Village Foundation.

Honor Award to veteran journalist Doğan Hızlan

As part of the 10th anniversary reception, the members of the national media outlets who have contributed to the activities conducted to promote Turkey's international prestige and increase the number of people who are friendly to Turkey were presented with plaques of appreciation.

During the ceremony, Doğan Hızlan, the veteran journalist from the Hürriyet daily, was given the Honor Plaque, while Muhammed Selman Yılmaz (TRT 2), Nazlı Çelik Yüksekovada (Star TV), Mustafa Aşçıoğlu (Kanal D), Ali Çağatay (Bloomberght TV), Bünyamin Yılmaz (AA), Gülay Afşar (NTV), Sinan Özedincik (Sabah), Selçuk Tepeli (Habertürk TV) and Murat Çiçek (Kanal 24) were among those who were awarded with plaques.

The quests posed for a souvenir photo and the event ended with the dinner given in honor of the guests.