Anadolu Agency made an exclusive interview with YEE President Prof. Dr. Şeref Ateş, published the news about the Enstitü and our operations from the headline on their official website. All subscribers received the news item through the News Flow System.

Anadolu Agency gave detailed information about the Enstitü and its activities in the news item published from the headline on the official website with the title "Turkish spreads across the world with Yunus Emre".

Asking for information from Yunus Emre Enstitüsü President Prof. Dr. Şeref Ateş, Meltem Bulur and Fatih Hafız Mehmet from Anadolu Agency wrote the news item and Murat Usubaliev designed the infographic. Here is Yunus Emre Enstitüsü through the eyes of Anadolu Agency:

Yunus Emre Enstitüsü (YEE) has taught Turkish to more than 99 thousand people in 40 countries and has introduced Turkish culture since its establishment in 2009.

The interest towards Yunus Emre Enstitüsü that aims to introduce Turkish culture and language to the world in 50 centres in 40 countries, steadily increases. Yunus Emre Enstitüsü carries out  activities in centres abroad with a total of 322 personnel, 189 of whom are local. Thanks to the Enstitü that introduces Turkish culture to the world through projects realised, 99 thousand 261 students have learned Turkish to date. YEE continues to produce projects to increase interest in Turkish language by sending Turkish instructors over the Council of Higher Education to more than 80 universities abroad Enstitü has established collaborations with.

YEE President Şeref Ateş informed AA reporters on their operations. Ateş stated that YEE has organized various activities aimed at Turkish language abroad since 2009 and expressed that Turkish instruction is their leading operation, and they teach Turkish by employing modern methods at their centres.

Noting that teaching Turkish to foreigners was a subject not widely discussed in Turkey before, Ateş stated that this changed with YEE. Ateş said they initially organized certification programs for teaching Turkish to foreigners in their head office, and later they began to make implementations in the field.

Ateş stated that they organize Turkish courses for business Turkish and academic Turkish. Marking that they will open a centre in Moscow at the beginning of 2017, Ateş said, "There is interest toawrds Turkish language and Turkey all over the world. Both the Ottoman as a historical heritage and modern Turkey, attract attention."

"Our aim is to be able to explain Turkey's arguments to the world"

Noting that Turkey embraces immigrants while xenophobia is on the rise in Europe, Ateş underlined that this is why people and nations wish to learn about Turkey and Turkish culture. Ateş stated that Turkish courses and Yunus Emre Enstitüsü centres are popular for this reason, and that they also make efforts to meet this need. Ateş said, "There are even people who learn Turkish to be able to watch  Turkish series in original language or before they are aired. A Turkish instruction that focuses on communication and everyday use, is in question.”

Ateş stressing that each of their employees are cultural ambassadors at the same time, and they receive positive feedback thanks to them, spoke as follows: "Our task is not limited to Turkish instruction but we  also raise people who love Turkey and are in contact with Turkey, and to be able to explain Turkey's arguments to the world."

- "Curiosity rises as Turkish series are watched"

Ateş said that Yunus Emre Culture Centres were first opened in regions as the Balkans, Turkic and Arabic countries which are culturally familiar. Ateş stated that the first criterion for opening a centre is  population density, the second criterion is incoming requests, and the third criterion is whether a culture agreement is signed with the said country.

Ateş noted that with the projects they have realised to introduce Turkish culture, the interest in Turkey has increased abroad. Underlining that Turkey is in the spotlight in the eyes of the United Nations and for its humanitarian aids, Ateş continued as follows:

"But of course Turkish series and films have a huge influence. In these series and films, Turkish lifestyle is promoted also abroad. These series are followed especially in the Balkans, in the Arab world, and even in Latin American countries and Russia. Curiosity rises as Turkish series are watched. So from time to time we bring actors starring in these series as well as organizing meetings to satisfy this curiosity. They attract intense attention. This way our family life, common cultural humanitarian values regardless of segment such as asking for permission, honour, decency we do not normally discern in Turkey, are indirectly explained in these series.”

- "The distance Turkey has taken in the past 10 years can be felt everywhere"

In view of the fact that Turkey now exists in world politics, Ateş told that President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has a positive influence particularly in the countries where population is predominantly Muslim and in African countries that face political issues, and spoke as follows: "The expression that the world is bigger than five is popular all around the world. The distance Turkey has taken in the past 10 years can be felt everywhere. How this model is implemented is a major topic of discussion. "

Şeref Ateş stated that the number of people who visit Turkey and develop business relations with Turkey have increased with the projects they have realized, and continued as follows:

"We are employing people abroad, especially Turcology graduates. So the number of people who prefer Turkish as a foreign language increases. We have agreements with more than 80 universities in numerous foreign countries. We send Turkish language instructors to these countries over Council of Higher Education. These departments are also increasingly popular because people have the opportunity to work at Yunus Emre after they graduate. Relations established may also lead to financial gain in the future."