Students from the Turkology Department of the Institut National des Langues et Civilisations Orientales (INALCO), located in Paris, the capital of France, are visiting Turkey.

The students will be visiting the historical and cultural sites in Istanbul for a week as part of the Tour of Istanbul Project, organized jointly by Yunus Emre Institute and the Turkology Students Association at the INALCO.

The project is one of several activities organized by the bicultural students (French and Turkish) who have volunteered to promote the Turkish culture and history, and 30 students (Turkish or foreign nationals ) visit Turkey between January 19 and 27, 2019.  

The tour program will commence with a cruise route along Bosporus and to the islands near Istanbul, followed by a visit to the hill named after famed French writer Pierre Loti, who had showed closed interest in Turkey. The students will have an opportunity to learn more about the Turkish culture as they visit Istanbul's leading landmarks, including Eyüp Sultan Mosque, the Grand Bazaar, Hagia Sophia, and the Maiden Tower.

Institut National des Langues et Civilisations Orientales (INALCO)

The INALCO was the first higher education institution to establish a Turkology chair in 1795, and it teaches about geographic, political, anthropological and economic situations in the Middle Eastern, Asian, American and overseas nations in the field of more than 100 social branches. Scientific research is conducted under the coordination of two major institutions, namely, the Centre national de la recherche scientifique (CNRS) and the Institut de recherche pour le développement (IRD). World renowned Turkologists, Irene Melikoff and François Georgeon, graduated this school. The Institute admits about 300 students to the department of Turkology every year, and it remains as a major center for Turkology studies.