Yunus Emre Institute's Sarajevo Branch marks the 10th anniversary of its establishment as the Yunus Emre Institute's first center opened abroad.

More Than 8,000 Students Learn Turkish

The Institute's Sarajevo branch has provided services to more than 5,000 students at the Turkish language courses launched since 2009 and it is the first center where the My Choice Is Turkish Project, which seeks to make Turkish part of official curricula as an elective course, was implemented. The project is carried out in 7 cantons in Bosnia and Herzegovina, reaching more than 8,000 students, while the hundreds of students from Bosnia and Herzegovina are hosted in Turkey under the "Sister School" project implemented with 140 schools across the country.

The Institute conducts various activities for the students who take Turkish as an elective course and opens its doors to people of Bosnia and Herzegovina from all walks of life with its courses on marbling, calligraphy, ney (reed flute), cuisine and Ottoman Turkish.

New Kemankeş (Archers) Raise

Yunus Emre Institute's Sarajevo Branch is bringing Turkish archery to the people of Bosnia and Herzegovina under the Kemankeş (Archers) Project, implemented by Yunus Emre Institute in collaboration with the Archers' Foundation, and working to address the demand across the country for the newly launched courses.

The opening ceremony of the new courses was held with the participation of House of Peoples of Bosnia and Herzegovina Chairman Bakir Izetbegović and World Ethnosport Confederation President Bilal Erdoğan at the campus of the International University of Sarajevo in Sarajevo on Wednesday, October 16. The courses provide theoretical and practical information on the traditional Turkish archery and offer opportunity to make practice.

Historical adventure of Göbeklitepe​

Another event hosted at the International University of Sarajevo, founded by Turkish entrepreneurs in 2004 in Bosnia and Herzegovina, was the opening of the photography exhibition entitled "Göbeklitepe."

The opening ceremony was attended by Izetbegović and Erdoğan and Yunus Emre Institute President Prof. Dr. Şeref Ateş gave briefing on the exhibition.

Drawing attention to the significance of Göbeklitepe, dubbed as the zero point of history, discovery of which has changed all archaeological data, Ateş provided information on the activities conducted by the Institute around the world following the declaration of 2019 as the Year of Göbeklitepe.

The exhibition featuring the historical adventure of Göbeklitepe since its discovery will be open to visitors for 15 days.  

10th Anniversary Concert with Ömer Faruk Tekbilek

World renowned Turkish musician and composer Ömer Faruk Tekbilek gave a concert at the historic Sarajevo Library (Vijecnica) on the 10th anniversary of the establishment of Yunus Emre Institute.

Tekbilek performed his compositions which masterfully blend Eastern and Western tunes as he was accompanied by Turkish musicians Mehmet Bahadır Şener and Murat Tekbilek, Italian musician Federico Ferrandina, Greek musicians Ioannis Dimitriadis and Christos Lampropoulos, and Israeli musician Shlomo Deshet.

The concert was attended by Justice and Development Party Deputy Chairman Numan Kurtulmuş, Ambassador of the Republic of Turkey to Sarajevo Haldun Koç, Sarajevo Mayor Abdulah Skaka, and the representatives of Yunus Emre Institute and Turkish institutions in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and followed by a photography exhibition featuring activities conducted by Yunus Emre Institute for the last 10 years. The exhibition showcasing the Institute's activities in education, science, culture and art all around the globe garnered heightened interest of the attendees.