By Meltem Bulur and Fatih Hafiz Mehmet
ANKARA
The Yunus Emre Institute has taught the Turkish language to more than 99,000 people in 40 countries since it was established in 2009.
It is a Turkish organization with 50 cultural centers around the world offering artistic, social and scientific programs. It also holds cultural events to promote Turkey and the Turkish language.
It is named after influential Turkish poet and mystic, Yunus Emre.
President of the Yunus Emre Institute, Seref Ates, told Anadolu Agency: “There is an interest in Turkish language and Turkey all over the world. Both the Ottomans as historical heritage and modern Turkey attract attention.”
“The work we do is not just teaching Turkish; [it is also] to educate people who would love Turkey and who would be in contact with Turkey, and to be able to explain Turkey's arguments to the world,” Ates stated, adding that each of their employees is also a cultural ambassador.
He said Yunus Emre centers abroad employ 322 personnel, including 189 local people, carrying out projects to popularize the learning of the Turkish language, adding: “At present we have agreements with more than 80 countries abroad. We send Turkish teachers through the Council of Higher Education in Turkey.”
Ates also pointed out that the teaching of Turkish language to foreigners was a subject not much discussed before, and stated that this changed with the Yunus Emre Institute.
He said that they had first started a certificate program at their headquarters in Ankara about how to teach Turkish to foreigners, and then they started practicing in the field abroad.
Currently, Yunus Emre centers teach Turkish language courses such as business Turkish and academic Turkish using modern methods, Ates said.
A new center in Moscow will open at the beginning of 2017.
“We employ people abroad who graduate from especially in Turkology. Thus, the number of people who prefer Turkish is increasing. […] Because, when they graduate, they have a chance to work in Yunus Emre,” Ates stated.
Turkish TV series
“Turkish TV series and cinema have a great effect” in spreading interest in Turkish language and culture in abroad, Ates said.
“Thanks to these series and movies, the [Turkish] lifestyle is being promoted abroad. These series are followed particularly in the Balkans, in the Arab world, and even in Latin American countries, in Russia.
"There are even people who learn Turkish in order to watch the Turkish series,” he added.
*Ilker Girit in Istanbul contributed to this story.
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