The Language on Which the Sun Never Sets
Besjon Zenelaj could not rejoice or scream when he learned that he finished first in his country. This is because he was tongue-tied and could hardly sit on his chair.
This success was the culmination of a year's long fierce determination and hard work. It took him a while before he was relaxed enough to express his joy by yelling "yaşasin" (horay)! Besjon was placed fourth in the same competition a year ago, missing the third place by a single vote, as a member of the team representing his country. He was in great despair all year long until this year's competition.
Besjon, in fact, is one of the luckiest children in his country. He passed the admissions test for the Turkish School in Albania and enrolled along with 69 others in a class of 70 students. His family was proud of his success the most and said, "Our son will be a valuable member of the society," as they all hugged him. Besjon was so touched by these remarks that he vowed to never forget that moment for the rest of his life. Besjon said: "I realized my greatest dream by attending this school but missed participating in last year's Turkish Language Olympiad by only one point. For this reason, I looked forward to this year's. competition. I would realize another dream by visiting Turkey."
Besjon graduated from Hasan Riza Pasa College in the Albanian city of Shkoder this year. Here, he studied Turkish, the language on which the sun never sets, and made the team that represented Albania in the Turkish Language Olympiads. He was not placed at the Olympiads. However, it was not important for him. Participating in the Olympiads and going to Turkey was his hope. He was satisfied with being with Turkish speaking people.
Listening to singer Sertab Erener was announcing the countries participating the Olympiad one by one, was boring. She started with Argentina, went through the American continent, wandered around Bangladesh and reached Africa, then from the steppes of Asia to freezing Siberia; finally from Vietnam and Yemen without skipping Indonesia.
We got tired of hearing the unending list of countries, but committed people of Turkey do not seem to get tired of opening these schools. They have opened schools in 84 countries worldwide, from the very remote geographies to developed ones such as United States and France. They have made Turkey and Turkish language known all around the world. Opening so many school sin so many countries? It is easier said than done, of course. Who can measure the blood, sweat and tears in he process?. The Turkish Language Olympiad was but a simple view of those who are writing the story that we got tired of listening. "Turkish is becoming like the rising sun over the horizon; the sun will set. However, the language never sets."
Every team competes in its own tradition and colors there. Colorful clothes, skins of varying pigmentation, diverse traditions. Everyone is there with identities unique to themselves. It is possible to see once again that the world is made up of many colors and many cultures, but all speak Turkish, the common language of love.
Ukrainian Elvira Saranayeva summed it up with an Osman Sari poem. She gave life to words with her brilliant rendition.
ZAMAN
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