7th International Turkish Olympics
A total 700 students from 115 countries in the world, all from diverse backgrounds in terms of nationality, color, mother tongue, faith and culture gathered in Turkey. They competed before expert juries proving their command of the Turkish language in such areas as speaking, writing, grammar, singing, reciting poetry, presentation, general culture and essay writing. They sang Turkish songs, folk songs and recited Turkish poetry, performed folk dances and did a lot of other things in the way of social and cultural activities that Turkish public opinion is very familiar with as being typically Turkish. They travelled, apart from Istanbul, to Ankara, Izmir, Kayseri, Bursa and Gaziantep to mingle with crowds and met with the Turkish President, the speaker of the TGNA, the President of the Turkish Language Institute, and the heads of the Turkish Judicial organs, the TRT Director General, many statesmen, ministers, political party leaders, mayors and municipal officials and representatives of non-governmental organizations. All this was covered by the Turkish media for two weeks.
Although diverse commentaries, both for and against, were made regarding the quality and importance of these activities, it was something which no one could remain indifferent to or totally ignore. Some lambasted these activities on the grounds that they served as an advertisement and a little over-hyped promotion of the schools opened in and outside of Turkey by a non-governmental organization. Some simply ignored them to say the least. However, when viewed impartially, we can say and have to admit these activities had a lot of benefits not only for Turkey but also the international community and world public opinion.
Activities of this kind, seen through Turkey's standpoint, are bound to boost Turkey's visibility in the world. They add to its worldwide promotion. Given the fact that all the participants were young students of diverse backgrounds, saying that this promotion will serve Turkey's benefits will not be exaggeration. These young people constitute a potential to make a most favorable contribution to Turkey's prestige. The creation of a community speaking and communicating in Turkish will inevitably further strengthen the importance and role of Turkish among world languages.
The Olympics held in Turkey are the ultimate stage of the qualifiers held previously in 115 countries. That is to say, there has emerged a large community of students in many countries where the mother tongue is other than Turkish. The more the number of Turkish speaking people is, the better will be relations with these peoples in the economic, social, cultural and educational areas.
What's more, these activities will help Turkish society strengthen its feeling of empathy with the different peoples all over the world, causing them to adopt an all-embracing attitude. A Turkish nation more blended with the world should be expected to show a stronger desire to learn cultures, languages and understandings other than its own. This is conducive to the creation of an order of mutual benefits in which not only Turks and the Turkish language but all participating nations will score gains. This is a situation which serves as a response to the concerns and criticisms that Turkey is aspiring to reign superiority over other cultures.
The gathering of young students from 115 countries is tantamount to an international community in miniature. There is no doubt such a community will constitute a sound potential towards the establishment of cooperation, empathy, dialogue and peace in international relations. The multi-faceted advantages that Turkey is to gain from sitting at the heart of this mechanism being apart, the international community is also to reap huge benefits in terms of solidarity and security.
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