"Children of Turkish" Explore Anatolia, Delight Locals
Some of the students who came to Istanbul for the finale of the fifth Turkish Language Olympics from 102 countries spent additional time in the country unwinding in cities such as Bursa, Konya and Izmir.
Some participants returned to their home countries after the weekend final, while others chose to rest and unwind after the competition in Turkey by visiting historical, cultural and tourist spots. The students were hosted with great hospitality and interest by locals, some of whom had a chance to see a rerun of the children's performances, viewed and attended with great enthusiasm.
Some 135 students from 31 countries were invited to Bursa as the guests of the Blue World Assistance and Support Foundation. Some students took a hiking trip and visited Mt. Uludağ, one of the Turkey's most popular ski resorts in the winter months, and enjoyed a Turkish-style barbecue. Many locals accompanied the Turkish Language Olympics participants with their children. In a short city tour, the visitors viewed historical, cultural and tourist sites. Afterwards the students came to the Bursa Open-air Theater to perform small parts of their shows -- which included Turkish songs and poetry readings -- in front of an audience of 5,000.
Övez Muradov, who won a gold medal in the special abilities category with his stand-up show, said he is a big fan of Turkey. Dafina Alishangi, who attends Mehmet Akif College in Kosovo and recited the poem "I want to be a teacher" at the Olympics, said that she likes Bursa because of its similarity to her country.
Cibril from Burkina Faso said he was happy to visit Turkey and had already made many friends. "We had very good times here. We developed many good relationships with children from other countries and Turkey," he enthused.
Those who traveled to Konya visited the Mevlana Culture Center. An audience of nearly 10,000 came to view the students' live performance there. Hundreds who could not enter the building watched the performance via monitors in the center's courtyard.
After the program in Konya concluded, the teachers who work at the international Turkish schools and instruct many of the students took the stage. The audience applauded the teachers, who said the people that should be applauded are those who put on activities such as this.
As the event ended, teachers and students came to the stage to sing a song named "Hayat bayram olsa" (what if life was a holiday) in unison. All of the students and teachers were awarded special gold medals by Türk Ocaklari, a Turkish nongovernmental organization supporting Turkic issues and events such as the Olympics.
Another group of students visited Izmir. In the Aliağa Open-air Theater the students performed folk shows after singing and reading poems. Aliağa Mayor Tansu Kaya said they are happy to host the students who came from around the world. "I am honored to see those children, who speak our language and share our feelings. I thank those who are serving the Turkish language." he said.
Aliağa Mayor Tansu Kaya said the city was happy to host the children from different parts of the world. "Seeing children who come from different parts of the world speak our language, share our feelings, understand us in our language, I am filled with hope for the future of our country. I give heartfelt thanks to the people who work to spread Turkish. This service, which grows every year, is appreciated and accepted by many people as being very meaningful in terms of sending messages of peace, tolerance and love from the Turkish people to every part of the world. It is impossible not to feel anything upon seeing such a scene ... We wanted to show this scene to you as well," he said.
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