Turkish Olympiad Contests See Spectacular Start
Competition at the 7th Turkish Olympiads has started in Kizilcahamam district of Ankara with colorful performances by participants. State Minister Egemen Bağiş has also participated in the event.
Seven hundred students from 115 countries were at the opening ceremony in Ankara along with organizers and other guests on Thursday. Speaking at the ceremony, Bağiş congratulated Turkish volunteers who had opened schools in a number of countries since they established a brotherhood among nations.
"I bow respectfully before those teachers who have been trying to teach Turkish in those countries," he said. Olympiads Organizing Committee Chairman Professor Mehmet Sağlam said losers of the contest should not be disappointed since every participant is a champion of the Turkish language.
Organized by the International Turkish Education Association (TÜRKÇEDER), this year's Turkish Olympics will host 700 students from 115 countries including Afghanistan, Argentina, Venezuela, Benin, Ethiopia, Congo, France, Italy, Uganda, the Maldives and Sri Lanka. A cultural festival will be held on May 30-31 at Altinpark in Ankara, where the students will promote their countries.
This year's International Turkish Olympiads, in which students will compete in 13 categories ranging from poetry to songs, will be held in Ankara, İstanbul and Bursa. Turkish Parliament Speaker Köksal Toptan will award students who receive gold medals with a Turkish Language Service Award.
Turkish Olympiads team visits Toptan in Ankara
After the official program concludes, the activities will continue in various provinces in Anatolia. Last year mini Olympiads were held in five provinces. This year the number has increased to nine. İstanbul, Ankara, İzmir, Bursa, Antalya, Erzurum, Kayseri, Gaziantep and Kahramanmaraş will host students from different countries.
A group from the 700 students who will perform in the Turkish language visited Parliament Speaker Köksal Toptan in Ankara on Thursday.
Accompanied by Professor Mehmet Sağlam and the board of executives of the committee, students gave examples of the shows they will perform at the Olympiads. Impressed by the songs they sang and poems they read, Toptan talked with the students in Turkish. Wishing the students good luck, Toptan told students to take his kind regards to their countries. Recalling a Turkish school named after him in Kyrgyzstan, Toptan asked Kyrgyz participant Azamat Tankeev, "Do you know there is a school named after me in your country?" The student answered no. Stating that Iraqi and Georgian students speak Turkish quite well, Toptan asked these students how long they had been learning Turkish. The students said although they did not speak Turkish before, they learned Turkish at schools opened in their countries. Students dressed in their local clothing presented gifts to Toptan.
Parliamentary Culture and Arts Committee head Erbay Kücet also drew attention to Olympiads' stress on the Turkish language being the "Language of Love." He said it is very important that children from around the world come together to spread love throughout the whole world.
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