Turkish Olympiads Close with High-profile Awards Ceremony
Thousands of guests, including Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and eight Cabinet ministers, attended a ceremony in Ankara on Saturday to recognize winners of a 10-day Turkish Olympiads marathon, during which 700 children from 115 countries impressed Turkey with their Turkish skills in singing, poetry reciting and prose composition.
About 5,000 guests attended the event at Ankara's ASKİ Sports Hall. The contestants captivated the audience with their outstanding performances singing popular Turkish songs and poems.The awards ceremony was broadcast live by the Samanyolu TV, SHABER, Cine 5, Kanal A, TRT 2 and TRT Avaz.
The list of VIPs attending the Saturday event included, in addition to Prime Minister Erdoğan, Deputy Prime Minister Bülent Arinç, State Ministers Hayati Yazici, Selma Aliye Kavaf and Faruk Çelik, Education Minister Nimet Çubukçu, Culture and Tourism Minister Ertuğrul Günay, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Affairs Mehdi Eker, Health Minister Recep Akdağ, Supreme Board of Education (YÖK) President Yusuf Ziya Özcan and Ankara Mayor Melih Gökçek.
Participants were impressed by two youngsters from the Republic of Congo, aged 4 and 5, who recited verses of the Turkish national anthem. A group of students from Kyrgyzstan performed kolbasti, a regional folk dance from the Black Sea province of Trabzon.
Professor Thomas Michel, a theologian, Professor Mihail Meyer and Professor Kemal Ersalan, both Turkologists, were granted the "Ali Şir Nevai" award. Minister Günay, who presented the award, thanked everyone who helped organize the event. "[Referring to the students] these envoys who carry the flag of our language will become the carriers of our culture. I'd like to convey my wholehearted thanks to everyone who contributed to the organization of the Olympiads. May God be pleased with them," he said.
Prime Minister Erdoğan likened teachers who teach Turkish at schools around the world to the soldiers who played a great role in the foundation of the Ottoman Empire.
"I see those friends as Ottoman soldiers. I'd like to congratulate them all. Turkish is very important to us. Language also means ‘heart' for us... Our ties between people living in other corners of the world are established through hearts and language. I'd like to extend my thanks to all the teachers who contributed to this event," Erdoğan remarked.
An honorary award was bestowed on the late Haci Kemal Erimez, who spent his life establishing Turkish schools abroad. The award was accepted by his son, Kamil Erimez. Deputy Prime Minister Arinç defined Erimez as a great politician. "He was a very good statesman. He served his country well. We are all witnesses," he said.
Students who received gold medals at the Olympiads were also granted the Parliamentary Special Award. Turkish Radio and Television Corporation (TRT) General Manager İbrahim Şahin was given the İsmail Gaspirali Award.
Participants of the Turkish Olympiads said they were highly impressed by the Turkish Olympiads. "It is an excellent event. Students who speak Turkish have come to Turkey from around the world. We are all proud," said Health Minister Akdağ.
Former Education Minister Çelik noted that the Turkish Olympiads would bring Turkey to the rest of the world. He expressed the hope that the event would be held with an even greater number of participants in following years.
"It was excellent. It was great. It is unbelievable to hear 4 and 5-year-old children recite the words of the Turkish national anthem. May God be pleased with everyone who worked for this event," stated Ankara Mayor Gökçek.
Kavaf, the state minister for women and family affairs, said the Olympiads were a national means to carry Turkish culture and language to the world.
Education Minister Çubukçu said it was an emotional experience hearing students sing in Turkish: "Everything was very beautiful. Our eyes were filled with tears and our hearts were filled with emotion. In a word, it was great." Minister of Agriculture and Rural Affairs Eker said the event would play an important part in making Turkish a world language.
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