Azerbaijan presents its rich culture at Turkey festival

Source: AzerNews

Azerbaijan presents its exuberant culture at a cultural festival being held in the Turkish city of Izmir in the frame of the 11th International Turkish Language Olympiads, on May 25.

The Olympiad, which aims to expand Turkish languages around the world and has been conducted annually since 2003, started May 22. While the first Turkish Language Olympiad drew participants from 17 countries, this year the Olympiad choose 2,000 children from over 140 countries to participate, though as many as 15,000 children applied to take part in this enormous event.

The 11th Olympiad began with a news conference in the Ataturk Olympic Stadium attended by organizers of the event, sponsors and students.

Professor Shukru Haluk Akal?n, head of the Turkish Olympiads Science Council, stressed that the Turkish Olympiads are actually the tip of the iceberg.

"The actual effort and perseverance takes place in the unseen part of the iceberg. I mean it takes place across 140 countries in the world," Today's Zaman quoted him as saying.

Fatih University principal Sherif Ali Tekalan said the Turkish Olympiads should not be seen merely as events featuring songs and poetry but also as something more profound dealing with peace and fellowship.

"Humanity will see that it is possible to forget internal and external problems in countries over a short time, alleviate pain and get together for a common goal. History writers will allocate a special place to the Turkish Olympiads in the future," he said.

The Cultural Festival of Turkish Olympiads was held in Izmir for the first time this year, while previously the Olympiads were only held in Istanbul and Ankara.

During the Olympiad, various events will be held this year in 55 Turkish provinces. In Izmir, the cultural festival participants sang songs, recited poetry, as well as demonstrated national dances of their home countries.

The Azerbaijani stand took the largest area at the festival. Pearls of Azerbaijani culture, including such historical sites as Old City, Maiden Tower and Nizami Ganjavi Tomb, made the national stand special. The national stand introducing Azerbaijani history, national clothes and cuisine attracted a lot of visitors.

The stands of Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Thailand, Kazakhstan, Myanmar, Argentina, and the USA were among the biggest at the festival as well.

Moreover, a two-hour concert was given by talented Azerbaijani children the same day at the stage of the Ataturk open air amphitheater, which was full of visitors that night.

Some 500 Azerbaijanis participated in the Izmir Culture Festival.

Representative of the Azerbaijani Education Ministry in Turkey Najiba Nasibova noted the significance of Azerbaijan's participation in the Olympiad, which aims to promote rapprochement between the two countries and strengthening the friendly relations.

Azerbaijan's participation in the Olympiad was organized by Chag Oyretim (Modern Education), a private Turkish company in Baku.

The children practiced speaking Turkish and participated at the language Olympiad. Ten of them who excell in several disciplines including oral skills, writing essays, grammar, reciting poetry, singing, dancing and general culture, will be awarded gold medals when the Olympiad draws to a close in June.

This year young participants from the Dominican Republic, Libya, Congo, Rwanda and Brunei are taking part in the event for the first time.