Turkish Olympics: Serving Turkey, the world

Fikret Ertan

I recently attended the International Turkish Language Olympiads in Eskişehir. This is an event and a mission that has no parallel in any other part of the world. Some Western countries also aim to spread their languages and cultures, for example, as the British Council does.

I can’t comment on the British Council or any other foundation’s success, but I can safely say that the missionary feeling and commitment among the people working for the Turkish Olympiads, and for the Hizmet movement, is not something that can be seen in any other project or foundation in the world. What stirs up this feeling of commitment is not solely the aim of spreading the Turkish language, but in the long run it has the aim of establishing a common language for peace and paving the way to create connections with different cultures. In this sense, the Olympiads is a peace project as well as a cultural project.

Published on Today's Zaman, 04 June 2012, Monday
Original article [in Turkish] published on Zaman Daily, 04 June 2012, Monday