Students from 140 countries to participate in Turkish Olympiads this year

A total of 2,000 students from 140 countries will attend the 11th International Turkish Olympiads, which brings together hundreds of foreign students studying at Turkish schools around the world, this year.

A press conference was held by a member of the International Turkish Olympiads organizing committee, Işılay Saygın, on Monday in İzmir to give details about the 11th International Turkish Olympiads, which will be held between June 1 and 16. The 11th International Turkish Olympiads is organized by the International Turkish Education Association (TÜRKÇEDER). Saygın stated that this year 2,000 students from 140 countries are expected to attend the Turkish Olympiads and set out the timeline of events that will take place over the 16 days in 55 Turkish cities. Stating that students from five continents will compete in 19 categories, such as singing and poetry recitals, during the olympiads, Saygın added that a culture festival will be held at the İzmir Fair Center between May 24 and 26. Saygın stated that the reason why they chose İzmir as the venue of the cultural festival was due to İzmir's bid to host the World's Fair Expo 2020. The cultural festival was held in Ankara in 2011 and in İstanbul in 2012. Students will set up tables at the expo center to introduce their countries to visitors during this festival.

Also speaking at the press conference, the coordinator of the culture festival, Aydın Panayır, said that students from various parts of the world will get a chance to present their cultures to visitors during the festival. He also added that they are expecting 1 million visitors to the cultural festival.

There were also some of the students who will compete in the olympiads at the press conference. Eleven-year-old Eygptian Nadin Aner told the Anatolia news agency that she likes Turkey very much. Stating that Egypt and Turkey are brother countries, Aner added that she is very happy to come to Turkey and attend the Turkish Olympiads.

Each year, about 15,000 students around the world prepare for the Olympiads, but only the finalists who win at national competitions are invited to attend the huge international competition in Turkey. The competition will see gold medals given to the top 10 individuals, silver medals given to the top 10 percent of competitors and bronze medals given to the top 30 percent of competitors.

Published on Cihan, 20 May 2012, Monday