The third series of the Culture Nights programme organised as a part of the 2016 Turkish Summer School project by the Radio Channel the Sound of Turkish operating under the auspicious of the Yunus Emre Institute was held in Denizli.

The programme organised with the contributions of the city’s Governor, Mayor and the Pamukkale University started as the Turkish Summer School’s Friendship Truck entered the Çınar Square.

540 students from 46 countries hosted in 16 Turkish cities by Yunus Emre Institute have been receiving training and joining cultural activities at 20 different universities in Turkey under the Turkish Summer School program. The Culture Nights programme which was originally developed to bring together the international students with the local people, was widely attended by the local people of Denizli.

Event opened with the promotional videos of Yunus Emre Instiute and Turkish Summer Schools in Ankara and Samsun, and after the students had given their messages of support to Turkey, the competition titled “I Compete in Turkish” was held. In the competition hosted by the Sound of Turkish Radio presenter Mert Talat Dilekçioğlu, students both had fun and got the chance to learn new things as they were asked to answer questions on the Turkish culture, history, art and Turkish grammar.

Zhanerke Toishybay and Guldana Abdulkarim from Kazakhstan, Arkel Cufo from Albania, Salih Türker from Netherlands, and Farzaneh Farhangi from Iran competed in the “I Compete in Turkish” contest which was broadcast live on the Sound of Turkish Radio. Salih Türker who answered 8 out of 10 questions correctly won the competition. Professors of the Pamukkale University’s Language Research and Application Centre presented the students their awards.

Following the “I Compete in Turkish” contest, a dinner program was held as a part of Pamukkale University’s Culture Nights. Dinner was organised in honour of the students hosted by Yunus Emre Institute and Deputy Governor İsmail Soykan, Deputy Mayor Ali Değirmenci and Pamukkale University Rector Prof. Dr. Hüseyin Bağ were among the many guests.

Dinner that brought together local administrators and students in forum-like atmosphere, ended with a family photo shoot.