The results of “EnRoute to Türkiye” contest, carried out on social media under Yunus Emre Institute’s Turkish Summer School program, were announced. 2017 Turkish Summer School students shared their experiences in Turkey in the categories of photography, video and articles/texts, and experienced the thrill of competing.

700 students who learn Turkish in various countries, competed in video, photography and article categories with posts on their social media accounts where they shared their feelings with the hashtag #RotamTürkiye  (#EnRouteToTurkey) for a month. In the contest in which nearly 8 thousand posts competed, our students explained Turkey through their own eyes and shared their feelings with us. The winners of the contest held in article, photography and video categories, received their prizes at the farewell dinner organized on their last night in Turkey. Winners received their prizes from Yunus Emre Institute’s President Prof. Dr. Şeref Ateş. Palestinian Mohammad Horoub, a participant who shared his observations on his social media accounts with # RotamTürkiye hashtag, won the first place in the video category for his "promotional film on Turkey” which featured images he took during the summer school program. Horoub’s awarded was a laptop computer. The winner in the photography category was Mariana Markovic from Serbia with her photograph themed "Evening in Cappadocia", while the winner in article category was Akbar Pashai from Iran.

Istanbul through the eyes of Palestinian Mohammad...

Our Palestinian student Mohammad Horoub, who worked on still shots for hours to create a a few seconds long time-lapse video that captured Istanbul, won the video category with his 1 minute long film. You can watch his work that captured the unique beauty of Istanbul and brought Mohammad the laptop prize on Yunus Emre Enstitüsü's YouTube channel.

Video link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jiV-3UAozxo

Mohammad, who expressed his feelings about his success said: "I have spent the best month of my life in Turkey. We came to improve our Turkish, in fact to visit Turkey, and to know Turks better in their own country. Everything was perfect. Turks are hospitable and sincere as we know. We already knew about Turkish history. We can never forget Turkey's and Ottoman State's support for Palestine. What Sultan Abdülhamit did, what Erdoğan did... We will not forget. I also produced the film with these feelings. I worked hard. In my spare time outside class hours, I took a large number of images while everybody else rested or had fun at the events. This is how I had a good time. I both had fun and won in the contest. I thank Yunus Emre Enstitüsü and Turkey for this. "

Mariana Markovic: "Turkish people are very kind."

In the photography category, our student from Belgrade, Mariana Markovic, won the mobile phone prize, combining the magnificent view of hot air balloons with sunrise in Nevşehir.

Mariana expressed her feelings as follows after she received her prize;

"I will never forget the Turkish Summer School. It has been a wonderfula and valuable experience for me. I met great people. In my group, Nevşehir group there were friends from 16 different countries. Everyone is different, but one thing is the same... The same love, Turkish... We stayed in Nevşehir for 3 weeks. We loved it here. Many thanks to our teacher. It would not have been so wonderful without them. Turkish people are very kind. Now I love Turkey even more. Turkish Summer School is a really great program. We both learned and had fun. I would like to thank Yunus Emre Enstitüsü for this opportunity and gift... These were the best days of my life. I hope we will meet again. "

Iranian Akbar Pashai's phone was broken during an excursion

The winner of article category prize was Akbar Pashai, who depicted Rize and supported his text with a photo. The article that brought the prize to Akbar is as follows; "Rize is a hidden paradise that leaves its mark with the taste of its tea, that caresses souls with its wooden houses and with its colours of green and blue.”

Akbar Pashai, who won the mobile phone prize with his post, said that he dropped his mobile phone during the activities in Rize, and the smartphone prize made him very happy. Pashai spoke as follows:

"The number of photos and videos shared with #RotamTürkiye exceeded 4 thousand. Of course, the chances to win the contest were small. Throughout the month, different photographs of Turkey, each finer than the next, were shared. I made efforts to write an article to the best of my ability. I thought that my photograph had little chance among hundreds of meaningful photos. When the host started to announce the winners of the contest excitedly, I froze as I read my comment about the photo I shared where I was holding a cup of tea in front of "Şenyuva Bridge". I had a pleasant, different and positive feeling and felt thrilled... Everyone had done their best to host us when we were in Turkey, I was very satisfied. We had good days, we met many dear friends thanks to our Turkish language. This was sufficient... I would like to express my gratitude to everybody, our Turkey and Yunus Emre Institute who gave us this opportunity to have unforgettable experiences. The prize I received brought together all the great things I experienced here, it is a memory I can never forget.”