The Turkish Japanese Foundation, which was established in 1993 to contribute to the development of friendship and cooperation between Türkiye and Japan in the social, cultural, technical, economic and educational fields, is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year. The Cultural Center of our Foundation, which was established in 1998, has hosted over 700 events related to Japan over the past 25 years.

While celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the Japan Foundation Awards and the 30th Anniversary of the Turkish Japanese Foundation, we would like to reiterate our delight and pride at having received an award from the Japan Foundation in 2003. We believe that the award contributed greatly to the development of our Foundation. We can say with great pride that we maintain our position among the most popular Cultural Centers in Türkiye, and pledge to continue our efforts to develop Turkish-Japanese relations even further motivated by the strength we derive from the Japan Foundation.

Since initiation of the Japanese courses in 2000 in our Foundation, we have attracted great interest from a large number of participants, and continue in our efforts to promote the language, culture and history of Japan with the support of the Japanese Language Education Experts you have provided. These Japanese Language Education Experts not only share their experience with the teachers of our Japanese courses at the Turkish Japanese Foundation Cultural Center, where they contribute greatly to the quality of education, but also further the development of Japanese education in various universities in Türkiye. We operate the most popular Japanese Language Courses in our Cultural Center in Ankara, where we teach Japanese at different levels (beginner, intermediate and children's classes) to over 300 students every year. Our students take the JLPT (Japanese Language Proficiency Test) after successfully completing our courses, and have recorded great successes. In addition, a large number of students have received education and research scholarships in Japan.

In the summer, we implement a Summer School program in which children aged 11-15 years who are interested in Japan are introduced to the Japanese language, culture, history and art, among many other fields. The Japan Foundation, which organizes JLPT, Japanese Speaking Competitions and cultural promotion activities in Türkiye, has contributed greatly to the dissemination of the Japanese language and culture in Türkiye. The Turkish Japanese Foundation is delighted to host such events organized by the Japan Foundation.

More than 21,000 publications can be found in our library in the Turkish Japanese Foundation Cultural Center, which contains also books supplied through the book and course material donation programs run by the Japan Foundation, and boasts the largest collection of Japanese publications not only in Ankara, but also in Türkiye as a whole.

In addition to these activities, we are also making efforts to increase awareness of disaster preparedness by sharing Japan’s experience on disaster education and disaster risk reduction with the Turkish public, as both of our nations have been exposed to such disasters.

The support lent by the Japan Foundation both to our Foundation and to all institutions and organizations in Türkiye engaged in cultural, social and educational activities of Japan is of great importance to the development and convergence of relations between the two countries. Undoubtedly, the Japan Foundation is the primary institution engaged in the promotion of Japan abroad, and carries out its duties with great effort and meticulousness.

It is our hope that our cooperation, which has been continuing for 23 years, will see many more years, and we take this opportunity to express our gratitude to the Japan Foundation for its contribution to the development of our Foundation and to Turkish-Japanese relations.

Nejat Bora Sayan
President
The Turkish-Japanese Foundation

(Original text in English)

The Japan Foundation Awards / Special Prizes (2003) - Profile