Turkey is one of the countries that attracts attention and is an educational destination for Indonesian students, including pesantren graduates. Many students are interested in studying in Mustafa Kemal Attaturk’s country. From cost to cultural factors are the main considerations.
In order to get to know Turkish language and culture better, students in grades 5 and 2 of SMAWI Turkish LOTEA (Language Other than English and Arabic) Program, paid a visit to the Yunus Emre Enstitüsü on Sunday (8/2/2024). Yunus Emre Enstitüsü is an official cultural institution from the Turkish government located at The Pine View Residence, Jl. Bintaro East Park, South Jakarta. This institution has many branches in various countries, with its centers in Istanbul and Ankara, Turkey.
“This activity is an initiation of the Yunus Emre Enstitüsü which is the center for Turkish language and culture in Indonesia. The main theme of this activity is to commemorate five centuries of friendship between Indonesia and Ottoman Turkey which was revealed through correspondence between the Ottoman Caliphate and the Sultanate in Indonesia,” said Ustaz Mohamad Iqbal Akbari on Sunday (8/2/2024) as the supervising teacher during the visit.
Ustaz Iqbal hopes that the visit to the Yunus Emre Enstitüsü will further increase the enthusiasm of the students in learning Turkish language and culture.
“Hopefully the students who take the Turkish language program will be even more enthusiastic about learning Turkish, understand it more, by knowing what the history of Turkey is like, how Turkey has relations with Indonesia, and so on,” said Ustaz Iqbal.
He also hopes that this step will become an entry point for cooperation in the field of education, especially scholarship programs for studying at universities in Turkey.
The same thing was expressed by Ustaz Savran Billahi, M.A., a LOTEA Turkish language program teacher who has completed his master’s degree in Turkey.
“The hope is to strengthen the cooperation between Daar el-Qolam 3 and official institutions from the Turkish government. Hopefully there will be a continuation, such as strengthening the Turkish language program here with the cooperation of the Yunus Emre Enstitüsü. This will allow for cooperation in programs that other things, such as scholarship programs. Because there are official scholarships from the Turkish government for undergraduate, postgraduate and doctoral levels for students in friendly countries,” said Ustaz Savran.
“Hopefully with this visit they will be more motivated to learn Turkish,” he added.
The students of Daar el-Qolam 3 Dza ‘Izza Campus received explanations from the guide while in the Yunus Emre Enstitüsü’s exhibition hall and library. The exhibition room displays various correspondence between the Ottoman Caliphate and the Sultanates in the archipelago since the 16th century AD. It explains how the cooperative relationship existed between the two parties, both in the fields of politics, economics, education and culture. This reveals how closely the Ottoman Caliphate had a close relationship with the Sultanates in the archipelago, especially Aceh and Java.
Dr. Cemal Sahin: Santri Daar el-Qolam 3 Makes Us Excited
Director of Yunus Emre Enstitüsü of Jakarta Dr. Cemal Sahin was very impressed with the visit of the students from Daar el-Qolam 3 Dza ‘Izza Campus. He also expressed his enthusiasm.
“I see that the enthusiasm of the students is very high from Daar el-Qolam 3. They look very neat, their targets have all been programmed, that also makes us enthusiastic. Their enthusiasm makes us enthusiastic too. So I thank Daar el-Qolam 3 have come here, visited our place. We thank you,” said Dr. Jamal speaks fluent Indonesian.
Dr. Cemal Sahin received the arrival of teachers and students from Daar el-Qolam 3 Dza ‘Izza Campus very friendly. He invited the teachers to chat and be friendly in his office. He also shared stories about Turkey with its unique language and culture. He also revealed how Turkey’s cooperation with Indonesia has existed for a long time, since the era of the sultanate in Aceh.