First Turkish-language class held in East Jerusalem

By Abdul Rauf Arnaut

JERUSALEM (AA) – The Ibrahimieh College on Wednesday held its first Turkish-language class, making it the first school in East Jerusalem to include Turkish in its curriculum.

Located in the Al-Sawana district near Jerusalem’s Old City, the school is teaching Turkish to 60 ninth-graders this year.

If successful, the class will be made available to students of all grades.

Seven schools in the West Bank are already teaching the Turkish language, but it is the first time that Turkish is taught in a school in Jerusalem.

“Palestinian interest in Turkish reflects the deepening ties between the two peoples,” Erman Tobcu, who came from Turkey to begin teaching the language, told Anadolu Agency.

College director Nadira Abu Gharbiyeh, for her part, said: “The more our students learn foreign languages, the better they will understand other cultures.”