Palestinian education minister meets Turkish diplomat

By Qais Abu Samra

RAMALLAH (AA) - Palestinian Education Minister Sabri Sidem met with Turkish Consul-General to Palestine Gurcan Turkoglu to discuss bilateral cooperation in the fields of education and culture, Sidem said in a Thursday statement.

The meeting was held on Wednesday in Sidem’s office in the West Bank city of Ramallah, the administrative capital of the Palestinian Authority.

At the meeting, the two officials discussed issues related to the Palestinian education sector, especially the need to build more schools to provide young Palestinians with vocational and technical training, according to the Sidem’s statement.

Turkoglu and Sidem also discussed the recent completion of two Palestinian schools in Turkey that will provide educational services for the children of Turkey’s Palestinian and Arab communities.

“A technical delegation from the Turkish Education Ministry will soon visit Palestine to hear about the Palestinian experience in the field of vocational and technical education, along with new qualitative and developmental programs in the education field,” the statement read.

It went on to note that Sidem and the Turkish consul-general had discussed means of strengthening cultural and academic exchanges between the two countries; providing Turkish scholarships for Palestinian students; and organizing joint Turkish-Palestinian cultural events.

Turkoglu, for his part, praised Palestine’s many achievements in the field of education, stressing his country's continued support for the Palestinian people.