Turkish culture to be introduced abroad via movies

By Meltem Bulur

ANKARA (AA) - The Turkish cultural center of the Yunus Emre Institute (YEE) will hold Turkish Movies Week in different parts of the world throughout the year.

The event, supported by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism’s Directorate General for Cinema, is planned to serve as a mean to introduce Turkish culture through the cinema, which is one of the most important and effective instruments of cultural diplomacy, according to a YEE official.

It aims at making the intellectual people and young university students come closer to Turkish culture.

The event will contribute to the circulation of the Turkish cinema, in a time when Turkish series break export records and is followed with great enthusiasm all over the world.

The Turkish Movies Week will not leave any country out, as it will continue each year with an increasing number of events, the official said, adding that short movies will also be screened during the event.

Croatia’s Zagreb, Jordan’s Amman, Lebanon’s Beirut, Hungary’s Budapest, Romania’s Bucharest, Russia’s Kazan, the UK’s London, Morocco’s Rabat, Iran’s Tehran, Austria’s Vienna and Poland’s Warsaw are among this year’s destinations.

Cultural interaction will be provided via actor, director, scenarist and producer meetings, workshops, Turkish cuisine activities, exhibitions of cinema posters and objects.

The event will kick off in Croatia’s capital Zagreb today (Wednesday) with the screening of the Ayla movie and will end on May 27.

Ayla: The Daughter of War, which is based on a true story, tells the story of a Turkish sergeant and a five-year-old orphan girl that he found during the Korean War in 1950.

Ten Turkish movies will be displayed in the Cinema Europa, the oldest and most prestigious cinema hall of Zagreb.

All movie screenings will be free of charge.