Türkiye to open cultural outreach center in Uruguay

By Muhammed Emin Canik

MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay (AA) – Türkiye’s signature cultural outreach body, the Yunus Emre Institute, will open a new branch in Uruguay's capital Montevideo, Ankara's ambassador to the Latin American country announced.

“Turkish TV series have an incredible fan base (in Uruguay). They boost the interest in the Turkish language significantly,” Huseyin Muftuoglu, Türkiye’s first ambassador to Uruguay, told Anadolu Agency.

“Following Argentina, we started to work on making our Yunus Emre Institute operational in Uruguay,” Muftuoglu said.

The institute is a nonprofit founded in 2007 to promote Turkish culture, language, and arts across the world. It has expanded to 66 countries, signed agreements with more than 400 universities, and provided 3.5 million Turkish language diplomas worldwide.

The institute's namesake, Yunus Emre, is a Turkish folk poet and Sufi who lived in Anatolia from the mid-13th century to the early 14th century.

Muftuoglu said that he is already in contact with the head of the institute to move forward quickly with the new branch “because we want to spread the interest in Türkiye and Turkish culture, Turkish language, Turkish customs, and traditions.”

Popular Turkish series have been exported across the globe, contributing to a boom in the country’s domestic television industry. Turkish TV series have been successful abroad – from the Middle East to the Balkans, from eastern Europe to Latin America – for over a decade now.

- Economic ties between Türkiye, Uruguay

Muftuoglu said that the economic relationship between Türkiye and Uruguay has made serious strides in the last two years.

He noted that the pre-pandemic trade volume of $542 million is important for a country with a population of 3.5 million and is thousands of miles away from Türkiye.

Underlining the importance of free trade between the two countries, Muftuoglu said: “Exploratory talks on a free trade agreement continue. Our main target is MERCOSUR (Mercado Comun del Sur / Southern Common Market).”

“MERCOSUR is the target geography where we want to trade in a strategic sense and where we want to sign a free trade agreement. In other words, we want to reach the countries of Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, and Uruguay,” he added.

Diplomatic relations between Türkiye and Uruguay date back to a friendship agreement signed in 1929, a few years after the Turkish Republic was founded in 1923.

“This agreement was ratified between the two parties in December 1933 and entered into force. In other words, next year, while we celebrate the 100th anniversary of our republic, we will be celebrating the 90th anniversary of our diplomatic relations with Uruguay,” Muftuoglu explained.

Last year’s visit by Uruguayan Foreign Minister Francisco Bustillo to Türkiye was a first from Uruguay to Türkiye at that level, he added.

He also mentioned Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu’s visit to Uruguay last April, pointing out that it was “the first official visit at the level of foreign minister from Türkiye to Uruguay.”

Noting that the Turkish Embassy becoming operational in Uruguay is one of the most important factors that reveal Türkiye’s political will to further its relations with the Latin American country, Muftuoglu said: “Now Uruguay is opening its embassy in Türkiye on Nov. 1.”

Uruguay “previously had a consulate general in Istanbul, and they are opening an embassy in Ankara in addition to that consulate general.”