The “International Symposium on Teaching Turkish and the Place of Turkish Culture in Intercultural Communication,” Organized in Collaboration with Our University, Was Held in Cologne

The “International Symposium on Teaching Turkish and the Place of Turkish Culture in Intercultural Communication” (UTÖKİS), organized in collaboration with Turkish-German University, the Yunus Emre Institute, and the Turkish Language Association, was held in Cologne, Germany, on December 6-7, 2025. The symposium, attended by expert academics from Turkey and Europe, addressed current research in the fields of teaching Turkish as a foreign language, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural communication within a scientific framework.

The symposium began with an opening program attended by high-level representatives from the host institutions: our University, the Yunus Emre Institute, and the Turkish Language Association. In his opening speech, our University Rector, Prof. Dr. Cemal Yıldız spoke about the ongoing efforts to support the development of the Turkish language at the international level and introduced the "Teacher Training Program" being implemented at our University, inviting academics to collaborate in our newly established departments.

Following the opening speeches, our Vice Rector, Prof. Dr. Aysel Uzuntaş, served as session chair and presented her paper titled "Intercultural Skills and Effective Communication in Teaching Turkish as a Foreign Language."

The program included numerous presentations on a wide range of themes such as language teaching, bilingualism, cultural heritage, artificial intelligence applications, and intercultural communication, as well as various workshops covering topics from natural sciences to gastronomy, music to bibliotherapy. The in-person sessions held in Cologne continued with online sessions on the second day of the symposium, providing participants with an interdisciplinary academic exchange environment.

UTÖKİS has created an important academic collaboration platform in line with its goal of contributing to the teaching of Turkish at the international level and strengthening the promotion of Turkish culture on a global scale.