Construction began on Feb. 13 and, once concluded, will include a kindergarten, primary and secondary schools, girls’ and boys’ high schools and a university. The campus is expected to be completed in time for the next academic year.A group of 58 businessmen from Konya headed to Sana’a on Feb. 10 for a three-day visit in order to lay the foundation of the campus. The group toured the city on the first day and later visited Turkish schools already operating there. Following this visit, the group made its way to a cemetery of Ottoman soldiers.
On the last day of their visit to Sana’a, the businessmen attended the groundbreaking ceremony for the campus, which will include a building resting on 7,000 square meters of land surrounded by a 25,000-square-meter open field. In addition to the businessmen, Yemeni State Minister and Sana’a Mayor Abd al-Rahman al-Akwa, Turkish Ambassador to Yemen Mehmet Dönmez, Sana’a Education Minister Muhammad Fadli and other guests attended the groundbreaking ceremony.
Speaking about the campus and other Turkish schools in the country, Yemeni-Turkish Cooperation Company General Manager Mehmet Yılmaz said Yemen is the second-hardest country to purchase land in and noted that they were only able to purchase the land the campus will be built on after four years of effort. He also added that Yemeni President Ali Abdallah Salih supported them in purchasing the land.
While recalling that no Turkish businessmen visited the country to invest between 1918 and 1996, Yılmaz said Turkish investments in the country started in 1996 with the opening of a language education center in Sana’a. Yılmaz also said the language center began serving as a secondary school named the Turkish College starting from 1998.
Currently, there are six Turkish schools in Yemen and about 1,600 students attend classes at these institutions.
The businessmen returned to Turkey after attending the groundbreaking ceremony, and a show put on by students planning to participate in the upcoming Turkish Olympics.
