Texas finals of Turkish Olympiads held joyfully

The event, sponsored by Raindrop Turkish House, was held at the Hobby Center for the Performing Arts in Houston and attended by Turkish Consul General in Houston Akil Öktem, Deputy Consul General Ali Fındık, Turkish Parliament Deputy Chairman Nevzat Pakdil, Justice and Development Party (AK Party) deputies Haydar Kemal Kurt, Mustafa Kabakçı, Mehmet Emin Ekmen and Yılmaz Tunç as well as Houston Mayor Annise Parker, US Congressman Al Green and Dr. Alma A. Allen, a member of the Texas House of Representatives.

Finalists from Oklahoma, Louisiana, Arkansas, Kansas and Mississippi as well as those from Texas gathered to compete in the event.

The students mesmerized the audience with their performances in the singing, poetry recital, sketches and folkdance categories. The audience supported the students by waving Turkish, US and Texas flags.

Fox TV news anchors wearing traditional Turkish clothing presented the event, which was covered by Fox TV.

The students who competed in the Texas qualifications of the Turkish Olympiads on Sunday mesmerized the audience with their performances in the singing, poetry reading, sketch and folkdance categories.

Delivering the inauguration speech of the event, Mayor Parker said she appreciates the integration of the Turkish community in Houston, while noting that they had the chance to honor one of the oldest cultures in the world thanks to the program.

Green said millions of people speak Turkish in the world, adding that the Turkish diaspora was helping Americans better under Turkey and its culture.

A demonstration of Kolbastı, a folkdance from the Black Sea region of Turkey, performed by the finalists in the talent show category, entertained the audience.

Speaking to the Anatolia news agency after the event, Öktem said he finds the Turkish Olympiads important because they make contributions to Turkish-American relations and help develop bilateral commercial and cultural ties.

“The program was a very beautiful and effective one. Foreign students speaking Turkish fluently and performing Turkish folkdances is a source of pride for us. It was a very nice event in a large state like Texas,” he said.

Indicating that there are many people willing to learn Turkish in Texas, Öktem said: “I visited various schools opened by Turkish entrepreneurs in different cities in Texas. The students and their parents show great interest in the Turkish language. The fact that participants of the Olympiads come from different cities is a source of pride for us. In this way, they make contributions to the promotion of Turkey.”

Speaking to reporters, Pakdil said: “In the future, we will see hundreds of students coming from various countries of the world to compete. These students, when they grow up, will be friends of Turkey. I hope we will see Turkish become one of the most widely used languages in the world in the second half of the 21st century.”

Pakdil said he was most impressed by the Kolbastı show performed during the event.

The chairman of Raindrop Turkish House, Mehmet Okumuş, said the Texas finals of the Olympiads were watched by 2,650 people.

He said Raindrop Turkish House gives cooking lessons in addition to Turkish courses in its 14 branches. Stressing that the Turkish Olympiads are the fruits of their efforts, he said the programs at the institution played an important role in the promotion of Turkish language, history and Turkey.

Gökay Beşli, deputy manager of Harmony Science Academy, whose students ranked at the top of the Olympiads, said 152 students take Turkish as an elective course in their school.

He said the National Security Education Program portraying Turkish as being among the first five languages that will facilitate students finding jobs in the future played an important role in the students’ interest in Turkish.

In the meantime, a cooking competition was held for the women who take cooking classes from Raindrop Turkish House in Houston. Fatoş Tuna, who gives cooking lessons at the institution, said there was much interest in Turkish cuisine in Houston and that people who sample Turkish food at Turkish restaurants apply to the institution later to take courses.

Noting that most US women are interested in making baklava, a Turkish dessert, Tuna said many of these women were better at making baklava than some Turkish women.