By Zheng Siyuan and Shi Yang
ANKARA, March 13 -- The first Chinese language training course for Turkish Armed Forces, jointly hosted by the Chinese Embassy in Turkey and the Confucius Institute of the Middle East Technical University (METU), was launched in Ankara on March 10. Representatives from the Chinese Embassy in Turkey, the METU Confucius Institute and the General Staff of the Turkish Armed Forces attended the opening ceremony.
Chinese Military Attaché to Turkey Senior Colonel Chen Qingsong stated at the ceremony that the relations between the two countries and the two militaries have been developing continuously in recent years and the Turkish Armed Forces' first Chinese language training course is of great significance. The course will enable the Turkish military to have first batch of Chinese-speaking personnel, help them to better understand China and Chinese military, enhance mutual trust. It will also attract more Turkish military members to learn Chinese and better know China, said Snr. Col. Chen.
Cultural Counselor Shi Ruilin of the Chinese Embassy in Turkey claimed that the METU Confucius Institute will ensure high quality teaching resources for Turkish military personnel. China is willing to keep in touch with the Turkish side and continue to provide necessary support and assistance for future training course as always.
An official from the General Staff of the Turkish Armed Forces expressed best wishes for such a cultural event, saying that the Turkish military has selected 10 service members to study Chinese fulltime for five months. It is an active attempt of the Turkish military to train Chinese-speaking talents. In the future, they will explore the possibility of establishing a long-term Chinese language training mechanism based on the experience from this course.
