Türkiye and Syria have signed an agreement allowing Yunus Emre cultural centres to resume operations in Syria, focusing on Turkish-language education and cultural programmes designed to strengthen ties between the two countries.
Under the agreement, Turkish cultural centres will be able to operate across Syria, primarily offering Turkish-language courses and promoting Turkish culture.
Nuh Yılmaz, Türkiye’s ambassador to Damascus, said relations between Türkiye and Syria are developing rapidly in line with the political will expressed by the two countries’ presidents, adding that the necessary legal framework is also being established.
He described the agreement as an important step towards placing bilateral relations on an institutional and legal footing.
Türkiye’s Yunus Emre cultural centres, named after the renowned 14th-century poet, operated in Damascus and Aleppo before the war but suspended their activities after the conflict began in 2011.
Yılmaz said Syria has a sizeable Turkish-speaking population, including local ethnic Turkmen communities and Syrians who lived in Türkiye for many years.
He said the centres would help preserve and develop existing language skills while providing more formal Turkish-language education, noting strong demand among Syrians seeking to learn or improve their Turkish.
The Yunus Emre Institute will also organise activities highlighting the two countries’ shared cultural heritage, including projects in literature, photography, cinema, painting and history, Yılmaz said.
He added that the programmes would strengthen ties between the two peoples and highlight the historic and cultural links between Türkiye and Syria.
The agreement was signed by Yılmaz and Qutayba Kadish, head of the International Cooperation Department at the Syrian Foreign Ministry.
Embassy officials and Furkan Köroğlu, acting coordinator of the Yunus Emre Institute’s Damascus Cultural Centre, also attended the ceremony.
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