Date posted: June 9, 2013

İPEK ÜZÜM, İSTANBUL

Martin Yordanov from Bulgaria won the most prestigious medal for singing at the 11th International Turkish Language Olympiad on Friday night before a crowd of tens of thousands in İstanbul, beating 14 competitors from various countries.

Foreign students fascinated thousands of spectators with their performances in song contest final as part of the 11th International Turkish Olympiad, a festival that celebrates the Turkish language and this year brought together 2,000 students from 140 countries around the world. The song contest final of the Olympiads was held at İstanbul Sinan Erdem Sports Hall on Friday night. Thousands of people thronged the hall to watch the final.

The Bulgarian student delighted jury members with the song “Deli Gönlüm” (My Mad Heart) in the singing competition of the 11th International Turkish Language Olympiad and came first at the song contest final of the Olympiads on Friday night. Yodanov received his award from Turkish pop diva Ajda Pekkan, who was also a jury member of the contest. Yordanov then performed the winning song once again in front of a cheering audience. Azerbaijan’s Ayhan Bunyadzade came in second while Guınevere Camacho attending the Olympiads from Philippines came in third.

A total of 2000 foreign students from 140 countries came to Turkey for the 11th Turkish Language Olympiad, which is organized by the International Turkish Education Association (TÜRKÇEDER). This year’s competition, which began on June 1 with a grand ceremony in Ankara, will end on June 16 with a closing ceremony to be held at the İstanbul Olympiad Stadium in İstanbul. There have been also various stage shows performed by Turkish Olympiad students in 55 cities of Turkey during the 16-day Olympiad period.

Among the nearly 20,000 attendees of the event were a number of well-known figures from politics, the arts, business, media and the world of sport. Economy Minister Mehmet Şimşek said that Turkish language is the language of love, peace and brotherhood. “Now, students from 140 countries are able to interact with each other in Turkish language, they are able to talk about peace, love and brotherhood in Turkish. We watched a great show this night. These Olympiads being held each year are great examples of success.” Şimşek noted.

Among the jury members of song contest were Arabesque singer and composer Orhan Gencebay, pop singer Ajda Pekkan, Turkish folk singer and songwriter Fatih Kısaparmak, classical Turkish music performer Muazez Ersoy, director Hamdi Alkan, producer Birol Güven, Lebanese-Swedish singer Maher Zain and Turkish pop singer and composer Sinan Akçıl.

Source: Today’s Zaman, 7 June, 2013

Tags: Turkey | Turkish Olympiads |