Int’l language festival students given high-level welcome in Australia

Australian Governor-General Peter Cosgrove is presented a gift by one of the contestants of the 13th International Language and Culture Festival. (Photo: Today's Zaman)
Australian Governor-General Peter Cosgrove is presented a gift by one of the contestants of the 13th International Language and Culture Festival. (Photo: Today's Zaman)


Date posted: June 8, 2015

ENES CANSEVER/ ZAFER POLAT/ SYDNEY

Some 60 students from 19 countries who came to Australia as part of the 13th International Language and Culture Festival have received an enthusiastic welcome by senior Australian officials.

Australian Governor-General Peter Cosgrove hosted the students at his official residence with his spouse, Lynne Cosgrove, on Saturday. Saying that he was pleased to see Australia hosting this year’s International Language and Culture Festival, Cosgrove praised the initiative’s efforts for global peace during the students’ visit. “As we all know, the world is unsettled and is being faced with some serious challenges which can cause great division. … What we aspire for is a unified world, where people not only respect each other but embrace and display altruistic traits. It’s great to see those who share this vision of sustaining global peace have put this ideal into practice. Through their efforts we are seeing peace bloom in the lands they are serving; and it is through education that we have harnessed the talents of these aspiring individuals. It is great to see we are all working towards universal peace,” Cosgrove said.

The governor-general and his wife then accepted gifts the students brought from their home countries. The students sang songs in Turkish and English during their visit.

Australia will for the first time host an International Language and Culture Festival on Sunday. The festival is organized by Sirius Educational Institutions, which have been active in Australia for years.

The first 11 editions of the event were hosted in Turkey, but due to government hostility and the ongoing persecution of the Gülen movement, or Hizmet movement — which is involved in organizing the culture festival — the organizers have held the event in various countries since 2014 to avoid potential problems.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has accused the Hizmet movement of attempting to overthrow his Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government, but has failed to present evidence to support this allegation.

Source: Today's Zaman , June 06, 2015

Tags: | | | | |


Related News

Turkey’s efforts in Somalia

Kimse Yok Mu Foundation, in cooperation with the local Bedir Schools, has definitely undertaken great initiatives, in an effort to combat the famine, drought and tragedy in Somalia.

Turkey shies away from legal measures to provide equal opportunity in education

The recent move to close down prep schools that serve to significantly boost equal opportunity in education may be seen as yet another failure to promote equality on the part of a government which has not yet ratified a UNESCO agreement to end discrimination in education.

Turkey ‘looking for scapegoats’ by linking schools in Nigeria to failed coup

Speaking with TheCable in an interview on Friday, Cemal Yigit, spokesman of NTIC, said Gulen does not own the Turkish schools in Nigeria, and that the schools are the property of private investors – some of them Nigerians. He said that the Turkish government was on a purge of the opposition in Turkey, and that it was trying to decimate any organisation that shared the philosophy of Gulen by tagging them terrorists.

How Nigerian Tulip International Colleges tracks pupils with math talent

The National Mathematics Competition organised yearly by the Nigerian Tulip International Colleges (NTIC) is meant to award scholarship to students that perform well in science and mathematics as well as promote learning in science, mathematics and technology to address shortfall in the areas.

In Indonesia Turkish schools will not be closed

State Secretary Pramono Anung acknowledged Ankara’s statement on the affiliation of schools in Indonesia with the coup masterminds, but also said there was never any formal request from Turkey to shut down the school. Pramono indicated the government’s concern about Turkey interfering in domestic affairs.

Twitter users protest plan to close prep schools in Turkey

Turkish Twitter users are in an uproar over a report that the government has drafted a law which would close thousands of private preparatory education centres (known as “dershanes”) across the country. The schools are reportedly a point of tension between Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government and the Gülen movement that runs many of the schools.

Latest News

Turkish inmate jailed over alleged Gülen links dies of heart attack in prison

Message of Condemnation and Condolences for Mass Shooting at Bondi Beach, Sydney

Media executive Hidayet Karaca marks 11th year in prison over alleged links to Gülen movement

ECtHR faults Turkey for convictions of 2,420 applicants over Gülen links in follow-up to 2023 judgment

New Book Exposes Erdoğan’s “Civil Death Project” Targeting the Hizmet Movement

European Human Rights Treaty Faces Legal And Political Tests

ECtHR rejects Turkey’s appeal, clearing path for retrials in Gülen-linked cases

Erdoğan’s Civil Death Project’ : The ‘politicide’ spanning more than a decade

Fethullah Gülen’s Vision and the Purpose of Hizmet

In Case You Missed It

UNESCO Global Monitoring Report and Turkish Schools

Gulen sympathizer stabbed by pro-Erdogan relative in Belgium

Turkey’s president orders closure of 1,000 private schools linked to Gülen

Enes Kanter: “I’m getting death threats almost every day”

Afghan minister praises Turkish schools, calls for more to be built

Deputy slams AK Party with creating crisis as he resigns from party

Turning wedding excess into act of charity

Copyright 2026 Hizmet News