18 August 2017•Update: 18 August 2017
By Furkan Guldemir and Muhammed Ali Akman
BEIRUT
Turkish students -- touring 18 African countries and two Arab countries as part of a special program -- paid a visit to Beirut office of Turkey's Anadolu Agency on Friday.
The 2017 Africa Experience Sharing Program provides an opportunity to 200 students to visit several African countries, including Tunisia, Libya, Somalia, Kenya, Algeria, Chad, Sudan, Ghana and Niger as well as Arab countries -- Lebanon and Jordan -- from Aug. 5-30.
The program is organized by Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA) in cooperation with Turkish Airlines, Anadolu Agency and the state broadcaster Turkish Radio and Television (TRT).
The students participate in social, cultural and humanitarian activities for the renovation of schools, orphanages, libraries and places of worship as predetermined by TIKA and local NGOs in the visiting countries.
They also took part in implementation of local developmental projects.
As part of the program, 13 students arrived in Lebanese capital of Beirut and visited Anadolu Agency’s office there along with Serhat Kucukkurt, coordinator of TIKA’s Beirut office.
The students were welcomed by Omer Bulut Yuzgulec, editor of Anadolu Agency's Middle East News. They met Arab and Turkish employees at the Beirut office and acquired information about the agency’s activities in the Middle East and North Africa.
They also visited Turkish Embassy, offices of Turkish Airlines and Yunus Emre Institute -- an Ankara-based organization offering artistic, social and scientific programs around the world.
During their one-week stay, the group of students would also visit some places in Lebanon, including some Turkmen villages in northern Akkar district, and would follow activities of TIKA and some non-governmental organizations.
Another group of 12 university students arrived in Sudan earlier on Friday to take part in renovation of an education complex named Nur-u Osmaniye in Khartoum. They also visited Turkish Airlines office and Cemalettin Aydin, Turkish ambassador to Sudan.
