The Turkish Yunus Emre Institute will soon start Turkish language courses and cultural and academic exchange programs in Rwanda, furthering Turkey and Rwanda’s seven-year-old bilateral relations. The Institute will offer several new education programs to the East African nation, as well as diplomat training programs and scholarships, Turkey’s envoy to Rwanda said Monday.

Ambassador Burcu Çevik told Anadolu Agency in an email interview that a delegation headed by Yavuz Kartallıoğlu, director of Turkish language at the Yunus Emre Institute, visited the Rwandan capital Kigali from April 12-17 to meet the university’s top officials.

Çevik said the institute will soon be sending a lecturer from Turkey to Kigali to start Turkish courses at the university.

“Those who are interested in learning Turkish for academic and business purposes will be able to do so soon in Rwanda,” she said, adding that the program will most likely start this year.

The diplomat revealed that the Turkish cultural institute and the university signed an agreement on cooperation in December 2019. “The MoU will be implemented with the initiation of Turkish language courses,” she said.

Çevik added that Turkey has declared 2021 as “The Yunus Emre and Turkish Language Year,” and Turkish courses in Rwanda will help bring the people of the two countries closer.

“Cooperation will be strengthened further with academic and cultural exchanges, hopefully turning into a fully functioning Turkish Cultural and Language Center within the university,” she said.

Although Turkey only established its embassy in Kigali in 2014, bilateral relations today are at their best, according to Çevik.

The two countries have already signed 20 cooperative agreements in fields ranging from education to trade and investment, she said, adding that Turkey is supporting Rwanda in its endeavors to strengthen its human capital in all fields.

“Turkey has been providing full scholarships to Rwandan students for undergraduate and postgraduate studies in Turkey. So far more than 200 Rwandan students have benefited.”

The Turkish envoy said different Turkish institutions are offering training programs to their counterparts in security and defense fields. “Very recently the Diplomacy Academy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkey organized an online diplomatic training program for 41 newly-recruited Rwandan diplomats,” Çevik said.

She shared that Turkey is in the process of opening a Technical and Vocational Education Training College in Rwanda to enable youth to gain valuable skills.