D

elegates have brought home two silver medals from the 11th International Turkish Olympiads, an international language and culture competition, that included singing, poetry and dancing, which took place from June 1 to 16.

Nearly 2,000 students from 140 countries took part in the event at the Ataturk Olympic Stadium, Istanbul. This event was part of Turkey's annual International Language and Culture Festival that ran across 55 cities in the country.

 'It was a great event, I am happy to win a medal for Indonesia,' said Gozali Saputra, a student at Sragen Bilingual Boarding School in Central Java.

The two silver medals came from the poetry recital and singing categories.

Emha Ainun Nadjib, a noted Indonesian cultural observer, attended the event to see his daughter, who participated in the event.

He praised the organizers and the event as a whole.

In his remarks at the closing ceremony, Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayip Erdogan stressed that the two-week event reflected 'the real Turkey'.

'There was intolerance in one image, while there was love in the other. Know this: The real image of Turkey is this [pointing the audients], this is the real picture of Turkey', he said.

The closing ceremony took place from 9 p.m. to 12 p.m. A laser light show, music and fireworks greeted the audients.

Ahmad Nursalim
Citizen journalist
Istanbul