National Language and Culture Festival

Turkish Language Olympiads have been organised by the International Turkish Education Association since 2003. In 2013, students from more than 130 countries have competed in different areas like poetry, singing, acting etc. AUF Member schools have participated in these Olympiads in the past and achieved great results representing Australia. It is a great opportunity for the school community to encourage teaching languages other than English. AUF tries to assist in organising the various stages in Australia and monitor the Australian team selections. Students who were going to represent Australia at the 12th Turkish Language Olympiads, among the representatives of over 140 countries, had been selected at the “Language and Culture Festival” on Saturday, 7 December 2013 at 7.30 pm at the Serenity Receptions in Melbourne. The event was organised by Istanbul Culture and Arts Centre. The event is followed by the “Anatolian Culture and Arts Festival” on the next day (8 December) in Federation Square. Students from across Australia displayed great performances and made the job of the judges, lead by Deputy CEO of the Australian Universal Federation Mahmut Celal Arikan, extremely hard. At the end, the following students secured the first place in their categories: Song Contest: Mutia Nur Hafiza and Dilara Aydin (Turkish Background) Poetry Contest: Sarah El Wazni and Sadullah Taşbaş (Turkish Background) Speaking Contest: Sarah El Wazni Officials from Turkish Consulate in Melbourne, community leaders, local and national media, businessmen, visitors from overseas were among the guests. In 2013 Turkish Olympiads, the Australia Information Centre came third in the Culture Exhibition Category. Also Enes Ahmadi received a third place in Speaking and mention in Special Talent. Fatma Lelik also received a third in Essay Writing. Students will travel to Turkey in early June to compete with hundreds of students from all over the world to get a place in 2014 Turkish Olympiads