Türkiye, Syria sign agreement on cultural centers

Türkiye and Syria signed an agreement on Thursday on the establishment, operation, and activities of cultural centers in each other’s countries.

Under the agreement, the Turkish centers will be able to operate across Syria, primarily offering Turkish-language courses and promoting Turkish culture.

Nuh Yilmaz, Türkiye’s ambassador to Damascus, told Anadolu that relations between Türkiye and Syria are developing rapidly in line with the political will expressed by the two countries’ presidents, adding that the necessary legal framework is also being established.

He called the agreement an important step toward placing bilateral ties on an institutional and legal footing.

Turkiye’s Yunus Emre cultural centers – named after a famed 14th-century poet – operated in the capital Damascus and Aleppo before the war but suspended their activities after the conflict began in 2011.

Yilmaz said Syria has a sizable Turkish-speaking population, including local ethnic Turkmen communities and Syrians who lived in Türkiye for many years.

“These centers will play an important role in preserving and developing existing language skills and bringing them to a more academic level,” he said, noting strong demand among Syrians seeking to learn or improve their Turkish.

The Yunus Emre Institute will also organize activities aimed at rediscovering the two countries’ shared cultural heritage, including projects in literature, photography, cinema, painting and history, Yilmaz said.

He added that the cultural programs would strengthen ties between the two peoples and highlight the historic and cultural relationship between Türkiye and Syria.

The agreement was signed by Yilmaz and Qutayba Kadish, head of the International Cooperation Department at the Syrian Foreign Ministry.

Embassy officials and Furkan Koroglu, acting coordinator of the Yunus Emre Institute’s Damascus Cultural Center, also attended the ceremony.