The state-run Yunus Emre Institute is hosting East African-American Muslim students who are mostly Somali-Americans and NGO representatives from Minnesota, in Turkey in a bid to promote Muslim and Turkish culture and cultural diversity in the country
The Yunus Emre Institute (YEE) is carrying out an important project that reinforces Turkey’s function as being a bridge between East and West. Representing Turkish culture and language all over the world, the state-run YEE is organizing a tour in Istanbul, Bursa and Ankara for approximately 20 East African, mostly Somali-American students in high school and university along with representatives of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) from Minnesota, between Aug. 27 and Sept. 4. Supported by the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality and Touring and Automobile Club of Turkey (TURİNG), the aim of this program is to improve their self-confidence and their self-identity as American Muslims.
“I FEEL CLOSER TO ISLAM“Sharif Abdirahman Mohamed, a Somali-American imam and chaplain, said he spent a short time in Turkey and the hospitality of the Turkish people and the rich and proud history of the Turkish nation has become an inspiration for him and his students: “The calls to prayer and the beautiful mosques are an inspiration and call us closer to our faith. Many of the travelers we have brought have never heard a public call to prayer, they have not experienced a nation that is majority Muslim. Our travelers benefit from a greater sense of pride in their faith and heritage, they are better able to face tough situations of Islamophobia or isolation,” he said.
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