Istanbul will see the largest gathering of foreign alumni from schools in Turkey on Saturday. Former students on Turkish state scholarships will attend the "Turkey Again: Alumni Meeting" organized by state-run Turks Abroad and Related Communities Directorate (YTB).
The event also marks the 25th anniversary of the scholarship program Turkey launched for students from around the globe. Authorities say some 150,000 students from 160 countries have graduated from Turkish schools.
Though the country's schools had foreigners pursuing education in Turkey before, it was during the tenure of late President Turgut Özal that it expanded its outreach to students with the scholarship program.
Under the governments of the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) in the past decade, the program has further increased the number of applications in a bid to increase its reach even more.
More than 1,000 foreign students will attend the event held under the auspices of the Turkish presidency.
The aim of the Istanbul meeting is to bring together these graduates, who continue their careers in their own countries, to promote relations.
Among the graduates, who studied for bachelor's, master's or doctoral degrees in Turkey, are Libya's former Prime Minister Muhammad Ahmad al-Mangoush; Fuad Bacicanin, who studied in Istanbul between 1993 and 1997 and is currently the director of the Ras City Museum in Bosnia; Esad Bazdar, who studied in Turkey between 1992 and 1998 and is now a general manager at a Turkish company based in Bosnia and Rifat Feyzic, chairman of the Islamic Sheikhdom of Montenegro.
Other notable people who studied in Turkey are Sudan's first female gynecologist Wahij Ibrahim; Guner Ureye, a member of the Kosovo Foreign Ministry; Muaz Feki, deputy manager of Tunisia Susa University Science and Technology; Aydin Maruf a deputy in Iraq; Mustafa Jabber, a culture undersecretary at the Iraqi Embassy in Ankara; and Gandiinma Rentsendorh, the general director of Mongolian broadcaster MNB.
Speaking to Anadolu Agency (AA), Hakan Çavuşoğlu, the deputy prime minister whose office oversees the YTB, said he hoped that the event would be more than an ordinary alumni reunion.
"I hope it will serve as a platform of cooperation between alumni and Turkey in various fields, from international relations to politics, from law and economy to arts and literature," Çavuşoğlu said.
Apart from the meeting, the event will host stands of universities, international nonprofit organizations and others.
"The foreign alumni can exchange ideas there and showcase their projects for cooperation," he said.
As part of the YTB's Turkey Graduates program, which began this year, reunions will be organized in 50 countries in an attempt to strengthen contacts with graduates and establish a global network.
So far, the graduates have met at 36 events in 26 countries to take common steps for global peace, stability and development.
The Turkish agency aims to establish alumni associations in 40 countries in order to contribute to the development of political, cultural, economic and commercial relations with the counties of the graduates. An official process has been launched to establish these associations in 17 countries.
State scholarships are given to turn Turkey into an education center. While in 2011, 8,000 students applied for these scholarships, the number of applicants has increased since the YTB took over the scholarships.
According to the YTB, in 2013, 55,181 people from 165 countries applied for the scholarships. This increased to 106,550 people from 163 countries.
In Turkey, there are 16,817 foreign students studying on scholarships. The number of students who study in the country with their own means is more than 100,000, according to the YTB.
In 2016, 1,425 Syrians also received YTB scholarships.
Only foreign citizens can apply for Turkey Scholarships. They apply online and are later interviewed at around 100 places worldwide. Candidates who are successful in the interviews, which are conducted by academics and YTB experts, come to Turkey and take Turkish classes in their first year. After that, they are placed at universities according to their preferences.
The scholarships include accommodation, food and monthly expenses as well as insurance and their tickets to Turkey and back home.
"I am indebted to Turkey for the scholarship given to me," says a senior executive of the Mongolian National Broadcaster, who came to Turkey 12 years ago to get a teaching degree.
Gandiimaa Rentsendorj is just one of thousands of people who got a scholarship to study in Turkey.
Rentsendorj came to Turkey in 1995 and studied in the Chemistry Education Department at Ankara-based Gazi University. She then went to China and got her master's degree in journalism from Peking University in Beijing.
"This scholarship [granted by Turkey] met all of my expenses including tuition and dormitory fees," Rentsendorj told AA.
"Now, I speak very good Turkish and have become a kind of cultural envoy between Turkey and Mongolia," she said, adding that studying in Turkey and speaking Turkish had changed her life and enabled her to play an important role between the two countries.
"I organized a project which sent 11 people from the Mongolia National Broadcaster to train in Turkey, with the support of the Turkish Embassy in Ulaanbaatar and Turkey's state-run aid body, the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency [TİKA]."
"If I did not speak Turkish, and had not studied in Turkey, this cooperation between the two countries would not have happened," she said.
Rentsendorj hopes that the number of Mongolian students studying in Turkey will rise, encouraging her fellow countrymen and women to at least go for a visit even if they cannot study there.
Tunisian businessman Nabil Rouis is another alumni who picked Turkey to study.
Rouis studied mechanical engineering at Uludağ University in the northwestern province of Bursa, and graduated in 2000. He has been living in Turkey since 1994.
"I preferred to study in Turkey as its culture is close to ours. That, and the fact that it is a rising country," he said.
Rouis, who has Turkish citizenship, runs a foreign trade business.
"On every occasion, we try to promote Turkey in Tunisia, and vice versa. We encourage businessmen from both countries to do business with each other," he said.
The Tunisian businessman - whose two nephews are studying in Turkey - said he advised other young Tunisians to come and study in Turkey.
"I am very happy to be here, in Turkey. It is not just a matter of living here. It is also important to be a citizen of a powerful country. That is how I see Turkey."
