The “Literature and Culture Camp,” organized by the Anatolian School in cooperation with Kocaeli Metropolitan Municipality and supported by institutions including the Union of Turkish World Municipalities (TDBB), was held in Kocaeli and Istanbul between 19 and 24 August 2024. Students who attended the camp from Turkey and abroad had the opportunity to enrich their world of thought by reading authors.
The opening of the program held in Aytepe was attended by Governor of Kocaeli İlhami Aktaş, Deputy Mayor of Kocaeli Metropolitan Municipality Berna Abiş, Former Minister and President of Anatolian School Executive Board Prof. Dr. Sami Güçlü, Kocaeli Provincial Director of Education Ömer Akmanşen, teachers, academics, writers and young people.
Seminars on various subjects were given and panels were organized by academics and writers to nearly 300 high school and university students from Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Kyrgyzstan, Kosovo and Turkey who participated in the 5-day program held at the Aytepe Diriliş Camp in the Başiskele district.
In the activity guided by teachers, students read the works of writers who contributed to the development of Turkish culture and civilization such as Yunus Emre, Mehmet Akif Ersoy, Necip Fazıl Kısakürek, Tarık Buğra and Yahya Kemal Beyatlı, and before the camp, they completed the works of Chinghiz Aitmatov and Mustafa Kutlu and wrote texts within the framework of the main theme they determined.
President of Anatolian School Executive Board Prof. Dr. Sami Güçlü said that 14 academics and writers gave training to students on certain subjects throughout the camp. Güçlü stated that academics provided information about the Islamic and Turkish world, Africa and the Balkans at the camp, and noted that they found it important to provide information to students about Turkey’s areas of interest and the geography of their hearts at an early age.
In the Istanbul part of the program, students coming from abroad to the Literature and Culture Camp met with TDBB Secretary General Fahri Solak at the lunch provided by Zeytinburnu Municipality at the Belgradkapı Social Facilities. Solak received information about the program from the students and gave information about the projects of TDBB.
In Istanbul, the students also visited the historical and cultural sites of Istanbul and took a Bosphorus tour.
