The "Teaching Turkish as a Foreign Language Certificate Program" is being carried out in cooperation with the Distance Education Application and Research Center and the Turkish Learning, Research and Application Center of our university. In the certificate program, 30 hours of theoretical and one hour of practical lessons will be given. Our Rector Prof. Dr. Musa Yıldız, Director of TÖMER Prof. Dr. Nezir Temur, Director of GUZEM Assoc. Prof. Dr.  Mutlu Tahsin Üstündağ and programme participants attended the opening. The opening lecture of the certificate program was given by the President of the Turkish Language Association, Prof. Dr. Gürer Gülsevin.

The program began with a speech given by Our Rector Prof. Dr. Musa Yıldız. Prof. Dr. Musa Yıldız said that due to this year being declared the year of Yunus Emre, this program is the fourth of the programs organized in honor of the 700th anniversary of Yunus Emre's death.

Emphasizing that millions of people show interest in Turkish today, Prof. Dr. Musa Yıldız said, “We are doing what we can to do our part for our language.”

Stating that Gazi University, one of the main educational institutions of the Republic of Turkey, is the first institution that comes to mind when education is mentioned, our Rector Prof. Dr. Musa Yıldız said that our university, with its strong academic infrastructure, qualified staff and experience, is also a pioneer in the teaching of Turkish as a foreign language.

Prof. Dr. Musa Yıldız, expressed his thanks to TÖMER and GUZEM staff for their contribution to the organization of this program, and to Prof. Dr. Gürer Gülsevin for giving the opening lecture.

Our Rector Prof. Dr. Musa Yıldız stated that this program will enable participants to be aware of current theories and rules and will thereby attend their classes more informed. Prof. Dr. Musa Yıldız said, “With the classes you will take from our university's experienced teachers, you will feel the differences gained from the implementation. The main purpose of the program is the transfer of experience.

Our Rector Prof. Dr. Musa Yıldız finished his speech by addressing the participants of the program by saying, “We are always with you so that you can experience the privilege of being a member of Gazi and show this difference”.

After the opening speech of our Rector, the program moved onto the opening lecture given by the President of the Turkish Language Institution Prof. Dr. Gürer Gülsevin. In his opening lecture Prof. Dr. Gürer Gülsevin gave information on the history of Turkish teaching. Stating that Turkish teaching is based on Kaşgarlı Mahmud's Divan-u Lugati't-Turk, Prof. Dr. Gülsevin said, “Our work to teach Turkish to foreigners was not written upon request from other peoples. It was written for Turks to teach their language to other nations.

Prof. Dr. Gürer Gülsevin said that there was no demand for teaching Turkish to foreigners in the past, but since there is such a demand today,  a whole department has been established to teach Turkish to foreigners.

Turkish Language Institution (TDK) President Prof. Dr. Gürer Gülsevin stated that Turkish, which is a language of culture and writing, is also a literary language, a state language, a language of science and an official language. He noted that around 250 million people speak Turkish, with written languages ​​and dialects, in a geography of 12 million square kilometers.

The lesson began after the opening speeches.