Turkish language classes by the Yunus Emre Institute (YEE) turned to be wildly popular among Sudanese people. Some 3,000 people have applied for the classes at the YEE Culture Center in Khartoum since the courses were introduced about a year ago.

The center's director, Feyzullah Bahçi, told Anadolu Agency (AA) that Turkish has became so popular in this African country that some government agencies and universities ask the center for special classes on the language. "We didn't have any visibility, any publicity when the center was opened but some 3,000 people found out about us anyway and applied," he says. Despite the barrage of applications, the center can house only a few hundred people and Bahçi said that the number of students they have taught Turkish to since November 2016 was 900. Six teachers at the center now teach Turkish to 520 new students.

Mubarak Hassan, one of the students, is already familiar with Turkish as he studies Turkish language at a Sudanese university. He says the classes at the center help him improve his Turkish skills. Naid Issa, another student, said he was studying Turkish by himself and "immediately" applied when he learned about the Turkish classes. "I love Turkish people and want to learn more about them, especially about their history," Issa said.