A project by the state-run Yunus Emre Institute (YEE) hosts 1,000 foreign students who learn Turkish and everything about Turkey's culture and arts. Students from 118 countries, including Indonesia, Algeria, United States, Armenia, Israel, Cuba, Germany, the United Kingdom, Denmark, Palestine, Egypt, Estonia, Finland, France and the Netherlands were selected from 150,000 applicants for the program that started in July.

Students learn Turkish while traveling around Turkey until Aug. 12. They also take part in training programs in 28 provinces. The program ends with a final trip to Istanbul. As part of the program, students recently learned Turkish in the eastern Malatya province, played traditional Turkish instruments and learned Turkish folk dances.

In southeastern Gaziantep, foreign students visited a baklava museum and learned how to make the famous Turkish dessert. In Edirne, a northwestern city famed for its Ottoman-era landmarks, students visited mosques and learned how to cook the city's famous dish fried liver and were trained in ebru, the art of marbling.