The international validity of the Turkish proficiency exam has been approved, Şeref Ateş, head of the Yunus Emre Institute (YEE), said Friday.

"For the Turkish exam to be valid globally, it had to have international accreditation. Although there are 250 million-300 million Turkish-speaking people, including in some international organizations, there has not been an internationally valid language document in the world until now," he told Sabah daily.

He indicated that the exam was approved by the Association of Language Testers in Europe (ALTE).

"The only document of our Turkish language that is accepted as a Turkish test has been approved by ALTE through the Yunus Emre Institute. This development is as important as entering the G-20 for people like us dealing with culture and language," he added.