Turkish poet’s work to be translated into African languages

JOHANNESBURG

A Turkish cultural institute in South Africa is planning to translate some of the works of revered poet Yunus Emre into African languages to enable the continent to understand what he symbolized.

“UNESCO has dedicated 2021 as the Year of Yunus Emre, so we are planning to translate some of his works into the Zulu and Xhosa languages, which are widely spoken in South Africa, as well as in the Swahili language, also spoken in many countries on the continent,” Gökhan Kahraman, the coordinator of the Yunus Emre Institute in Johannesburg, told the state-run Anadolu Agency.

Kahraman said the institute was in the process of organizing a conference to jointly look at the works of South African poet Es’Kia Mphahlele and Yunus Emre, who shared similar values.

‘’With this joint conference, we shall have the opportunity to share and promote the values of both countries,” he said, adding that this would fulfill one of the institute’s objectives to bring friendship between the peoples of Turkey and South Africa.

Kahraman also said they would be introducing classic Turkish archery games in South Africa as a sport, and the three best participants would be taken to Turkey to compete among 200 participants drawn from the 61 global Yunus Emre cultural centers.

They have also planned a photo exhibition in memory of the July 15, 2016, failed coup in Turkey to show South Africans what transpired in the country in conjunction with Anadolu Agency’s photos at the institute’s Mandela Hall.

Kahraman said the exhibition would last two weeks, and on the opening night, a digital panel would be organized with the participation of people, including journalists and officials who were injured on the night of the failed coup attempt.