The report titled “The Ancient Turkish Presence and Related Communities in Jordan” prepared in cooperation with The Presidency for Turks Abroad and Related Communities (YTB) and the Center for Middle Eastern Studies (ORSAM) was promoted at a meeting held in Ankara

In the meeting at YTB Conference Hall, the report that was prepared within the scope of the field study in Jordan was presented. The report provided information about the areas where Turks and Turkmen populations live in the country, their demographic distribution, state of education, political organization and sociocultural structure.

In his opening speech of the program, the President of YTB, Abdullah Eren provided information about their work in the organization and stated that “We carry the burden of living in a geography remnant of a great civilization. In our works we endeavor to carry out what is due responsibility.”

Pointing out that the concept “geography of heart” is at the center of Turkey’s foreign policy, Eren drew attention to works done in Middle East regarding the communities of common ancestry and the related communities.

Reminding of the necessity to preserve the Turkish presence in the region, Eren stated that in the future, further studies on Iraq Turkmens and Palestine Turkmens will be performed in collaboration with ORSAM.

The Director of Orsam, Prof. Dr. Ahmet Uysal claiming that the bonds between Turkish citizens and the communities of common ancestry and the related communities in the region were not forged properly in the past, they as an institution try to understand the region academically and to strengthen the bonds with the region.

Commenting that the region is not an alien geography for Turkey, Uysal stated “I believe the study done in Jordan will help explore the close ties we have.”

"5 people from the Royal Family of Jordan is learning Turkish”

“5 people from the Royal Family of Jordan is learning Turkish”

Bilgay Duman, the Coordinator of the Iraq Studies in ORSAM who presented the report, said this study is extremely important since it is the first academic study done in the field.

Duman also recorded that in this report, they provide detailed analysis of Turkish presence in Jordan and also, they address the presence of related communities in the country and their interactions with one another.

Duman stated that the Turkish presence in the country begins in 1860 due to the serious amount of migrations to the region during the building of the Hedjaz Railway.

Duman claimed that the Turkish people of Jordan maintained their presence generally through social and cultural studies, highlighted that the educational level of the Turkish society is well and above the general education level of the country.