Culture knows no borders

The Public Diplomacy Association supported by the Consulate General of the Russian Federation in Istanbul, the Russian House in Turkey, the “Russian World” Foundation, the Coordination Council of Russian Compatriots in Turkey and the Department of Russian Language, Professional Speech and Intercultural Communication of BelSU Institute of Intercultural Communication and International Relations held the “Across Centuries and Cultures” festival dedicated to F.M. Dostoyevsky.

The teachers and staff of Russian and Turkish higher education institutions, students of Turkish universities and Turkish youth studying Russian language and literature participated in the festival. Rimma Rizaeva, the Chairman of the Public Diplomacy Association supported by the Consulate General of the Russian Federation in Istanbul, welcomed the participants and guests. She noted that Russian language is very popular in Turkey – Turkish youth is demonstrating sincere interest in Russian culture, almost every Turkish family keeping translated editions of the Russian literature classics.

The festival lecturers included Svetlana Funikova, a lecturer of the Department of Russian Language, Professional Speech and Intercultural Communication at the Institute of Intercultural Communication and International Relations, Edytepe Hülya Arslan, a translator, the Head of Department at Yeditepe University; Oksana Gaplevskaya, a master-level teacher of Russian language and literature and others.

At the end of the competition the winners were awarded certificates and diplomas by the organisers in Turkey and on the Russian side – letters of gratitude for their contribution to developing friendship between peoples, and cross-cultural cooperation and love of Russian culture and classical literature.