Young Turks look eastward to a Chinese future

ISTANBUL-"My greatest dream is to continue my life in China. I want to move there, get a job, and start a family maybe, and live there," Reyhan Hamamcioglu, an 18-year-old student of Chinese language from Turkey's western province of Izmir, says.

Hamamcioglu developed a growing interest in China during her high school years, when she was looking for more information about the country and realized that the vast Eastern Asian nation had preserved its origins and authenticity.

"Even though every country changes and resembles each other, I think China will always preserve its own essence. I want to witness this originality," she says.

It first came as a surprise for Hamamcioglu's parents when she told them about her plans to move to China, but they said they were "happy and proud" about her intention to go to "a country of the future".

The young Turkish student is currently attending a prep class in the Chinese language and literature department at Istanbul University in order to lay a stronger language foundation for her planned trip to China.

"As China is the largest and most established country in Asia, I want to learn more about its language, culture, history and literature. Therefore, I chose to study Chinese language and literature," Hamamcioglu says.

Noting the consistently improving relations between Turkey and China, she says the increasing number of Chinese companies operating in Turkey has boosted demand for translators and teachers.

Zhou Yanquan, leader of the Chamber of Commerce for Chinese Enterprises in Turkey, says there are more than 30 Chinese digital companies with investment, or partners, in the Turkish market, such as China's tech giant Huawei and telecommunication company ZTE Corp. The former's research and development center in Istanbul, Turkey's financial hub, is its largest overseas, while the latter has become a shareholder in a Turkish systems integration provider. In addition, Chinese mobile phone manufacturers, such as Xiaomi, Oppo, Vivo and Tecno Mobile, have established production facilities in Istanbul.

Eyup Saritas, head of the Chinese language and literature department at Istanbul University, says in the last 15 years, there has been a palpable interest in Chinese culture and Chinese learning among Turkish university students.

"Thanks to the scholarships provided by the Confucius Institute, the Chinese government, Chinese universities, and the municipalities of some big cities, this interest is dynamically sustained," the professor says.

In Saritas' view, students who start learning Chinese usually want to visit China to learn more about the country and its culture.

"After going to China … they express that there is not much difference between the China they dream of and the China they find," he says.

Xinhua