On a teachers study tour organized and sponsored by the Turkish Cultural Foundation in partnership with the World Affairs Council of America, 80 middle school and high school teachers will be visiting Turkey this summer. This year's educators are coming from Dallas/Fort Worth, Detroit, Montana, Kansas City, St. Louis, Hawaii, Mid Hudson Valley, Eastern North Carolina, New Hampshire, Pittsburgh, Raleigh, Washington, D.C., Birmingham, Reading, Seattle, South Dakota, Riverside (CA), Santa Fe and Orange County, and they will begin a 13-day tour starting from Istanbul and the western part of Turkey and ending in Ankara by way of Cappadocia. The first group will arrive on Monday.

"We have continued to introduce Turkey and Turkish Culture with special programs since 2000. We will host 80 American teachers in Turkey as part of our activities, which function as a bridge in culture and education fields between the U.S. and Turkey. In this way, teachers will meet the millenarian history of civilization of Turkey and especially they will know the Turkish cultural heritage in Anatolia. By visiting our schools and our education and cultural foundations, they will meet school administrators, teachers and non-governmental organization leaders. When they go back to the U.S., they will take the initiative to arrange introductory programs for Turkey in their country," said the executive director of Turkish Cultural Foundation, Güler Köknar.

By the end of this summer, the Turkish Cultural Foundation will have shown 296 American educators the marvels of Turkey. As part of the same collaborative program, over 2,000 teachers across the United States have attended educational workshops on Turkey held by their local World Affairs Council and sponsored by the Turkish Cultural Foundation.