Turkey wants Russian cultural center in Istanbul, says head of Yunus Emre Institute
MOSCOW, April 16. /TASS/. Turkey is in favor of establishing a Russian Center of Culture and Science in Istanbul, Abdurrahman Aliy, Director of the Yunus Emre Institute (Turkish Cultural Center), told TASS.
"We would be delighted to open a Russian Center for Culture and Science in Istanbul. We are very much in favor of this initiative," said Aliy.
He also emphasized that "Antalya is home to a large Russian diaspora." "We are planning to open a Russian-Turkish library, which would further promote Russian culture in Turkey," noted Aliy.
The Russian Center of Science and Culture in Turkey has been operating in Ankara since February 2014. Earlier, Yevgeny Primakov, head of the Russian Federal Agency for the Commonwealth of Independent States, Compatriots Living Abroad and International Humanitarian Cooperation (Rossotrudnichestvo), expressed readiness to open another branch in Istanbul should a partnership be sealed.
