The first qualifying round of the Annual Turkish Olympiad of the Southeastern U.S. will be held on March 19, 2010 at Independence High School in the Auditorium (Alpharetta, GA 30004).

Please see the official website for this exciting competition at http://www.seturkisholympiad.org/.

Why Turkish?

Turkish is key for accessing Turkic languages spoken by tens of millions of people in the Near East, the former soviet Union, China, and Balkans.

Turkish is the 5th most widely spoken language in the world. More than 200 million people speak Turkish.

It is one of the 10 critical languages identified by the US Government.

The Turkish language is written with the Latin alphabet and is pronounced as written, making it easier to learn.

Turkey is an emerging economic power with geographical and political ties to Central Asian and Middle Eastern nations.

Turkey has a very rich history, including Biblical events, the earliest human civilizations, the beginnings of Christianity, and the height of Islamic civilization.

Turkey has long fostered a culture of peaceful coexistence among members of different ethnic and religious groups, such as Sephardic Jews, Syrian Christians, Circassians and Albanians.

Turkey is one of the best open air museums in the World for archeologists to explore in places like Ephesus, Halicarnassus, Noah's Ark, and city of Troy?

Turkey is a major power with a population of more than 70 million and a key U.S. ally. Turkey is also a member of the Council of Europe and the OECD and a founding member of NATO.

The U.S. Commerce Department has identified Turkey as one of the 10 emerging markets that will drive global growth. Few are prepared to take advantage of that opportunity; learning Turkish positions you for successes others let pass them by.