SYRIAN PEOPLE'S INTEREST IN TURKEY GROWS

DAMASCUS (A.A) - 25.10.2010 - Syrian people's interest in Turkey has been growing day by day while the political and economic relations between the two countries have gained momentum recently. 
Turkish Ambassador in Damascus Omer Onhon said in an interview with the A.A, "number of Syrian tourists visiting Turkey has exceeded 600 thousand since the beginning of the year while number of Turkish tourists visiting Syria reached 1 million. Besides improving political relations, removal of visa procedures and broadcast of Turkish TV series in Syria have had a positive impact on the two nations."
Turkish Attache in Damascus for Culture and Promotion, Vehip Ozdemir, said that they tried to take part in concerts, exhibitions, film festivals and the other culture-art events in Damascus. 
"Turkey will be the honorary guest of the 18th Damascus International Film Festival. The Turkish Embassy opened classes for Syrian people who want to learn Turkish language. There is a great interest in the classes. Some 300 people are attending the classes for the time being while nearly 300 others are waiting for it," he said.
Ozdemir said that Turkey would open a new branch of Yunus Emre Culture Center in Damascus in the coming months. 
"There is a considerable increase in number of Syrian tourists visiting Turkey. 509,679 Syrians spent their vacation in Turkey in 2009. The number of Syrian tourists increased to 560,569 in the first eight months of 2010. Syrian tourists prefer Hatay, Antalya, Mersin, Cappadocia region, Bursa, Yalova, Bolu, Istanbul, Mugla and Pamukkale in Turkey," he added.