An academic conference has been held to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Turkey and Mongolia.

At the conference held at the Mongolian Public Administration Academy, in Ulaanbaatar, the capital of Mongolia, on November 6, 2019, Adviser to President of Yunus Emre Institute Tayfun Kalkan gave a lecture on the activities conducted by the Institute around the world. In the conference, backed by the Presidency for Turks Abroad and Related Communities, the activities the Institute has been conducting in the academic sphere in Mongolia for teaching Turkish and supporting Turkology processes within the framework of the cooperation agreement signed by and between the Institute and the National University of Mongolia were described.

Mongolian academics showed heightened interest in the conference, which was attended by Turkish academics including Hüseyin Bağcı (Middle East Technical University) and Ali Merthan Dündar (Ankara University) as well as representatives of the Foreign Economic Relations Council (DEİK) and private companies. Cooperation in trade, training, science, culture, national security and defense was discussed within the context of Turkish-Mongolian ties at the presentations made by Turkish and Mongolian academics at various sessions.

The keynote speeches were delivered by Mongolian Public Administration Academy Rector Zulpkhar Sarkhad, Ambassador of the Republic of Turkey to Ulaanbaatar Ahmet Yazal and DEİK representative Cengiz Gül (head of the Turkish-Mongolian Business Council).

In his speech, Rector Sarkhad said: "The establishment of official diplomatic relations in 1969, at the heyday of the Cold War era, turned a new page in our common history of thousands of years. In our time, scientists and academics will certainly make tremendous contribution to the bilateral relations."

Ambassador Yazal said: "We have historical, cultural and social relations that date back to 2000 years ago. We can do many things to ensure that this friendship will take us further."

At the end of the conference, noting that Mongolia has declared Turkey as its third neighbor despite lack of physical boundaries between the two countries, the speakers agreed that Mongolia's stance and interest toward Turkey should be supported.