A Taiwan-funded civic center on the border between Turkey and Syria was on Friday completed after a year of construction.
The Taiwan-Reyhanli Center for World Citizens in Reyhanli, in southeastern Turkey’s Hatay Province, is to serve as a link among Taiwanese, Turks and Syrians, Representative to Turkey Yaser Cheng (鄭泰祥) said.
At the completion ceremony, Cheng and Reyhanli Mayor Mehmet Hacioglu unveiled a steel plate inlayed on the building with the words “Taiwan Center” in English, with the word “Taiwan” also written in Chinese characters.
Photo: CNA
The building consists of 52 multipurpose rooms for offices, classrooms, shops, cafes and artists’ workshops.
It is expected to be a design center and plant to roll out innovative products and local specialties made by Turkish residents and Syrian refugees.
Since Syria plunged into civil war in 2011, almost 120,000 people have fled to neighboring Reyhanli. As the city has a population of about 100,000, the density of refugees to locals is the highest among all of the Turkish cities along the border with Syria.
The civic center is to invite the Turkish government, as well as non-governmental organizations and enterprises from around the world, to station representatives there, Cheng said, adding that Taiwan’s government and private sector would continue to support the project.
Although Taiwan and Turkey are far apart, both would continue to support each other, Hacioglu said, adding that he hopes the two will have more cooperation.
Hacioglu also wished Taiwanese people peace and good health.
The Reyhanli city government has appointed Chiu Chen-yu (裘振宇), the lead architect of the construction project, the CEO of the civic center.
“We will try our best to take on the crisis posed by [COVID-19] on the Turkish side between the border with Syria,” Chiu said.
The Ministry of Education (MOE) is to launch a new program to encourage international students to stay in Taiwan and explore job opportunities here after graduation, Deputy Minister of Education Yeh Ping-cheng (葉丙成) said on Friday. The government would provide full scholarships for international students to further their studies for two years in Taiwan, so those who want to pursue a master’s degree can consider applying for the program, he said. The fields included are science, technology, engineering, mathematics, semiconductors and finance, Yeh added. The program, called “Intense 2+2,” would also assist international students who completed the two years of further studies in
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) departed for Europe on Friday night, with planned stops in Lithuania and Denmark. Tsai arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport on Friday night, but did not speak to reporters before departing. Tsai wrote on social media later that the purpose of the trip was to reaffirm the commitment of Taiwanese to working with democratic allies to promote regional security and stability, upholding freedom and democracy, and defending their homeland. She also expressed hope that through joint efforts, Taiwan and Europe would continue to be partners building up economic resilience on the global stage. The former president was to first
Taiwan will now have four additional national holidays after the Legislative Yuan passed an amendment today, which also made Labor Day a national holiday for all sectors. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) used their majority in the Legislative Yuan to pass the amendment to the Act on Implementing Memorial Days and State Holidays (紀念日及節日實施辦法), which the parties jointly proposed, in its third and final reading today. The legislature passed the bill to amend the act, which is currently enforced administratively, raising it to the legal level. The new legislation recognizes Confucius’ birthday on Sept. 28, the
The Taipei District Court sentenced babysitters Liu Tsai-hsuan (劉彩萱) and Liu Jou-lin (劉若琳) to life and 18 years in prison respectively today for causing the death of a one-year-old boy in December 2023. The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said that Liu Tsai-hsuan was entrusted with the care of a one-year-old boy, nicknamed Kai Kai (剴剴), in August 2023 by the Child Welfare League Foundation. From Sept. 1 to Dec. 23 that year, she and her sister Liu Jou-lin allegedly committed acts of abuse against the boy, who was rushed to the hospital with severe injuries on Dec. 24, 2023, but did not
RSS