Ankara: The Education Ministry in Turkey has added the Arabic language to the curricula of primary school students as of scholastic year 2016 - 2017.
In a statement, carried by Turkish Anadolu Agency (AA), the Ministry said Arabic language will be taught as one of the optional foreign languages as of the second to the eighth grades.
The Ministry attributed the decision to the importance of Arabic which is spoken by around 350 million people in 22 countries and is one of the sixth languages recognized by the United Nations, in addition to the historic and cultural reasons requiring it in any Muslim countries.
QNA
