Through the Department of Tourism of the College of Arts & Social Sciences, Sultan Qaboos University will offer Turkish language as an elective course for students across the University. The program will be offered from autumn 2019 with the support of the Embassy of Turkey in the Sultanate of Oman and Turkish Maarif Foundation. A letter of agreement in this regard has been signed on Thursday, 25 April 2019, by H.H. Sayyida Dr. Mona Fahad Al Said, SQU Assistant Vice Chancellor for International Cooperation, and H.E. Ambassador Hasan Yavuz, Vice President of Turkish Maarif Foundation (TMF) and Member of the Board of Directors of TMF.

Turkish Maarif Foundation serves as a gateway to international educational arena of Turkey that contribute to enhancing cultural and civilizational interaction and paving the way for achieving the common wellbeing. Together with the Ministry of National Education, Turkish Maarif Foundation is the sole entity in Turkey, which is authorized to provide educational services outside the country.

Turkish language is the 12th most spoken language in the world. In Turkey alone it is spoken by 74.2 million people. All over the world, about 78.9 million people speak Turkish. Turkish belongs to the Altay branch of the Ural-Altaic linguistic family. It is a very ancient language going back 5500 to 8500 years.