Tevfik Aksit receives Decoration of Honour in Gold for Services to the Republic of Austria
Ankara, 8 April 2010 – On 3 April 2010, Ambassador Heidemaria Gürer presented the Austro-Turkish cultural mediator Tevfik Aksit with the Decoration of Honour in Gold for Services to the Republic of Austria. Aksit lived for more than twenty years in Austria, working as an assistant teacher of German and English. He built a private library, accessible to the public at large, at his home in Gablitz.
Following his retirement he moved the entire library to Ürkmez near Izmir, and with its 80,000 titles it is the largest library of German books not only in Turkey but in the entire region.
Aksit Culture isa centre of literature and contemplation operated by Tevfik Aksit, his wife and his four sons. The library is open to the public, with seminars being held on themes such as German language and literature. The centre’s programme is rounded off by concerts and workshops on Austrian and Turkish music.
The decoration was awarded at a gathering of all Austrian honorary consuls, who assembled in Izmir, Turkey. In the evening the Austrians Eva Steinschaden (violin) and Alexander Vavtar (piano) gave the first foreign concert ever at Bademler near Izmir, the only village theatre in Turkey.
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