Türkiye’s TÜGVA launches ‘Bookworm’ project to promote children’s reading

Daily Sabah · Daily Sabah · 2026-10-26 13:32 UTC

The new edition of the “Bookworm” project by the Türkiye Youth Foundation (TÜGVA), which aims to encourage middle school-age children to read, was...

The new edition of the “Bookworm” project by the Türkiye Youth Foundation (TÜGVA), which aims to encourage middle school-age children to read, was launched Monday in the southern city of Gaziantep.

The ninth edition was unveiled at an event at Mavera Congress and Arts Center at Gaziantep University. Among those attending were Necmettin Bilal Erdoğan, a member of the foundation’s High Advisory Board; TÜGVA President Ibrahim Beşinci, Justice and Development Party (AK Party) deputy parliamentary group chair and Gaziantep lawmaker Abdülhamit Gül, Gaziantep Governor Kemal Çeber, Gaziantep Mayor Fatma Şahin; Şahinbey Mayor Mehmet Tahmazoğlu, Şehitkamil Mayor Umut Yılmaz, Gaziantep University Rector professor Sait Mesut Doğan; and Hasan Kalyoncu University Rector professor Gül Rengi Küçükerdoğan, along with representatives of civil society organizations and a large number of middle school students.

TÜGVA received a record 358,000 applications for the project last year and aims to reach at least 450,000 students this year.

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