The Turkish as a Foreign Language Education Association (YADOT) is a non-governmental organization formed by teachers, specialists and academics working in the subject of Turkish as a foreign/second language. YADOT is a non-profit organization that was founded in 2018 in Istanbul, Turkey, and is officially recognized by the Turkish Interior Ministry. Founder members have arranged events, workshops, and meetings at various institutions in and around Istanbul since 2012, until the association was officially founded. Consequently, even though we are a young organization, we have a lot of experience in the area. We wish to connect people who work and train in this field together, encourage cooperation and sharing, develop professional unity, and lead activities, publications, and initiatives that will benefit the field. The administrative body of the YADOT is composed of seven educators: Atanur Memiş (the head), Dr. Necmettin Özmen (secretary general), Dr. Himmet Sarıtaş (communication executive), Nuray Kaşıkçı (accountant), Fulya Doğru Şahin (web editor), Dr. Mustafa Çetin (journal editor) and Metin Çelikten (secretary). They work as a team on all projects and have a solid educational background with a diverse range of academic, teaching, and social experiences.

On a regular basis, we hold events/workshops in which teachers and academics may discuss current issues and concerns in the field. Institutions that collaborate with YADOT host these sessions. We have had 34 workshops at 17 different universities up to this point such as İstanbul University, İstanbul Bilgi University, İstanbul Sabahattin Zaim Univerity, İstanbul Aydin University, İstanbul Medeniyet University, İstanbul Sehir University, Kocaeli University, Bursa Uludag University, Sakarya University, Biruni University, Fatih Sultan Mehmet University, İbn Haldun University, Bahcesehir University etc. and put lots of academicians, teachers and students together. In those meetings, we discussed and find solutions on not only Turkish Language Teaching methods, but also on various problems of the teachers and academicians who work in universities’ academic centers, in language courses; foreign students who need orientations in abroad; immigrants who are facing lots of issues, children who need pedagogical approach in their learning process.

Our mission:
• To conduct research studies on the development of Turkish teaching methods, as well as to develop teaching materials, publish books and carry out online training activities,
• To support studies and research on Turkish as a second language, in addition to organizing workshops, seminars, and conferences in this field.
• To bring together individuals and institutions that teach Turkish as a L2 and conduct research in the field at home and abroad, as well as cooperating with them,
• To offer a safe working environment for the accomplishment of the goal which includes the necessary technical tools, equipment, fixtures, and stationery.