On May 11, 2024, the final of the Türkiye Preliminary Round of the 23rd 'Chinese Bridge' Chinese Proficiency Competition for Foreign College Students was successfully held in Istanbul. It was hosted jointly by the Embassy of the People's Republic of China in the Republic of Türkiye and the Chinese Consulate-General in Istanbul, Türkiye, and organized by the Confucius Institute at Istanbul Okan University.

After a fierce competition in keynote speeches and Chinese talent shows, contestants from the Confucius Institute at Middle East Technical University achieved notable success. Umut Berk Karakaya won the second prize, and Sude Nur Şimşek won the third prize. Umut Berk Karakaya, majoring in Mechanical Engineering at Middle East Technical University, has a great passion for the Chinese language and culture and works as a volunteer at cultural events organized by the METU Confucius Institute. Sude Nur Şimşek, majoring in Business Administration at Middle East Technical University, has been studying the Chinese language at the METU Confucius Institute for nearly two years and is currently taking the CHIN 204 course.