Teaching Turkish as a foreign language has a long history. However, this field has been studied intensively in Türkiye beginning from the 1980s. The number of people wishing to learn Turkish and settle in Turkey has increased within time thanks to many factors such as the disintegration of the USSR, the activity of Türkiye scholarships, the encouragement of students from around the world to study in Türkiye, the increase of Türkiye's visibility in the international arena and the migrations to Türkiye from nearby countries because of political and social events of them. As a result of this fact, many Turkish-teaching institutions have emerged over time to meet the need. International Imam Hatip High Schools have a different place from other institutions in terms of both the people they address and the legal status they have. This study aims to define the status of International Imam Hatip High Schools among institutions that teach Turkish as a foreign language in Türkiye and to determine the reasons why international students who learn Turkish prefer these schools. The data were collected by document analysis for the first part and by interview for the second part. The interview was held with students who were trained at Tokat International Imam Hatip High School in 2022-2023 academic year and volunteered to participate in the interview. As a result of the research, it is evident that the number of International Imam Hatip High Schools, the first of which was established in 2006, is increasing day by day. Students prefer these schools for various reasons such as learning their religion better, obtaining diploma validity, getting a qualified education, and having a profession.

Teaching Turkish as a foreign language, international imam hatip high schools, international students.