Our Rector Prof. Dr. Mustafa Kurt attended the "2021-2022 Academic Year Opening Ceremony" held at the Presidential Complex Beştepe National Congress and Culture Center.

The academic year opening ceremony was held by YÖK  (Council of Higher Education of Turkey) )  at the Presidential Complex, with the presence of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.  The ceremony was attended by the members of CoHE, Heads of relevant Institutions, Ambassadors and university rectors and students, in addition to Vice President Fuat Oktay, Speaker of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey Mustafa Şentop, President of CoHE Prof. Dr. Erol Özvar.

CoHE President Prof. Dr. Erol Özvar reminded that the “Academic Opening Year Ceremony” of universities has been held at the Presidential Complex under the auspices of the Presidency for the last 5 years and that the “CoHE Excellence Awards” were presented at these ceremonies, and wished the  2021-2022 academic year will be beneficial for our country.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan speaking at the ceremony reminded also there have been great difficulties in education and training services since March 2020, as in many areas, due to the coronavirus epidemic, and stated that it is important to continue education, albeit from a distance. However, expressing that it is clear that distance education will not replace face-to-face education, President Erdoğan said that as the government, they have taken every precaution to make educational institutions at all levels ready for face-to-face education at the designated time.

- “Global Visions Support Program in Turkish Higher Education Towards 2030”

Stating that the political and economic transformations at the global level and vital developments such as climate change necessitate a strong vision targeting the next 10 years in higher education,  President Erdoğan said: “Both with the support we will provide as the government and the resources our universities will develop themselves, we believe that they can put such a vision into practice. During the epidemic, we have seen together that we have the necessary infrastructure and a broad perspective in many fields from health to industry. We have now entered a period when we have to stop being an imitator and follower and become a determining and guiding position.”

President Erdoğan continued his words as follows: “One of these steps is the 'Global Visions Support Program in Turkish Higher Education Towards 2030', which is the largest financial support organization ever made to universities in the history of the Republic. With this program, which will be implemented under the leadership of the Council of Higher Education, our universities will hopefully serve to make our country one of the leading centers of innovative studies in the world. We will personally support this program and make every contribution for our universities to achieve global success.”

Reminding that they believe in a strong relationship between education and development and that they have established this relationship, Erdoğan said “As the education level, knowledge and skills of our people increase, the political and social-economic development of our country accelerates at the same rate. Prosperity is also increasing in countries with non-formal and strong educational institutions. The spread of higher education institutions throughout the country means that the welfare that will emerge in this way will be distributed in a fair and balanced way”.

At the end of the ceremony, where CoHE President Prof. Dr. Erol Özvar and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan made the opening speeches, the “ 2021 CoHE Excellence  Awards”, which are given annually by CoHE in two categories as “individual and corporate”, found their owners.

Our university won the International Cooperation Award in the Institutional Category with the project titled "Genomic Analysis of Congenital Immune Defects with the Turkish-American Consortium". The award was presented to our rector Prof. Dr. Mustafa Kurt by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.