CoHE Launches Scientific Campaign against Mucilage
June 10, 2021 / Ankara
The Council of Higher Education, which supports universities in becoming
leading institutions that find solutions for social problems by making
scientific contributions in cooperation with all relevant institutions and
organizations, has taken an important step towards the mucilage problem
(sea snot), which has recently been on the agenda of our country.
A meeting was held at CoHE, which aims to start a scientific campaign about
this issue, with the participation of academics that are experts in
mucilage to evaluate the previous and ongoing scientific studies conducted
at Turkish universities and the solutions proposed as a result of these
studies.
CoHE President Prof. M. A. Yekta Saraç headed the “Evaluation Meeting for
Academic Studies on the Mucilage Problem in Turkish Seas”. The officials
from TÜBITAK-MAM, the deans of the related faculties of universities
(Bandırma Onyedi Eylül University, Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart University, Gebze
Technical University, Istanbul Technical University, Istanbul University,
Middle East Technical University, Piri Reis University, Tekirdağ Namık
Kemal University and Yıldız Technical University) and the academics that
have been carrying out studies on the topic attended the meeting.
The participants evaluated the academic studies on mucilage that have been
carried out at universities and discussed the scientific methods proposed
to solve the problem in detail.
CoHE President Saraç began his opening speech by stating that they gathered
to discuss an environmental issue.
- A scientific campaign will be launched about the issue
CoHE President Saraç emphasized that mucilage was a situation that effected
the fields of economy, tourism, fishery, and health and that it was
required for CoHE to launch a scientific campaign on the issue. He noted
that almost 30 percent of the Turkish population lived in the provinces and
districts around the Marmara Sea.
“An important part of Turkish industry is located around the Marmara Sea.
These two main reasons cause the Marmara Sea to become polluted more
easily. We need to take this issue into account in our fight. The Marmara
Sea is an important inland sea in terms of human health and its effects on
many ecosystems. In addition, the most important and exclusive feature of
the Marmara Sea is that it is a national sea. Because of all these
features, our academic community is determined to carry out a campaign in
the presence of the Ministry of Environment and Urbanisation and the
Council of Higher Education,” he said.
- The related departments in the academia will get more support
Saraç said that there were 30 faculties, 42 research centers and six
institutes working in this field in the higher education system. He
reiterated that CoHE was granting achievement scholarships to students who
were enrolled and placed in the top three in aquatic sciences, adding that
CoHE would further support them.
Saraç noted that they would consider the proposals of the academics that
attended the meeting and that they would convey the outcomes to the
relevant authorities. He concluded his speech by saying that President
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan would receive this working group at his office and
that they would provide information on the issue.
Click here to read the full transcript of the speech made by CoHE President
Prof. M. A. Yekta Saraç. (In Turkish)
Following the speech of President Saraç, Prof. Melek Okyar, faculty member
in the Faculty of Aquatic Sciences at Istanbul University, and Prof. Barış
Salihoğlu, faculty member in the Institute of Marine Sciences at METU, made
a presentation.
After the presentations, the participants exchanged views and evaluated the
mucilage problem within the academic framework.
- The scientific assessment report was presented to President Erdoğan
An academic committee headed by CoHE President Saraç presented the
scientific assessment report, which was prepared after the meeting, to
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
The final declaration of the meeting was shared with the public after the
meeting held at the Presidential Palace.
Click here for the final declaration.