CoHE President Özvar Attends International Conference on Dialogue and
Cooperation in the Black Sea and Balkan Regions in Romania
October 14, 2022
CoHE President Erol Özvar went to Romania for a working visit on the
occasion of the International Conference on Dialogue and Cooperation in the
Black Sea and Balkan Regions, hosted by the University of Bucharest, Balkan
Universities Association and Black Sea Universities Network. CoHE President
Özvar was accompanied by CoHE Deputy President, Prof. Haldun Göktaş, and
CoHE Member Prof. Naci Gündoğan.
In his opening speech, CoHE President Özvar pointed out the importance of
scientific and cultural cooperation to be developed between universities
during these difficult times.
Özvar stated that the conference would create an important platform for
exchanging information and ideas between the universities of the Black Sea
and the Balkan region, and strengthen the ties between the countries of the
region, adding that the quality of higher education and research would
increase all over the world as international interactions spread.
Özvar noted that Türkiye was a growing country with 208 universities and
more than 7 million students, and said, "Türkiye, which ranks first in
Europe in terms of the number of students and offers quality higher
education, has a great potential to contribute to the sustainable
development of the Balkan region."
Özvar gave a speech entitled "The Role of Higher Education in Turbulent
Times" at the second session of the conference attended by more than 70
university representatives from different countries. In his speech, Özvar
drew attention to COVID-19, the war conditions in some countries and those
who had to leave their countries due to the war, and emphasized the
difficulty of managing the higher education process under these conditions.
He talked about the success of Türkiye and Turkish Higher Education in
managing this process. He pointed out the importance of providing a quality
higher education to people who were adversely affected by extraordinary
situations, and said, “Quality education is extremely important for
displaced people as well as for their future and well-being. Unless people
affected by emergencies receive quality education, they will be more prone
to cheap labor, early marriage and radicalization. Considering the
pandemic, climate changes and large migration waves, higher education
systems should be ready for similar crises. In this respect, higher
education systems should develop their own infrastructures and human
resources and increase their quality. The most important measure to be
taken by the international community regarding young people during these
difficult times is to give more importance to access to higher education.”
-Meeting with Romanian National Education Minister Deca-
The CoHE delegation visited Liga Deca, the Romanian Minister of National
Education. During the meeting, cooperation opportunities between higher
education institutions of the two countries were evaluated. Özvar and the
accompanying delegation also visited the Bucharest Embassy and University
of Bucharest.