PRESIDENT ERDOĞAN: WE ARE OPENING THE LARGEST UNIVERSITY LIBRARY IN OUR COUNTRY
CoHE PRESIDENT ÖZVAR ATTENDS OPENING CEREMONY HELD AT İSTANBUL MEDENİYET UNIVERSITY
August 12, 2022 / İstanbul
The opening of Ziraat Bank Library and Central Classroom Building of Istanbul Medeniyet University was held with the participation of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
In his speech, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan stated that they had been closely following the university, which had been developing and growing rapidly since its establishment in 2010, and that the university had achieved success that was mentioned with pride both at home and abroad.
Erdoğan stated that they were working to transform Rami Barracks into a much larger library and that it would be completed by the end of the year and said, "We have established more than 57 thousand libraries in our schools in a short time. We have tripled the number of books in the libraries in our schools to 70 million in a short time. I hope we will make it 100 million by the end of the year," he said.
Erdoğan emphasized that the reason for this simile was that libraries were the gateway to knowledge, virtue, learning and science education, and one of the ways to the knowledge of the truth and reminded the words of the late author Cemil Meriç which read, "Reading is an affectionate meeting between two souls".
Erdoğan expressed that every book was a scholar and said the following:
"Every book is a friend. Every book is a realm. We owe it to books for keeping our sense of astonishment alive. Our belief, which says, 'Can those who know and those who do not know be the same?,' advises us to engage in science from the cradle to the grave. Our ancestors also advise that the lands conquered by the sword can only be maintained with a pen. It means that a nation equipped with knowledge and not detached from the journey of science will survive. It is no coincidence that the golden years of our civilization were also the periods when our libraries dazzled with their richness. We know that it is impossible for nations that have lost contact with books and libraries to survive, let alone guide humanity. One who turns his back on books cannot escape the darkness of ignorance. Türkiye is obliged to be successful in this struggle, not only for itself, but as the representative of a whole geography and civilization that have directed their eyes and hearts to it. We must be aware of this responsibility in every step we take. Following in the footsteps of our ancestors who took the power of knowledge, wisdom and virtue as their guide, we will bring our civilization to the top with education, culture, art, technology, and above all, people."
CoHE President Özvar delivered a speech at the ceremony. He thanked President Erdoğan for reacting rapidly after noticing the changes and transformations that had taken place in the world in recent years, and for helping universities adapt to this change.
Özvar pointed out that there would be a large number of young people who wanted to access higher education all over the world in the coming years, and that some of these young people would want to study at international universities. He added that Turkish higher education institutions were hosting not only the Turkish youth but also international students, as a result of the establishment of a university in every province in Türkiye.
-Our universities will open their doors to one million young people-
CoHE President Özvar said that Turkish universities had reached the capacity to open their doors to approximately one million young people as of today and said that this was an extremely important development.
“The expansion of Türkiye's higher education institutions by welcoming more young people to their institutions is one of the biggest criteria that shows Türkiye's economic development. In the coming years, our higher education institutions will continue their activities in a quality and size that will meet the desire of more students to participate in higher education.”