October 3, 2025

President of the Council of Higher Education (CoHE) Erol Özvar visited Amasya to attend the 2025–2026 academic year opening ceremony of Amasya University and hold a series of meetings.

Before the ceremony, Özvar met with Rector Prof. Ahmet Hakkı Turabi, receiving a briefing on the university’s ongoing academic initiatives and projects.

The opening ceremony, held at the Culture and Congress Center on the National Sovereignty Campus, was attended by Amasya Governor Önder Bakan, Mayor Turgay Sevindi, members of parliament, academics, students, and guests.

At the ceremony’s outset, Özvar condemned Israel’s attacks on Gaza, which he said have reached the level of genocide. He called on university leaders and academics to draw the attention of their international counterparts to this humanitarian tragedy.

Özvar underscored the significance of the “Regional Meetings on the Vision for Turkish Higher Education Towards 2030”, organized last year by CoHE in six different provinces. He noted that the meetings evaluated a wide range of topics—from institutional capacities and research performance to international visibility and contributions to regional development.

He emphasized that the results of these meetings were transformed into a concrete action plan and shared with universities. The resulting circular, he explained, not only provides a broad vision for the future of higher education but also presents a practical, measurable, and comprehensive roadmap.

According to Özvar, once the 2030 Vision is fully implemented, Turkish universities will evolve from institutions that merely produce knowledge into dynamic centers that transform knowledge into social, industrial, and economic value.

He highlighted key reform areas included in this vision and urged each university to adopt and implement the roadmap with a holistic and determined approach, which he said would position Turkish higher education as a global model by 2030.

Özvar also announced that work is underway to expand workplace-based learning programs, enabling students to gain direct professional experience. He added that efforts to restructure internship durations are continuing.

Noting that Türkiye currently hosts over 350,000 international students, Özvar said Turkish higher education institutions and academics have become among the most successful globally in advancing internationalization. As a result, he added, Turkish university graduates now hold important positions across the world.

He reminded that Turkish higher education institutions operate branches in Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Azerbaijan, and that two new universities have recently been established in Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan. He also reiterated that preparations are underway to establish the Türkiye–Syria Friendship University in Damascus.

Özvar further noted CoHE’s continued support for universities’ sustainability initiatives. He congratulated Amasya University for receiving the “Sports-Friendly Campus” Award, recognizing its efforts to create inclusive, socially connected campus environments. He also encouraged the university to develop projects aligned with the “Universities Specializing in Priority Science Fields” and the “Regional Development-Oriented Mission Differentiation and Specialization” programs.

Following the academic opening ceremony, Özvar toured the exhibition “Golden Embroideries: In the Footsteps of Illumination Art” at the Faculty of Theology, conversed with students from the Culinary Arts program, and visited the Bayezid II Complex.

He later participated in the “Different Languages, One Heart” solidarity march for Palestine organized by the Union of Universities in the DOKAP Region, met with Amasya Governor Önder Bakan, and chaired the Amasya University Senate meeting.