Prof. Gökhan Çetinsaya, President, Council of Higher Education Turkey (YÖK), and Prof. Eric Thomas, President of Universities UK (UUK), signed a joint memorandum of understanding on December 13th, taking an important step towards strengthening academic ties between the two countries. The MoU was signed in the office of Rt Hon David Willetts, UK’s Minister of Universities and Science. The MoU between UUK and YÖK was supported by the British Council within the framework of the Knowledge Partnership Initiative that was signed in 2011 between UK and Turkey to increase trade and investment between UK and Turkey and collaborations in science, research and innovation.
Prof. Gökhan Çetinsaya went to London with a delegation from Turkey consisting of senior YÖK representatives and university rectors. During the visit, he spoke with various contacts about the internationalisation of higher education and quality assurance as well as the relationship between higher education and industry. The MoU signed between the two countries’ most influential agencies in higher education encompasses cooperation in all aspects of Higher Education
Çetinsaya talked about restructuring efforts being conducted in Turkish higher education. He touched on the importance of a diversified, multidirectional internationalisation instead of one dimensional internationalisation, saying that the memorandum of understanding they had signed would open up new opportunities for British and Turkish higher education. He stated that Turkey had, in the process of globalisation, begun to play a very important role globally in higher education due to its political power, regional influence, cultural heritage and rapid economic growth. He went on to say that this new MOU should be viewed in this context.
Prof. Gökhan Çetinsaya was accompanied by Prof. Mehmet Karaca, Rector of Istanbul Technical University (ITU), Prof Gülay Barbarosoğlu, Rector of Boğaziçi University, Prof. Murat Barkan, Rector of Yaşar University, Prof. Şenay Yalçın, Rector of Bahçeşehir University, Prof Tufan S. Buzpınar, Executive Board Member of YÖK and his Advisors at YÖK; Prof. Talip Küçükcan, Assoc. Prof. Fahrettin Altun, Prof. Bekir Gür and Recep Korkmaz.
Source: British Council