“The future of higher education will be shaped by our ability to embrace the dual nature of cooperation and competition,” stated Erol Özvar, the head of the Higher Education Council (YÖK), during the summit’s opening.
Highlighting their aim to foster a more dynamic, innovative, and effective educational environment, Özvar emphasized, “This is our responsibility as leaders, educators, and policymakers. I am confident that our interactions during this summit will contribute to the continuous advancement of higher education and encourage a global exchange of knowledge and ideas.”
Özvar underscored that education today transcends physical classrooms, with students having the flexibility to access course materials, participate in discussions, and collaborate on projects from anywhere in the world.
“In recent years, remarkable global advances in digital technologies have been witnessed, and the ubiquity of artificial intelligence has captured our attention. We are actively part of these transformation processes, striving to align our higher education system with the ongoing digital revolution,” he noted.
“We will continue to closely monitor the impacts of artificial intelligence on higher education and undertake the necessary efforts to meet the demand for qualified manpower in the field of artificial intelligence in Türkiye,” he added.
Emphasizing the importance of developing collaborations with all relevant sectors, including public and private entities, Özvar stressed the need to enhance capacity in higher education and maintain quality standards.
Following Özvar’s remarks, Associate Professor Dr. Mustafa Aydın, the president of the Association of Eurasian Universities, highlighted Türkiye’s success in becoming an international center in the field of global higher education, especially in the last decade, and its achievement in ranking among the top 10 countries with the highest number of international students worldwide.
- The summit, held at the Lütfi Kırdar International Congress Center in Istanbul, features a total of 62 panels with 156 participants. Aimed at positioning Türkiye as a hub in the higher education sector and promoting the internationalization of universities, the event attracted over 2,000 visitors on its first day.
