Our International Students Are Our Most Valuable Guests
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Dr. İsrafil Kuralay, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Istanbul Ticaret University, met with African students at breakfast. Many students from various African countries attended the breakfast, in which Dean of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences Prof. Dr. M. Sait Yazıcıoğlu was also present.
Kasım Drame, a student at the Communication Science and Internet Institute Media and Communication Studies Doctorate Program, who spoke at the breakfast held in the University’s Sütlüce Campus in a very friendly atmosphere, thanked Dr. Kuralay, Chairman of the Board of Trustees, for his patronage of such a meaningful meeting and participating in person, and said that this meeting marked a historic day for them.
After the students participating in the event introduced themselves, Dr. İsrafil Kuralay gave a speech to the students. Expressing that as the university, they consider all international students as their most valuable guests, he stated that African students also have a special place in this context. He said that he visited many countries in Africa and witnessed many times how much the people of the countries he visited loved Türkiye. Dr. Kuralay emphasized that the Istanbul Chamber of Commerce (ITO), to which the university is affiliated, is one of the largest commercial organizations in the world, and that one of the most important goals of ITO in the new period is to strengthen university-industry cooperation by making more use of this power of ITO. In this context, he underlined the importance of African students making an effort to be a bridge between their countries and Türkiye, as well as assuming the mission of being the ambassadors of their countries in Türkiye and of being the ambassadors of Türkiye in their countries after they return to their countries. Dr. Kuralay said that his door is always open to students.
Dean of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences Prof. Dr. M. Sait Yazıcıoğlu also touched upon the history of Türkiye-Africa relations and said that during the Ottoman rule, Africa was not considered separate from Anatolia and, unlike the West, Ottomans stayed away from imperialist ambitions. He said that Türkiye-Africa relations have made great progress especially in the last 20 years, and relations with African countries have been developed based on brotherhood and equality. Emphasizing that he gave special importance to Africa when he served both as the President of Religious Affairs and the Minister of State, Prof. Dr. Yazıcıoğlu said that he was pleased to come together with African students studying at Istanbul Ticaret University in such a special meeting.
Afterwards, the students took the floor and expressed their opinions and suggestions on various issues, the problems they encountered, and their expectations.
Nearly 20 students from Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Comoros, Tanzania, Somalia, Gambia, Ghana, Chad, Ethiopia, Congo, Mali and Morocco attended the meeting, in which Faculty of Communication, Media and Communication Department Head Prof. Dr. Abdulhamit Avşar, University Secretary General Dr. Oğuz Özcan, ITO Press and Publications Manager Mr. Şükrullah Dolu, Deputy Secretary General Mr. Kağan Köklen and International Student Communication and Dormitory Operations Manager Mr. Mesut Olgun were also present.
In addition, special coffee brought from Rwanda by ITO Press and Publications Manager Mr. Şükrullah Dolu was cooked with African style and served to the participants of the meeting.
