The first guest of the Wide Angle Program was our Rector Prof. Dr. Yücel Oğurlu
![]()
Istanbul Ticaret University Rector Prof. Dr. Yücel Oğurlu answered the questions of Faculty Member Dr. Gözde Sunal at the Wide Angle Program. Prof. Dr. Oğurlu talked about the internationalization efforts of Istanbul Ticaret University.
Prof. Dr. Oğurlu emphasized the importance of carrying out international studies by universities, and said: “We see that a small part of the competition taking place in many fields on a global scale is also experienced in the field of education. It should be noted that many countries, especially the USA, England, France, Russia, China and Malaysia, attach great importance to international student programs in the higher education sphere. As a reason, the internationalization of universities is seen as a soft power. Even if talk about the issue of international students solely from an economic perspective, we would be talking about a billion-dollar market. Then again, international students do not only make an economic contribution, but also make academic contributions to the countries where they receive education. They learn the culture and language of the host countries, becoming potential investors who may invest in these countries in the future.
“There Are 350 Thousand International Students In Our Country”
Prof. Dr. Oğurlu has said: “After the 2000s, Turkey began to approach the issue of international students more professionally than in previous years. As a result of this process, there are currently 350 thousand international students from almost every country in the world who are receiving education in our country. These students learn Turkish and establish cultural affinities. The majority of these students return to their countries after graduation and promote Turkey there, they start a business with the experience they have gained in Turkey, and return here as investors in the future as they already know about Turkey. Some of these international students stay in Turkey after graduation, start a company, even get married and develop relationships of various dimensions here. This is extremely important in the context of a cultural diplomacy. Countries address this issue also from the economic perspective. Therefore, it is very important for us to develop a national policy in this regard.”
“1115 international students from 83 countries are receiving education in Istanbul Ticaret University”
Having stated that they attach importance to internationalization as Istanbul Ticaret University, Prof. Dr. Oğurlu said: “There are currently 1115 students from 83 countries who receive education at our university. These countries include Russia, China, Europan, and North and Central African countries, and, for the first time this year, India, Malaysia and Indonesia, and even the Arab countries of the Gulf Region, which is the most difficult region in this regard. We have many successful students also from the countries in Central Asia and the Caucasus regions. We strive to increase the number of our international students with the cooperation agreements we make. Some of our international students have been awarded scholarships. We attach great importance to international students not just in terms of economy and commerce but also of cultural diplomacy. We are trying to make a small contribution to Turkey’s general foreign policy in the context of the contacts it currently has and should have pursuant to its close geography and historical hinterland.”
“We have an Erasmus Agreement with over 100 Universities from Europe”
Stating that Erasmus is a very accurate model and a great opportunity for students, Prof. Dr. Oğurlu continued his words as follows: “Erasmus is a great opportunity for students and we have agreements with over 100 universities in Europe within this framework. Apart from this, we also have agreements within the scope of 3 other programs that Turkey has established or is a party to, namely Mevlana, Farabi and Orkun. These programs must be brought to the level of Erasmus program. There were no such opportunities back in the day. Currently, there are great opportunities for young people. There are abroad programs even for academicians and administrative staff.”
“Our university has become one of the founding partners of the University of Europe for Applied Sciences”
Talking about the international achievements of Istanbul Ticaret University, Rector Prof. Dr. Yücel Oğurlu has said: “As a revolutionary development, our university became one of the founding partners of University of Europe for Applied Sciences with 9 other universities, with the special efforts of our Director of European Union Application and Research Center. We will increase the contacts of all our faculty members and students with these 9 universities. In other words, we open the horizons of our students and faculty members to both the West and the East. We are confident that we will get good results.”
One of the Dimensions of Internationalization of Universities: International Symposiums
Prof. Dr. Oğurlu stated that the 32nd meeting of the Science and Society Meetings, which were launched in Istanbul Ticaret University as of 2019, will be held this week, and that they invited very important scholars from University of Cambridge to Nevada University within the scope of the symposium, and said: “We held 24 international symposiums, congresses and panels this last year. This is a great achievement for a university and also a very important value for internationalization since such events are mostly attended by participants from foreign countries. In addition, we launched the International Symposium on Administrative Law and Administrative Jurisdiction (ISALAJ), and, this year, we will organize the 3rd ISALAJ. In ISALAJ, we were collaborating with a total of 9 universities , and given the increasing demand, we will collaborate with 12 universities this year. At least half of the 50-60 academicians who will present their papers at ISALAJ this year are from other countries. ISALAJ reveals a very valuable academic output. The ISALAJ proceedings book of last year was 680 pages, which will probably reach thousand pages this year. Additionally, as another contribution to our internationalization process, we have translated the proceedings book into 6 different languages. These symposiums are of great importance in terms of increasing both the academic contributions and the international visibility of our university.”
“We accept faculty members in the position of researchers”
Prof. Dr. Oğurlu has said: “As of last year, we started to transfer faculty members to our university in the position of researchers. With the extraordinary contributions of all our academicians, we have moved up 8 places in the last 3 years in top-level international indices, namely the Q1 and Q2 quartiles. This week, 3 faculty members from our university made it to the ‘World’s Best Scientists’ list of Stanford University, a ranking made based on the Elsevier database. All our academicians are very valuable, and we are very pleased with them. We support the academic success of our university by transferring guest professors from different universities from all over the world. Many of our national and international projects have already been approved. We are trying to create an international atmosphere at our university.”
“Our Diploma is Accredited Globally”
Prof. Dr. Oğurlu stated that the Istanbul Ticaret University’s diploma is accredited in almost every country in the world, and said: “We have students who have graduated from our university and have been accepted to many universities listed among the world’s top 200 universities. Currently, our diploma is accredited in England, Russia, USA, as well as in Central Asian and African countries. It has recently become accredited in nine Arab countries located the Gulf region. We never had any problems in this regard.”
“We are a Pioneering University in terms of Relations with both the Islamic and Turkish Worlds”
Istanbul Ticaret University Rector Prof. Dr. Yücel Oğurlu has said: “We are establishing much closer relations with both the Islamic World and the Turkish World, because we receive a lot of demand from these countries in the natural course of events. For this reason, it becomes imperative for us to attach importance to these regions. We communicate much easier with the students coming from the countries of these regions. For example, it is easy for us to establish a relationship with someone coming from Poland, but it is even easier with someone, whether a student or a faculty member, coming from Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan or the Uyghur region. As a reason, we share the same language, the same culinary culture, the same reflexes, and the same psychology. Hence, they do not feel foreign here, they adapt in a short time and they can speak Turkey Turkish fluently within a matter of one to two months.”
Prof. Dr. Oğurlu emphasized Turkey’s historically strong ties with this regions, and said: “Just as we cannot remain ignorant of these regions as a country, we also cannot remain ignorant of the intense demands of students from these countries as universities. Today, we have a total of 1200 students coming from these countries, both scholarship and paid students. We strive to increase this number each year.”
“We Ranked 7th among the 208 Universities in Turkey in terms of Service Exports through Higher Education”
Prof. Dr. Oğurlu has said: “Last year, the Service Exporters’ Association chose our university as the 7th university among 208 universities in Turkey the field of ‘service exports through higher education’. This is a significant achievement. Of our 1115 international students, 641 are doing their master’s and doctorate. These students participate in academic projects and publications, adding both quantity and diversity to university’s academic portfolio. At the same time, our international students from almost every country in the world organize various cultural and artistic activities at our university and we support these activities.”
Istanbul Ticaret University Rector Prof. Dr. Yücel Oğurlu concluded his speech with the following statements: “We can say that our university has broken its shell in terms of international cooperation and has a clear path. We used to pursue projects, but now we receive project offers. For example, we received a collaboration offer from Russia regarding an important symposium. There are six universities from the European Union and one university from Russia that collaborate on this symposium. They brought this offer to us. On the other hand, we carry out a very active work on international projects. We have an Erasmus Office and an European Union Application and Research Center that do important work in this sense. We will continue to increase our international activities”.
Click to Watch
Click to Listen
Reporter: Mr. İsmail Mücahit Aydemir
