“On 22 October 2010 [Germany’s] Federal President Christian Wulff and [Turkey’s] President Abdullah Gül jointly laid the foundation stone for the new University. The Turkish President had previously appointed Prof. Ziya Şanal its first President, thereby officially founding the University. During his visit to Ankara in January 2010, Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle had emphasized that the German-Turkish University was something in which he took a keen personal interest, adding: “We believe it is important the University embarks on teaching activities as soon as possible.”
Courses are due to begin at the University’s initially five faculties in autumn 2011. The planned faculties are: law, natural science, engineering, humanities and cultural studies, economics and social science. The University will offer Bachelor, Master and PhD degrees. These qualifications, as well as the curricula and associated quality assurance, are to be based on European education standards (the Bologna Process). German-Turkish courses aimed at fostering intercultural cooperation will be the University’s special hallmark. Students will also have the option of earning German degrees and learning the German language.
The German-Turkish University hopes to cooperate closely with Turkish and German companies. It aims to meet the growing need for well-trained specialists in Turkey, whose economy is experiencing dynamic growth.
The Turkish side will provide land, buildings and infrastructure and assume the recurring costs. The University hopes to cater for up to 5000 students in the medium term.
German contributions include, among other things, the secondment of senior and junior lecturers, the development of curricula and the provision of equipment and materials for the planned new language centre.
The Federal Ministry of Education and Research is providing major support to help make the German-Turkish University a reality. The German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) is responsible for coordination among the participating German universities.”
For further information, see the original posting on the German Foreign Office site. This university is one result of the Ernst Reuter Initiative for Intercultural Dialogue and Understanding, between Turkey and Germany.
Center for Intercultural Dialogue 