Prof. Dr. Ömer Çomaklı, Rector of Atatürk University, also attended the "2023-2024 Higher Education Academic Year Opening Ceremony" hosted by the Council of Higher Education (YÖK) at the Presidential Complex Beştepe Nation Congress and Culture Center, with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in attendance.

The program conducted in the Presidential Complex was attended by President Recep Tayyip Erdoan, YÖK President Prof. Dr. Erol Özvar, state officials, ministers, YÖK members, heads of relevant institutions, ambassadors, university rectors, and students.

President Özvar: "I wish our Security Forces success."

Prof. Dr. Erol Özvar, president of YÖK, ascended the podium to deliver the ceremony's opening address. He began by wishing success to the anti-terrorism operations conducted by the security forces throughout the country and beyond its borders. Over 400 thousand students are enrolled in 18 universities where Kahramanmaraş centered earthquakes occurred. He added that more than 700 thousand students were affected by the earthquakes, including those whose families reside in the earthquake zone and who continue their studies in other provinces.

Özvar stated that, as the Council of Higher Education, they defined an additional earthquake victim quota of 25 percent for the placements made in regional universities for candidates residing in the earthquake zone, without reducing the general quota, and added, "This quota of approximately 24,000 people was utilized to its maximum capacity by our earthquake victim candidates during the most recent placement period."

"Artificial Intelligence Has the Potential to Transform Universities, Too"

In his address, YÖK President Özvar discussed artificial intelligence technologies that are of great concern to universities worldwide. Noting that artificial intelligence's unpredictable future and trillion-dollar economic volume have the potential to affect all facets of society, Özvar made the following assessment:

"The world of artificial intelligence, which has the potential to create new professions and employment areas as well as eliminate existing professions and save employment, is a topic that should be on everyone's permanent agenda. Universities and other institutions could be transformed by the world of artificial intelligence. How this technology can be utilized and harmonized in our institutions is closely related to the question of how artificial intelligence will impact universities. The Council of Higher Education has been collaborating with our universities for some time, with artificial intelligence remaining a permanent agenda item. With these words, I'd like to thank all of our visitors for participating. I expect the upcoming academic year will be fruitful."

President Erdoğan: "We are Proud of Our Universities and Academics"

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan began his speech with the words "I pray to God that the 2023-2024 Academic Year will bring good things to our country, our nation, our teachers, and our beloved students." He used statistics to discuss the level of higher education.

President Erdoğan stated that the gender equality ratio in Turkish higher education is very close to full equality, with a ratio of 0.98 and a student population of over 7 million, based on the fact that the net enrollment rate in higher education has increased more than threefold to 45% in 2023 from 14% in 1993. According to him, it rates first in the field of European Higher Education in terms of the number of enrolled students.

"We are among the countries with the highest number of international students"

In his address, President Erdoğan made the following remarks: "With nearly 340 thousand international students from 198 countries, we are one of the top 10 states in the globe. The total number of faculty members, which was approximately 70 thousand twenty years ago, has tripled and now exceeds 184 thousand. We increased the number of professors from 9 thousand 396 to 32 thousand 488, associate professors from 5 thousand 367 to 20 thousand 768, and doctoral faculty members from 11 thousand 190 to 71 thousand 700. The fact that 46% of the faculty are female is a source of pleasure for us. We will absolutely not permit these gains to be reversed. We will never again permit our universities to be associated with prohibitions, oppression, conflicts, or ideological edicts. I would like to reiterate that we are delighted of our universities and academics and look forward to their continued success. Hopefully, we will continue to support all kinds of qualified studies on science, culture and education."

As Universities, We Will Always Be Determined to Work" - Rector Çomaklı.

Rector Prof. Dr. Ömer Çomaklı attended the Academic Year Opening Ceremony. He  began his address by expressing his hope that the new academic year would be beneficial for all university members, notably the Turkish nation.

Rector Çomaklı stated that the new academic year signifies new hopes and new beginnings, adding, "We were delighted to attend the opening ceremony of the new academic year, which was sponsored by our President. As universities whose missions is to produce scientific information with added value that will accelerate the development of our nation, we will always be determined to work. As Atatürk University, we are working on projects titled "Big Data Project" and "Digital Transformation" and other projects, especially "Artificial Intelligence", which our YÖK President Prof. Dr. Erol Özvar mentioned in his speech, and we believe that the steps taken in these areas will make great contributions to our higher education. We trust that the upcoming academic year will be one in which our university, our province, and our country will make significant progress and open the doors to great success. He concluded his remarks by stating, "With these feelings and thoughts, I hope that the 2023-2024 Academic Year will be auspicious for our country, our scientific community, academicians and students, especially our university and the ancient city of Erzurum."



9.10.2023 CORPORATE COMMUNICATION DIRECTORATE