Turkish studies centre launched at UP
“Both countries are making strides in the development of education by creating opportunities for scholars to share knowledge for academic excellence.”
Diplomats, government officials, industry leaders and academics recently gathered at the University of Pretoria’s Future Africa Institute campus recently for the official launch of the Maarif Centre for Turkish Studies (MCTS).
This centre for Turkish studies is a collaboration between the university, the Turkish Maarif Foundation and the Turkish embassy in South Africa.
The goals of the partnership are quality education, upskilling graduates and postgraduates and impacting research and innovation.
This centre for Turkish studies at UP is committed to promoting academic cooperation between the Republic of Turkey and the Republic of South Africa and supporting academic studies and academic mobility between the two countries.
It also wants to support and conduct joint projects in academic and cultural fields to strengthen relations between Turkey and South Africa.
This will involve interdisciplinary research in politics, society, economics, history, religion, and culture between Turkish universities and the University of Pretoria.
Ultimately, it will promote academic staff and student exchanges between the university and Turkish universities.
“It will help contribute to Turkey-specific expertise with a distinctly African perspective,” said UP spokesperson Liesel Swart.
Acting humanities faculty dean Prof Innocent Pikirayi said they were pleased to have numerous international partnerships and agreements with universities worldwide.
Pikirayi said their global partnerships extended to the USA, United Kingdom and China among other far-reaching areas.
UP registrar Professor Caroline Nicholson, standing in for vice-chancellor and principal Prof Tawana Kupe, said the centre arrived at a time when relations between Turkey and South Africa were flourishing “on all levels”.
“The volume of trade between Turkey and South Africa is rapidly increasing and a growing number of Turkish companies have invested in the South African economy and are generating thousands of jobs here.
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“Both countries are making strides in the development of education by creating opportunities for scholars to share knowledge for academic excellence.”
Turkish Maarif Foundation president Dr Birol Akgün said: “We want to be part of transforming the world through African research excellence”.
He said the foundation’s mandate was to open and run educational institutions on behalf of Turkey internationally.
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