Yunus Emre Institute
Yunus Emre Enstitüsü – London hosted the “Refugee Crises & Carrying the Academic Heritage to the Future through Higher Education” Panel.
In cooperation with Turkish Radio and Television Association (TRT), Anadolu Agency (AA), Turkish Airlines and Turkish Embassy in London; Yunus Emre Enstitüsü – London held a panel which hosted many distinguished academic persons from Turkey and the UK.
Executive Member of COHE Prof. Zeliha Koçak Tufan, COHE International Relations Head of Department Ass. Prof. Bilge Kağan Özdemir, Rector of Boğaziçi University Prof. Mehmet Özkan, Rector of METU Mustafa Verşan Kök and Lecturer of SOAS London University Dr. Idil Osman mentioned their “Preservation of Academic Heritage in the Middle East Project” which aims for the integration of refugees to the academic world. Also, they emphasized the significance of preserving the academic heritage in the Middle East.
The panel started with a presentation regarding the project which aims the adaptation of refugee academics. And then, the refugee crises were discussed from the perspective of the higher education and the integration of refugee academics to their new environment.
The project targeted to provide a friendly and fruitful working space for the academic professionals or young people planning an academic life who had to leave their countries due to war or humanitarian crises and took refuge in a different country. During a video presented to the participants, academic people integrated at Turkey universities and leading their academic studies successfully were introduced to the participants.
The Turkish Ambassador to the UK, HE Ümit Yalçın attended the panel. At the end of the panel, the keynote speakers answered the questions of the students from different countries, pursuing their higher education in the UK in the question & answer portion of the panel.