The meeting was attended by the Deputy Minister of Education of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Mrs. Mahabbat Valiyeva, the Vice-Minister of Education and Science of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Mr. Rustem Bigari, the Deputy Minister of National Education of the Republic of Turkey, Mr. Mustafa Safran, the President of the Turkic Academy, Mr. Darkhan Kydyrali, the State Secretary for Education of the Ministry of Human Resources of Hungary, Dr. József Bódis, the Rector of Kyrgyz-Turkish Manas University and the former Chair University of Turkic University Union, Mr. Sabahattin Balci, the Vice-Rector of Khoja Ahmed Yassawi International Kazakh-Turkish University and the current Chair University of Turkic University Union, Dr. Cengiz Tomar, as well as senior officials of the Member States.
As the host of the meeting, Minister of Education and Science of the Kyrgyz Republic H.E. Gulmira Kudaiberdieva welcomed the participants and put special emphasis on the importance of cooperation among Member States of the Turkic Council in the field of education referring to the activities carried out within the Turkic Council Turkic University Union and Orkhun Exchange Program. She also emphasized that as the Chairman country of the Turkic Council, Kyrgyz side is ready to provide necessary support for the successful implementation of the Orkhun Exchange Program.
Secretary General Baghdad Amreyev provided information on the ongoing cooperation in the field of education among the Member States. He elaborated on the Educational Exchange Program for Education Professionals of the Member States, Third Student Exchange Program and Establishment of Sister School Relations among the Schools of the Member States. Moreover, the Secretary General stated that Turkic University Union is one of the primary achievements of the educational cooperation under the Turkic Council. He underscored that Presidents of the Member States are attaching much emphasis on the Turkic University Union. At the 6th Summit in Cholpon-Ata, they called on the relevant authorities of the Member States to take requisite steps for the enlargement of the Orkhun Exchange Program for Students and Lecturers in accordance with national legislations of the Member States and international agreements. He also stressed his believe that the outcomes of the Ministerial meeting will further contribute to the cooperation process in the education area among the Member States.
Deputy Minister of Education of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Mrs. Mahabbat Valiyeva, underlined that the establishment of the Turkic University Union and Turkic Academy, projects such as Common Turkic History, Literature and Geography Textbooks, the student exchange program and the other programs taken within the Turkic Council will take the relations in the field of education among the Member States to a new stage. She noted that the next meeting of the Student Council of the Turkic University Union is planned to be held in Baku in 2019.
Referring to initiatives aired by H.E. Nursultan Nazarbayev, the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, such as Rukhani Zhangyru, 100 Outstanding Figures of the Turkic World and Sacred Places in the Turkic World, Vice-Minister of Education and Science of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Mr. Rustem Bigari underlined that transferring our common identity and tradition to the younger generation of our countries through conferences, seminars and visits to cultural-historical places is highly important. Vice-Minister expressed Kazakhstan’s readiness for implementation of Orkhun Exchange Program and hosting 3rd Student Exchange Program in Astana in May 2019.
Deputy Minister of National Education of the Republic of Turkey, Mr. Mustafa Safran highlighted Turkey’s expectation for the common History and Geography Textbooks to serve as a fertile instrument to converge Turkic Speaking Countries. In this context, he briefed his counterparts that Common Turkic History course was selected almost by 30 thousand students in Turkey. He underscored that this figure clearly shows the attention the young generations are placing on our shared past.
State Secretary for Education of the Ministry of Human Resources of Hungary, Dr. József Bódis stressed that based on mutual linguistic and cultural heritage, Hungarian people consider Turkic people as their brothers and improving relations with the Turkic World is one of the strategic foreign policy priorities of Hungary. State Secretary informed about Stipendium Hungaricum scholarship program indicating that each year 200 Azerbaijani, 250 Kazakh, 75 Kyrgyz, 150 Turkish, 20 Turkmen and 30 Uzbek students are offered the chance to study in Hungarian University of their choice, with full tuition, health insurance and monthly allowance.
As a result of the meeting, the Parties signed the Decisions on Award Directive of the Turkic Council Turkic University Union and Regulation of the Turkic Council Sister Schools Partnership Program as well as approved the Regulation on the Orkhun Exchange Program of the Turkic Council Turkic University Union and amended Article 10 of the “Directive on the Establishment of the Turkic University Union and Higher Education Area”.
After the meeting, Secretary General Baghdad Amreyev and the Deputy Secretary General Ömer Kocaman gave interview to the press agencies of the Member States about the outcomes of the meeting.
Secretary General was accompanied by Deputy Secretary General Ömer Kocaman and Project Directors Jhyldyz Uzakova, Jeyhun Shahverdiyev and Ali Çiviler during the meeting.
