At the fair held in Beijing on 30-31 October, the Türkiye pavilion was established with the participation of 52 universities and 2 public institutions from Türkiye.
In 2026, when the 55th anniversary of the diplomatic relations between the Republic of Türkiye and the People's Republic of China was celebrated, Turkish universities appeared in China for the first time with the "Study in Türkiye" brand.
Turkish universities came together with students, lecturers and university representatives and introduced their activities in the pavilion established on an area of 180 square meters.
At the fair, which is considered one of the most prestigious and comprehensive events in the world, Turkish universities held many meetings and signed bilateral and multilateral agreements.
Türkiye's academic capacity, research power and cooperation potential were demonstrated on the Asian stage, represented in line with the Asia Again Initiative, the vision of internationalization in higher education, the "Turkey Century" goals and multi-faceted, multi-layered foreign policy priorities.
Bilal Erdoğan, Deputy Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Ibn Haldun University, visited the Türkiye pavilion at the fair, received information from the authorities and met with university representatives.
Turkish National Agency President İlker Astarcı evaluated the content and objectives of participation in the fair to the AA correspondent.
Stating that Turkish universities have participated in the world's most prestigious higher education fairs in the Far East, America and Europe for the last two years, under the leadership of the Turkish National Agency affiliated with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Astarcı said that they participated in the fairs held in Hong Kong in March, Orlando in June and Scotland in September this year.
Astarcı stated that the China Education Fair was Turkey's fourth largest fair participation this year, organized by the National Agency, and that they were present here with 52 universities and 2 public institutions.
Pointing out that these fairs contribute greatly to the internationalization of Turkish universities, Astarcı expressed that they hope to create new opportunities for Turkish students to come and study in China and for students in China to study at undergraduate, master's and doctoral levels in Türkiye.
Astarcı pointed out that the internationality of the fair provides the opportunity to establish relationships not only with Chinese universities but also with universities from other countries, and emphasized that they attach importance to Turkish universities signing agreements on student exchange programs and Turkish academics carrying out joint cooperation programs and research and development activities together with academics of other countries.
Noting that 89 Turkish universities participated in the fair held in the USA this year, 96 Turkish universities participated in the fair in Scotland, and 52 universities came to China, and that they aim to continue and strengthen such studies, Astarcı said, "Turkish universities will leave their mark on higher education in the Turkish century." he said.
Turkish Maarif Foundation President Mustafa Özdil stated that they participate in all important international fairs with the Maarif Agency, the institution's unit that deals with international students, and that they also organize fairs aimed at introducing Turkish universities to international students abroad.
Özdil stated that participation in the China Education Fair is important in terms of both researching and strengthening academic cooperation opportunities and directing international students to Türkiye.
Major General Recep Yalçınkaya, Head of the Gendarmerie and Coast Guard Academy, stated that the academy, which was established in 2016, has 8 thousand students, 300 of whom are foreign, and that students from 21 different countries are trained.
Stating that their purpose of participating in the fair is to promote the academy, Yalçınkaya noted that by signing a training cooperation protocol with the China Police Academy, they aim to strengthen the training cooperation between the two countries and accept students from the Chinese Police Department.
At the fair, Turkish universities signed cooperation protocols with many universities from China and other countries.
Rector of Ankara Yıldırım Beyazıt University, Prof., who signed cooperation protocols with universities from China, Thailand and Kazakhstan. Dr. Ali Cengiz Köseoğlu pointed out that these protocols have an important role in the internationalization of universities.
Köseoğlu noted that these protocols, which are memorandums of understanding in education cooperation, provide the infrastructure for student and faculty exchange programs and other joint projects.
Samsun Ondokuz Mayıs University Rector Prof. Dr. Fatma Aydın also stated that fairs increased the international visibility of higher education and led to many bilateral meetings and cooperation agreements.
Stating that as a university, they held 117 bilateral meetings from 55 different countries at the fairs this year, 17 of which resulted in an agreement, Aydın noted that they signed a cooperation protocol with a university from China at this fair, which envisages the development of programs with joint participation in the field of medicine.
Aydin pointed out that the main purpose of the fairs is academic mobility and underlined that the mobility of students and academics constitutes the first basic level of cooperation.
Yıldız Technical University Rector Prof. Dr. Eyüp Debik stated that they currently have ongoing collaborations with 5 universities in China and that they see the fair as an opportunity to explore new collaboration opportunities.
Stating that they plan to exchange students and faculty members and hold joint project workshops with East China University of Science and Technology, Debik stated that they also discussed cooperation in artificial intelligence infrastructure with Shanghai Ciatong University.
Debik noted that they visited Beijing Normal University, toured its technoparks, decided to work together for joint projects, and also consulted with these three universities for a double degree.
Stating that they had a meeting with Tsinghua University, which pioneers research in the field of artificial intelligence in China and is one of the first universities to switch to education with artificial intelligence, Debik stated that they will carry out joint projects with them to enrich the educational infrastructure, and that they plan to carry out studies such as international projects, academic exchanges and student exchanges with Harbin Institute of Technology.
Debik pointed out that China is a country that is rapidly advancing in the field of technology, and emphasized that they aim to transfer the working methods that enable this rapid action to universities.
