Speaking at the 2026-2027 Academic Year Opening Ceremony held at Beştepe Nation Congress and Culture Center, Özvar emphasized that the Turkish higher education community closely follows the country and world agenda and fulfills its responsibilities with its scientific knowledge and academic experience.
Özvar stated that they invited all universities to discuss the "Terror-Free Turkey" target in different dimensions on a scientific basis and to contribute to the process with research, conferences, panels and workshops, and that universities addressed this issue in the opening ceremonies and first lectures of the 2026-2027 academic year.
Özvar stated that, as Turkish higher education, they are making intense efforts to reduce the effects of the destruction in the field of higher education in Gaza as a result of Israeli attacks, and reminded that they enabled Palestinian students who did not have the opportunity to continue their education to study at Turkish universities, exempt from tuition fees, and opened the doors of universities to Palestinian academics.
Özvar stated that they have implemented regulations that will enable physicians who do not have the opportunity to receive medical specialty training in Gaza to continue their education in Türkiye, and stated that, as the Turkish higher education community, they will continue to support the just cause of Gaza and the Palestinian people in the strongest possible way.
"WE ARE 15TH AMONG 213 COUNTRIES IN THE NUMBER OF ARTICLES AND REVIEWS"
Pointing out that Turkish higher education has made great progress in terms of both capacity and quality in the last 24 years, Özvar said, "Today, we have one of the largest higher education systems in the world with our 208 universities, approximately 6.3 million students and nearly 190 thousand academic staff." he said.
Özvar underlined that a significant breakthrough has been made in academic capacity, scientific production and research performance and continued as follows:
"According to the data of independent scientific organizations, Turkey has risen from 29th in 2002 to 15th among 213 countries in terms of the number of publications in the form of articles and compilations. A remarkable quality indicator accompanying this quantitative development is the share of studies published in Q1 and Q2 category journals in our total publications. This rate, which was approximately 34 percent in 2019, increased to over 58 percent in 2025. In our research universities, "This rate has reached 79 percent, thus we have reached the OECD average this year."
Emphasizing that the position of universities in international rankings also supports this development, Özvar said, "In the 2026 international university rankings, 6 of our universities entered the top 500, and two of them are in the top 300. Our goal is to carry this success even further and ensure that at least two of our universities are among the top 100 universities in the world." He made a statement.
Prof. Dr. Özvar said, "Türkiye's increasing representation power in global higher education is clearly seen in another international ranking for 2027. In this ranking, where approximately 3 thousand universities from 118 countries were evaluated, Turkey was included with 124 universities and became the third country after the USA and China, which is represented by the most universities in the world." gave the information.
80 NEW PROGRAMS IN THE LAST 3 YEARS
Özvar reported that university-based patent and utility model applications have increased 2-fold since 2022 and the number of registrations has reached 900.
Pointing out that they placed the "Vocational Education in Business Administration" model at the center of the transformation of Turkish higher education in the field of vocational education, Özvar stated that they created a structured application period of at least one semester in associate and undergraduate programs.
Özvar shared the information that the pilot application in 7 provinces covers 185 vocational associate degree programs in which approximately 120 thousand students study, and stated that they continue to strengthen the "Organized Industrial Zone Vocational Schools Project", which was launched in 2018.
Reminding that they have opened approximately 80 new programs in the last 3 years, especially artificial intelligence, cyber security, digitalization in agriculture and health, and green transformation, Özvar stated that the number of new generation programs has reached 724 in 160 universities.
Özvar stated that with the "Türkiye Strategic Technology Human Resources Program", they will employ 550 young people as research assistants in research universities as of this year, and that they aim to train 3 thousand young researchers in 5 years.
Pointing out that approximately 30 thousand people attended the "Data Analysis School" launched last year, Özvar said that they aim to develop this experience with new modules and "Sustainability School" and turn it into a "Digital Higher Education Platform".
Özvar emphasized that universities bring their academic knowledge to the world through partner universities, programs abroad, student and academician mobility, and research collaborations, and said:
"One of the strongest foundations of this vision is the Turkic world. To the deep-rooted knowledge of Hoca Ahmet Yesevi International Turkish-Kazakh University and Kyrgyzstan-Turkey Manas University, in recent years, under your patronage and support, we have added the Turkey-Azerbaijan University in Azerbaijan and the International Turkic States University in Uzbekistan. These two universities have started education with your support. Our international collaborations are, of course, not limited to the Turkic world. From the Balkans. "We are developing joint universities, joint diplomas, mobility and research programs in a wide geography stretching from Africa, the Islamic world to Asia and Europe, and strengthening Türkiye's science diplomacy."
"OUR UNIVERSITIES WILL CONTINUE TO BE INSTITUTIONS THAT PROVIDE KNOWLEDGE AND VALUE"
Stating that, as YÖK, they are coordinating the contribution of 208 universities to COP31 in close cooperation with the Ministry of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change, Özvar emphasized that they aim to reflect the scientific knowledge of universities more strongly on climate policies and applicable solutions.
Özvar said, "From now on, our universities will continue to be institutions that are sensitive to the problems and needs facing not only our country but the world, produce solutions, and provide knowledge and value." he said.
Stating that universities will make stronger contributions to Türkiye's economic, social and cultural development while serving the common future of humanity with their scientific performance, qualified human resources and contribution to society, Özvar wished that the 2026-2027 Academic Year will be beneficial for academic and administrative staff, students, higher education community and the whole country.
