Academic Bridge-Building on the Bosporus

​It is nothing short of idyllic. At the end of a large arboretum, framed by two wooded hills is an expansive green valley, some 12 hectares in size. It is difficult to believe at first, but here, where one might expect to see a holiday camp, is the site earmarked for Istanbul's German-Turkish University. "You can already make a note in your diaries for September or October," said the Minister of State at the Federal Foreign Office, Cornelia Pieper, during a visit to Istanbul at the end of July. This is when German President, Christian Wulff, is expected to lay the foundation stone for the university with his Turkish counterpart, Abdullah Gül.

It was only in March of this year, just before Chancellor Angela Merkel's visit to Ankara, that the Turkish parliament passed the bill that gave the green light to the project and determined its location. Up to that point, the green valley in the suburb of Beykoz belonged to the Agriculture Ministry. In future it will be a place where scholarship will flourish.

The aim is to have a total of five faculties with up to 5,000 students studying and carrying out research. The project is ambitious, and if all goes according to plan, it will be "the largest German university abroad," a fact underlined by Pieper. In contrast to other German universities abroad – such as the one in Cairo, where most of the teaching is conducted in English – "the main language of tuition in Istanbul will actually be German," Pieper stressed.

All subjects except medicine

The German ambassador in Ankara, Eckard Cuntz, describes the target group thus: "We hope that the Istanbul university will attract students graduating from German schools in Turkey, but also students from Germany, such as the growing number of Turkish migrants' children who are now leaving secondary school with an Abitur qualification."

​​It is envisaged that the university will offer a broad spectrum of sciences, economics and arts subjects. "Practically everything apart from medicine," says Cuntz. There will probably be a special focus on the sciences, and Berlin's Technical University (TU) will be the most important project partner on the German side. The idea is to make it easier for Turkish students to spend a few terms in Germany at the TU, to allow for the establishment of genuine networks.

Eckard Cuntz has been involved in the university project for years now. Professor Eris, the member of Turkey's Council of Higher Education (Yükseköğretim Kurulu, or YÖK) responsible for the planned university, says that "without Mr. Cuntz, we wouldn't have made anywhere near as much progress." Professor Eris, who himself studied in Germany, is, like Cuntz, convinced of the merits of a German-Turkish university for both countries. "We will benefit from German experience," he explains.

First term to begin autumn 2011

But there are still a number of unanswered questions. The tendering and selection procedure is currently underway for the first rector of the university, who will be chosen in the autumn by the Council of Higher Education (YÖK). Because the university is legally an official state Turkish university, the procedure for selecting the rector will be the same as for other state universities.

First, the YÖK will put together a list of five proposed candidates, from which the Turkish president will select one. The successful candidate will be assisted by a German vice-rector. A temporary rectory in the historic centre of Istanbul is currently being renovated so that once the rector has been chosen, he can get down to work immediately in the new official residence.

​​Turkey will assume the lion's share of the funding; according to Pieper, the German government has "initially earmarked 12 million euros" for the German–Turkish university for the following four years. This sum will mainly be used to finance the personnel costs of German lecturers.

If everything goes according to plan, a German-Turkish foundation team will launch the preparatory phase this coming autumn, so that the university can open its doors for the winter term 2011/12, not on the green valley site, as construction there is expected to last at least three years, but initially in rented accommodation, as an interim solution, so to speak.

Networking of elites

Until then, questions about the curriculum and admission requirements must be clarified. Turkey does not have an Abitur (a school-leaving exam) like Germany, and admits students to universities through a nationwide examination in which candidates have to attain a certain number of points to get a place. Holders of a German Abitur qualification will, however, be granted admission to the German-Turkish university.

Critical inquiries as to the freedom of teaching – a subject where viewpoints in both countries may quite possibly diverge – are rejected by both Ambassador Cuntz and Professor Eris as unfounded. "We will reach agreement," says Cuntz with certainty.

Both the Turkish and German governments are hoping that the university will foster closer cooperation in the scientific and cultural sectors: "It is important for us to link Turkey more closely to Europe in these sectors as well," says Pieper, outlining Germany's motives. Turkey's primary hope is that the university will facilitate a scholarly transfer. Up to now, links between the two countries have primarily been via labour migrants; the university now aims to bring elite academic circles closer to each other.

If the university does indeed open in the coming year, it would represent the implementation of a project planned as far back as the 1950s but never realised.

A German-Turkish university such as this would be a continuation of an older tradition: back in the 1930s, a number of German professors from Ernst Reuter to Bruno Taut, who found refuge in Turkey from the Nazis, heavily influenced the country's university culture. Perhaps there is scope to pick up where they left off.

Jürgen Gottschlich

© Qantara.de 2010

Jürgen Gottschlich is a co-founder of the tageszeitung and the paper's Turkey correspondent.

Translated from the German by Nina Coon

Editor: Aingeal Flanagan/Qantara.de

Qantara.de

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