On June 18, Idlib University has announced that the second group of its students who have been accepted by the Türkiye Scholarships program have left Idlib for Turkey through the Bab al-Hawa border crossing.
Dr. Ahmed Abu Hajr, dean of the university said that they had chosen a number of students based on their grades and specializations then presented the list to the Turkish scholarships program. “We sent Türkiye Scholarships the list of 40 students from our university to be accepted into Turkish universities with a scholarship. The program administration did an evaluation with the students and accepted 30 of them. 25 of the accepted are master’s students while 5 are PhD students.” said Dr. Abu Hajr.
Due to the Corona-virus pandemic, the students from Idlib University who received their scholarship had to attend online classes from the universities that had accepted them in Turkey for about a year. Now with the re-opening of Turkish universities, the students from the liberated areas are moving toTurkey to continue their scholarships.
The students accepted into the program were sent through the border in two groups, the first consisting of 11 students and the second one of 10. According to Idlib University the remaining 9 students will also reach Turkish universities in the next few months.
Before the students left Idlib to cross the border, Dr. Ahmad Abu Hajr said: “We thank the Turkish side in particular Türkiye Scholarships program, we also thank the Department of Political Affairs in the liberated areas and the officials at the Bab al-Hawa crossing for facilitating our students crossing into Turkey.” He also added that he wishes that the students who have been accepted will represent the liberated areas and Idlib University as good ambassadors.
Sari Damin, a PhD student in physics who has received a scholarship at the University of Kocaeli, said before departing to Turkey said, “We will be ambassadors for our university (Idlib) showing a good example, we will also relay the good image of our society to our brethren in Turkey.”
Turkiye Scholarships is an international scholarship program funded by the Turkish Governement. It offers scholarships to international students at associate, undergraduate master, and PhD levels of higher education.
