President of the National Assembly of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus Zorlu Töre, paid a courtesy visit to Rector of Near East University Prof. Dr. Tamer Şanlıdağ and exchanged views on improving the academic standards and international cooperation opportunities of universities in the TRNC. At the meeting, Prof. Dr. Tamer Şanlıdağ shared information about the scientific and academic achievements of Near East University.

After the meeting, President of the National Assembly Zorlu Töre and Prof. Dr. Tamer Şanlıdağ presented gifts to each other and also made statements to press.

Zorlu Töre: “It is a natural process that YÖK comes to TRNC to inspect and guide our universities every year.”

Reminding that higher education is the most important employment and economic activity area of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, along with tourism, President of the National Assembly Zorlu Töre made statements about the ongoing inspections. Töre said, “It is extremely important for the Council of Higher Education (YÖK) to inspect the TRNC universities every year for reliable development of the system.”

Stating that they are pleased that YÖK, as an institution that accredits the TRNC universities, carries out inspections and guidance every year, President of the National Assembly Zorlu Töre, emphasized the importance of YÖDAK working in coordination with YÖK and said, “The mistake made by one university is made into propaganda by attributing it to all universities. It should not be turned into a tool.”

In his speech, National Assembly President Zorlu Töre also commented on the statements concerning the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus under the heading “Turkey” in the European Union Leaders’ Summit Final Declaration. Töre mentioned that Turkey’s EU process is being tried to be based on the Cyprus problem. Töre noted that what created the main deadlock in the Cyprus problem was the decision taken by the United Nations Security Council on March 4, 1964 and the EU’s sole membership of the Greek Cypriots, and said: “The declaration of the TRNC was the solution for the Turkish Cypriot people, so, we did it.”

Prof. Dr. Tamer Şanlıdağ: “We continue to work to move our country forward with our productivity in the fields of science, art and technology.”

Thanking the President of the National Assembly for his visit, Near East University Rector Prof. Dr. Tamer Şanlıdağ also thanked the YÖK Delegation who attended the meeting and said, “We are pleased with the YÖK audit that is carried out regularly every year.” Reminding that Near East University has an important place not only in the TRNC but also among Turkish universities with its scientific production, Prof. Dr. Şanlıdağ said, “In 2023, the number of articles published by our academics in high-impact scientific journals increased to 1760 and the number of articles per faculty member exceeded 3. In addition, with the impact of the multidisciplinary studies we have carried out with our research centers and the projects we have turned into commercial products, we have reached an important point in the lists published by different institutions, which we aim to move even further.”

Reminding that Near East University is in the 151-200 band in Times Higher Education’s “Young University Ranking 2023” list, which lists the best universities under the age of 50 in the world, Prof. Dr. Tamer Şanlıdağ said, “In the ranking published by METU URAP, we were among the top 10 universities in Turkey and one of the two best foundation universities.” Prof. Dr. Şanlıdağ said, “Being ranked among the top 50 universities in the world in terms of education quality by Times Higher Education is another indicator that made us proud.” Prof. Dr. Şanlıdağ said, “We continue to work and study hard to move our country forward with our productivity in the fields of science, art and technology.”