21,000 Turkish sutudents, academics to go Europe with Erasmus

Minister of EU Affairs Egemen Bagis announced that 21,000 university students and academics will study or work in Europe this year with Erasmus, the European student exchange program, during a press conference on Saturday. Stating that their aim is to increase the number of students receiving an education in Europe, Bagis noted that 17,800 university students and 3,900 academics will go to Europe within the scope of the Erasmus student exchange program this year and added that these numbers correspond to a 40 percent increase over last year in the number of students from Turkey participating the program. Stating that the Erasmus program is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year in Europe, Bagis added that although Turkey has only been involved in the program for eight years, it has accomplished a great deal in that time. He added a total of 250,000 students have studied in Europe through the program over those eight years. Bagis also noted this number is expected to increase year by year.