Gul urges universities to prioritize knowledge and technology, not partisan politics

Turkey's universities should focus their energy on their primary duties of producing knowledge and technology rather than getting involved in partisan political debates, President Abdullah Gul yesterday told a ceremony at Istanbul's Yildiz Technical University marking the new 2010-2011 academic year. Urging Turkey's universities to invest in science and scholarship, Gul said, "We should produce knowledge and technology and pass this on to other countries." Admitting that Turkey is coming out of a long period of inaction in this area, Gul said universities had focused their energies on areas outside their essential duties. Though universities cannot be indifferent to the issues facing the country, he said, academics should discuss these issues in a scholarly way and not get bogged down in partisanship. Highlighting that a new world order is being forged, Gul said, "As the world is taking on new shape, Turkey should contribute to this process."