Turkey to establish university in Afghanistan

Ankara-based Gazi University has begun work on establishing a university in Afghanistan in cooperation with Middle Eastern Technical University (ODTU) and the Hacettepe and Ankara universities, at the request of Afghan President Hamid Karzai, who wants Turkey to help the war-torn country’s education system. The university is to be named after Mevlana Jelaluddin Rumi, a Sufi poet and scholar born in the Afghan city of Balkh who later migrated to Anatolia. Gazi University Rector Riza Ayhan yesterday said the process of establishing a university in Afghanistan began last year, with a teaching college set to open as a first step. Stating that Afghanistan has been hurt by a lack of educational institutions, Ayhan said this is behind Karzai’s request to Turkey. Students of the new university will have the opportunity to continue their education at Gazi University.