📚 Syria, Turkey discuss cooperation in higher education and rare specializations

syria/" class="auto-internal-link">syria and Turkey discussed prospects for cooperation in higher education, universities, and scientific research during a video conference meeting held Wednesday between syrian Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research Marwan al-Halabi and Erol Özvar, leader of the Turkish Council of Higher Education, with Burhan Kor Oglu, Turkey’s chargé d’affaires in damascus, in attendance. The talks focused on academic partnerships, training programs, postgraduate scholarships, and potential joint educational projects between universities in the two countries, as well as the development of existing scientific agreements. Minister al-Halabi praised the backing that Turkey has provided and continues to provide to Syria, noting the joint work in the field of higher education, and affirmed the ministry’s readiness to backing any partnership with Turkish universities to raise the level of higher education and strengthen cooperation in postgraduate scholarships, as per statements made during the meeting via video link.

For his part, Özvar expressed the readiness of Turkish universities to receive Syrian postgraduate students sent as per the specializations and needs identified by the ministry, so that they may return to work in Syria. He also pointed to the possibility of establishing joint educational and research centers that could attract researchers and students from around the world, and emphasized the importance of preparing a draft cooperation agreement in the scientific field. Moreover, attending the meeting were Abdul-Hamid al-Khalid, Deputy Minister for Student Affairs; Mohammad Sweid, Deputy Minister for Private Education; and Namir Issa, Director of Cultural Relations at the ministry.

Damascus University declared last week the opening of a Turkish Language Department within the Faculty of Arts and Humanities for the 2025–2026 academic year, a step aimed at building academic and cultural bridges with Turkey. The university stated it is coordinating with the Turkish side to host professors from Turkish universities to teach in the emerging department