Turkey’s Higher Education Board (YOK) has agreed with Iran’s Ministry of Science, Research and Technology to set up a monitoring group to flesh out cooperation between the countries’ higher education institutions.
The deal was signed during a visit made by YOK President Yekta Sarac to Tehran earlier this week to establish high-level exchanges on education, amid recently strained ties between Turkey and Iran over Syria.
Visiting Tehran at the invitation of Iranian Minister of Science Mohammad Farhad, Sarac has held a series of meetings with Iranian officials in Tehran, according to the state-run Anadolu news agency and news portal OdaTV.
Sarac said the Turkish delegation suggested the establishment of a monitoring group to flesh out cooperation between higher education institutions of the two countries and said a regular report on the progress may be submitted to YOK and Iran’s Ministry of Science.
The suggestion was accepted by Iran and a monitoring group, including members of YOK and rectors of Turkish universities, was established during the visit.
The rectors of Istanbul University, Istanbul Technical University, Turkish-German University, Abdullah Gul University, Ataturk University, Karadeniz Technical University and Erzurum Technical University accompanied Sarac on his visit.
Farhad said not only exchanges among students and academic staff but also social and technical cooperation schemes must be considered to boost ties. Both sides agreed to hold regular academic conferences in Turkey and Iran.
The YOK president also met Iran’s Vice President Sorena Sattari who suggested setting up a joint fund to finance research studies between the two countries.
