While thousands of Turkish citizens have been evacuated from the country in the 9 days since Russia's attack on Ukraine, students who are within the borders of Ukraine for education do not know how their school will continue.
Higher Education Council (YÖK) President Erol Özvar stated that efforts are being made to find a solution to the situation of Turkish students studying at universities in Ukraine.
The evacuated students called for their problems to be resolved as soon as possible.
“OUR EDUCATION WILL HAVE NO MEANING IF NO SOLUTION IS FOUND”
Davut Cemallıoğlu, a preparatory class student at the National Aviation University in Kharkov, started his journey to Turkey after being evacuated.
"As far as I know, there is no student friend left who has not started the eviction process. Everyone is on their way back to their country. But the reason why we were in Ukraine was to have the job of our dreams, to be useful individuals to people by studying. Currently, we are in a huge gap regarding our educational status. If we can't solve our education situation, our trip to Ukraine will have no meaning in all the time spent in Ukraine. Our state authorities do not allow us to experience any grievances regarding our educational status. I hope a plan and program will be created," he said.
“WE WANT OUR QUESTIONS TO BE ANSWERED AS SOON AS POSSIBLE”
Saba Taşdemir, a preparatory class student at the National Aviation University in Kharkov, who has been in Ukraine for 10 months to study, "We have been training on the way to our dreams for almost 10 months, if a solution is not found, our 10-month period will be garbage. Regarding this issue, I expect our state authorities not to allow us to experience any grievances regarding our education status. I request them to answer our questions as soon as possible," Taşdemir said.
“I DON'T WANT MY 8 MONTHS OF EDUCATION TO BE TRASH”
İlkim Kayıkçıoğlu, a preparatory class student at the National Aviation University in Kharkov, stated that they continued their lives in shelters for 5 days with the start of the war.
"For about 5 days, the shelters became our home. We have gone through very difficult times. Psychologically, we were very worn out. We are currently on our way to Turkey. We are traveling to our hometown. We came to Ukraine about 8 months ago and started training here. We are now evacuating due to the war situation. But we do not want the 8 months we spent in Ukraine to be garbage. This is not a short time. As students, we don't want to be victims," Kayıkçıoğlu said.