The Hasan Kalyoncu University 2014-2015 Academic Year “Academic Year Opening Ceremony” was held on 26 September 2014 at the HKU Congress and Culture Centre building.
The Ceremony organised by Hasan Kalyoncu University was attended by Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Turkey Mr Yalçın Akdoğan, Governor of Gaziantep Mr Erdal Ata, AK Party Members of Parliament Mr Abdullah Nejat Koçer, Mr Şamil Tayyar, Mr Mehmet Erdoğan and Ms Derya Bakbak, Gaziantep Metropolitan Mayor Mrs Fatma Şahin, YÖK Executive Board Member Mr Muhittin Şahin, Sanko University Rector Prof. Dr. Ahmet Sınav, Şahinbey Acting District Governor Mr Mehmet Haşim Çelik, Şehitkâmil District Governor Mr Ali Dursun, Oğuzeli District Governor Mr Arif Gül, Gaziantep Provincial Gendarmerie Commander Col. Adnan Arslan, Gaziantep Provincial Police Chief Mr Ali Gezer, Şahinbey Mayor Mr Mehmet Tahmazoğlu, Şehitkâmil Mayor Mr Rıdvan Fadıloğlu, Oğuzeli Mayor Mr Mehmet Sait Kılıç, AK Party Acting Provincial Chairman Mr Hakan Aslansoy, Hasan Kalyoncu University Chairman of the Board of Trustees Mr Cemal Kalyoncu, Board of Trustees Members Mr Haluk Kalyoncu, Mr Mehmet Okyay, Mr Mustafa Çakmak, Mr Necip Fazıl Yılmaz, Mr Fatih Büyükkonuklu and Mr Hasan Gürsoy, Hasan Kalyoncu University Rector Prof. Dr. Tamer Yılmaz, journalist and author Mr Abbas Güçlü, HKU Academic & Administrative Staff and HKU students.
The Hasan Kalyoncu University 2014-2015 Academic Year Academic Opening Ceremony was held on Friday 26 September 2014 at 13.30 at the HKU Congress and Culture Centre Building with the participation of Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Turkey Assoc. Prof. Dr. Yalçın Akdoğan, protocol members of Gaziantep province, Members of Parliament of Gaziantep province and the University Board of Trustees.
Giving the opening speech, Rector Yılmaz said, “I wish that the 2014–2015 Academic Year, which we will begin with this joyful and enthusiastic programme, will be auspicious for our University and all its members, and I greet you with love and respect. Esteemed Guests, universities are institutions that offer the products obtained from scientific thought and research for the benefit of their country and all humanity and that are integrated with the region in which they are located. With the awareness that serving the University is serving the country, together with all our internal and external stakeholders we aim to produce projects that provide added value with a scientific approach and to create a contemporary world university able to compete with international universities. Our University is a young and dynamic educational institution. In such an educational institution, an institutional management system is needed to establish and smoothly run a contemporary, democratic and participatory management tradition. In this context, I would like to share with you our important approaches within the framework of institutionalisation and planning for the future. First of all, we aim for a management approach that is innovative, entrepreneurial, solution-oriented, dynamic, transparent and participatory, that encourages and rewards its employees, that prioritises performance-based justice and consistency, that receives every kind of opposing view and criticism with tolerance, and that is open to oversight. We aim for an understanding of Education and Teaching in which student-centred education and teaching is carried out in line with world standards and is accredited, culture, arts and sports activities are expanded, all the possibilities of educational technologies are used, there are modern libraries and laboratories, and suitable accommodation, study and rest spaces are provided for students. We aim for an understanding of Research and Development that brings solutions to the problems of society and industry, produces science and technology, and carries out R&D for industrial organisations with which cooperation will be established with national and international universities.”
HKU Board of Trustees Chairman Mr Cemal Kalyoncu said, “On behalf of myself, the Hasan Kalyoncu University Board of Trustees and the Education Service Foundation, I greet you all with respect. Welcome, all of you, to the 2014-2015 academic year opening ceremony. Esteemed guests, we are excited to be starting a new education and teaching year. As we all know, our universities are institutions that not only provide services but also produce knowledge and technology. With these characteristics, universities train the qualified workforce that the country needs and offer knowledge for the benefit of humanity. Mr Deputy Prime Minister and esteemed guests; Hasan Kalyoncu University, whose foundation we laid in 2009, is the first foundation university established in the Southeastern and Eastern Anatolia region. At our university, which began its education and teaching life in 2010 by admitting its first students, 5 Faculties and 2 Schools are in operation. In short, since the day it was founded our university has aimed to train individuals with high academic knowledge and professional equipment and to contribute to shaping the Turkey of the future. The 2014-2015 Academic Year has a special importance for us. Because as Hasan Kalyoncu University we are experiencing a first and graduating our first graduates. This is a source of pride and honour for our university. We will feel the excitement of this journey, which we began with our first students, reaching a happy end, and at the same time the sorrow of seeing them off at the end of this year. Mr Deputy Prime Minister, I thank you for the interest you have shown in our University to date and for making us feel this interest once again by visiting our University in your busy schedule. I offer my gratitude to all esteemed guests, to our President who has never withheld his support for our university since its founding, and to all our friends who have contributed, and I remember my dear elder brother Hasan Kalyoncu with mercy. I offer my respects, wishing that the new academic year will be auspicious for our university, our city and our country.”
YÖK Executive Board Member Prof. Dr. Muhittin Şimşek said, “With its 180 Universities, 5 million students and 140,000 Academics, Turkey has begun to become a centre of attraction in its region in the field of higher education. Likewise, our Gaziantep, with its 4 Universities, has begun to become a centre of attraction in its region. Dear friends, dear students; the world is changing, countries, positions, geographies, you, we, all of us are changing. As they say, the only thing that does not change is change. No, that is not so. There are 2 things that do not change. These are the dead and the mad. They do not change. Of course we are developing and changing. As we develop and change, we are growing. Our state has put forward a vision. The 2023 vision. These days are approaching. It is our dear students who will make these days live and realise them. You are the valued brothers and sisters who will graduate from the University where you take your first step today.”
Gaziantep Metropolitan Mayor Mrs Fatma Şahin said, “We need to catch the spirit of the time and manage change. In the age of knowledge and technology, today we talk about the knowledge economy and the smart economy. When we examine developments throughout world history, we have a history and a culture in which we see that whoever holds knowledge holds power and in which we have governed civilisation. For that reason, as we move towards new goals, we feel the great honour and pride that our Gazi city, whatever kind of industrial, commercial and cultural city it is, is now also a city of universities. With the understanding that development and democracy begin locally, we place science and reason before us as our roadmap. We attach great importance to all the problems of our city, our university’s perspective, our professors’ ideas, the light they show us and our students’ excitement.”
Following the opening speeches, Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Turkey Assoc. Prof. Dr. Yalçın Akdoğan said, “Dear friends, every new term brings new excitements and allows projects to come to life. Universities, with their accumulated knowledge, cultures and capacity for application, undertake important functions in the change and development of countries. In fact, when we look back at our civilisation, we founded universities when there were not yet universities in the world. We carried out academic and scientific work. Dear fellow students, university life is a line of fate on which a person draws their personal roadmap and plans their future. So make good use of these days. You should benefit to the maximum from the opportunities these classrooms and desks offer you. We all generally talk about our good memories at university. They are the most beautiful days of our lives. There is the idea that youth is dreamy anyway. Young people should have dreams anyway; a person without dreams is a failure. As an elder brother I say that you can see these years as golden years for your future. First of all, let your life have a purpose. Life has another, loftier aim. What matters is the goal and purpose of that process. You can look at the coming years with more hope. Because there have been huge stages in Turkey. In every field there have been developments that are growing thunderously and giving hope to the world. The Turkish passport is now more respected, the Turkish Lira more valuable and Turkish brands more precious. For this reason you too should be more hopeful and ask yourselves, how can I contribute to Turkey’s journey?” he continued.
Following the protocol speeches, Hasan Kalyoncu University Chairman of the Board of Trustees Mr Cemal Kalyoncu presented a gift to Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Turkey Assoc. Prof. Dr. Yalçın Akdoğan.