Turkish organization gathers international students

By Zeynep Rakipoglu

ISTANBUL (AA) - International student gatherings offer opportunities to further participants’ careers and educations, the head of a Turkish group for foreign students studying in the country said Tuesday.

"The International Student Gathering wants to raise attention to international students," Mehmet Ali Bolat, head of the Federation of International Student Associations (UDEF) told Anadolu Agency.

This year’s events will embrace the theme: "Towards a just world from west to east."

"Our theme this year is justice, because we know the world is not governed fairly," Bolat said, adding that their knowledge of their own countries as well as the rest of the world would allow international students to establish fairness across the globe.

Bolat said there are currently more than 5 million students studying abroad who would consider doing a graduate degree in a different country, adding: "Why shouldn’t that country be Turkey?"

He said the total number of foreign students studying in Turkey has risen to 150,000 since the beginning of the program in 2004.

Bolat underscored that tens of thousands of international students and millions of others had visited International Student gatherings so far in 51 countries.

This year’s events began in Turkey’s central Kirsehir province on March 17 and will finish on May 4. Events are also to continue abroad, starting in Sri Lanka on March 6 and finishing in the U.K. on April 30.