‘Türkiye offers students best environment for research, higher education’

By Md. Kamruzzaman

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AA) - When most of the Western world was shut to students from mostly Muslim countries due to a rapid rise in Islamophobia after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in the US, Türkiye opened its door for students to do research and study.

Speaking about his experiences in Türkiye as a Ph.D. fellow, Ashfaqul Muid Khandaker, assistant professor in genetics and molecular biology at the University of Dhaka in Bangladesh's capital, told Anadolu Agency that six years in the Turkish society from 2010 to 2016 was the best part of his life.

The young professional received his Ph.D. in molecular biology and genetics from the Izmir Institute of Technology in Türkiye in 2016.

“I was a little bit frustrated as I could not start my Ph.D. at any American university. But my frustration was over when I found a fantastic research environment at the Turkish university with ample support from my instructor,” he noted.

Saying that Türkiye offers the best environment for higher studies and scientific research, the Bangladeshi researcher added that it was a new experience to see how generously teachers help students grow in Türkiye.

“I got the chance to use a very big and renowned laboratory with an instructor who was very cooperative.”

He recalled that his instructor gifted him a lot of rare instruments when he returned to Bangladesh. “I have set up a good laboratory here with those instruments and now I am teaching my students what I learned in Türkiye.”

- Self-dependency

Self-dependency is another lesson Khandaker learned in Türkiye. “It is one of the great virtues of Turkish people who always try their best to do their own work without taking any unnecessary support.”

“Once there was a technical problem with my television and I asked my landlord whether any mechanical was available. He retorted why I was looking for a technician without first trying to fix the problem myself. Even he criticized me, saying that if I could not fix a normal problem of my television what type of Ph.D. fellow I am,” Khandaker recalled.

He added that the landlord came to his apartment with a toolbox and fixed his television.

- Bilateral engagement

Replying to a query about his future dreams, Khandaker said he would like the brilliant students in Bangladesh to go to Türkiye for higher studies and research.

According to the Turkish Presidency for Turks Abroad (YTB) official records, from 2012 till 2021 a total of 543 Bangladeshi students have completed their higher education from different universities in Türkiye while around 200 Bangladeshi students are currently studying in the country.

He called for more dialogues and people-to-people engagement between the two countries to find out potential sectors for mutual benefits.

“Just for example, here I would like to mention that once I took some mangoes for my Turkish friends and they liked it very much. So, I think Bangladesh can take an initiative to export mangoes to Türkiye,” Khandaker underlined.

Mentioning Türkiye as one of the world’s best countries in civil engineering, he added that Bangladesh can undertake a mega project to produce some highly qualified civil engineers with the help of Türkiye.