President Abdullah Gül, paying a visit to Abdullah Gül University (AGU) named after him in his hometown, the province of Kayseri, reiterated his prediction that Turkish universities will be much better in the future and hoped that Abdullah Gül University with English as its medium of education will prove itself in the near future.
Pointing to the importance of raising students at all levels in the best way, President Gül reiterated his corroboration for Abdullah Gül University and said it will serve as a good model for others in that it is supported by both the state and the AGU Support Foundation.
The President, underscoring the significance of the infrastructure and academic staff of a university, noted that the AGU Council of Science and the administration of the university will raise its standards to a much better level and stressed the importance of the Sümerbank Cloth Factory Campus, a symbol of the Turkish industrialization, for Abdullah Gül University, which he declared will serve the whole of Central Anatolia, adding that they will also lend their corroboration for the ongoing studies to establish both the Sümer Campus and Mimar Sinan Campus of the university. He further offered his thanks to those who have contributed to the establishment of Abdullah Gül University.
As for Rector Prof. Dr. Hakan Asyalı, he declared the mission of Abdullah Gül University as follows: to be an international model university that will break new ground in higher education with its unique methods in the light of free thinking, that will add value to humanity with what it generates and that will make its students and academic staff proud to be a part of it.
The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK) Chairman and AGU Council of Science Chairman Prof. Dr. Yücel Altunbaşak pointed to their objectives as follows: that the university’s prep students will receive a part of their education in the States, that it will provide opportunities for students to continue for postgraduate studies abroad, that it will offer a job guarantee after graduation and that it will cooperate with international universities.
Afterwards, the First Couple and other officials explored the buildings which were once used as factories.