A delegation of Turkish universities led by Ambassador of Turkey to Pakistan İrfan Neziroğlu visited the Higher Education Commission in Islamabad to strengthen Higher Education collaboration and academic ties. The delegation included Prof. Dr. Fatih Yılmaz of Tokat Gaziosmanpaşa University, Prof. Dr. Mehmet Keleş of Adıyaman University, Prof. Dr. Fahrettin Göktaş of Fırat University and Prof. Dr. Mutlu Türkmen of Bayburt University, accompanied by officials from the Turkish embassy. They met Chairman HEC Dr. Niaz Ahmad Akhtar and senior HEC officials to discuss expanded cooperation across multiple disciplines.
Both sides agreed to prioritise emerging areas such as artificial intelligence, cybersecurity and digitisation while promoting joint research in medicine, agriculture, physics, biotechnology and pharmaceuticals. The discussions also covered collaboration in social sciences and language programmes for Urdu and Turkish, with an emphasis on practical initiatives that can benefit Pakistani students and researchers. The focus on Higher Education includes developing online learning modules and digital partnerships that can scale research and teaching across institutions.
Plans discussed to deepen ties include expanded student and faculty exchange programmes, visiting scholar arrangements in specialised fields, summer exchange opportunities, joint and dual degree programmes, and collaborative innovation initiatives and conferences. The delegation and HEC proposed creating a shared pool of experts from both countries to work on natural, biological and social sciences, strategic studies, defence-related research and joint policy papers addressing global challenges.
The Chairman and the Turkish Ambassador agreed to compile a list of specialists who could serve as visiting faculty to deliver both in-person and online courses and to undertake collaborative research. Chairman HEC reiterated the commission’s commitment to supporting the advancement of Higher Education in Pakistan and to further strengthening the longstanding brotherly relations between Pakistan and Turkey through these academic and research partnerships.
