The cooperation agreement between Istanbul Kültür University European Career and Workforce Unit and Lower Saxony State 'Deutsche Management Akademie-German Management Academy' (DMAN) was signed with a ceremony on January 20, 2022, with the participation of high-level government representatives in Germany.
Lower Saxony State President Stephan Well, Turkey's Ambassador to Germany Ahmet Başar Şen, Hannover Mayor and the first Turkish citizen Belit Nejat Onay to be elected mayor in Germany were present at the agreement ceremony to emphasize the support of the German government in the qualified workforce programme. The reflections of the IKU-DMAN agreement, which was covered in the German press, especially in Bild, on Turkey-Germany labor relations, internationalization in higher education, and the contributions of the labor agreement to education and employment were evaluated at the meeting held in our Ataköy campus. Our Chairperson of the Board of Trustees, Dr. Bahar Akıngüç Günver, our Rector, our Faculty of Law Dean Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. mult. Bahri Öztürk, our European Career and Workforce Unit Coordinator Lecturer Nilüfer Köker and Martin Manzel answered the questions of the press at the meeting held on February 3, 2022.
“Germany is no longer a bitter homeland”
Expressing her impressions of the time they were in Germany for the labor contract, our Chairperson of the Board of Trustees Dr. Bahar Akıngüç Günver said: “Our visit to Germany was an intense 3-day program. I saw that our country was represented by very young and valuable names, especially Hannover Mayor Belit Nejat Onay, who was the first citizen of the Republic of Turkey to be elected mayor in Germany; At this point, Germany is no longer the bitter homeland it was 60 years ago. New generations have also made a great transformation in intercultural harmony.”
Stating that internationalization has a very important place in Kültür's institutional codes at the meeting, our Chairperson of the Board of Trustees said, “My first generation grandfather Halil Akıngüç, who opened a teaching house in Eskişehir under the name of Kültür in 1932, is taking the representation of Fernschule, which means Distance School in Germany at that time. The school, which offers technical education opportunities to students in Turkey by letter, delivers content to 600 students by mail. We can say that the DMAN agreement, which constitutes the European leg of the internationalization process of our university, is the most beautiful and up-to-date repetition of history in the name of education. This agreement is a motivation to maintain and raise our education standards as well. We will invest more in our academic content in foreign language, applied education and intellectual equipment in order to bring our young people's expertise to an internationally accepted level in the new world order, all of which are changing.”
“DMAN is the European axis of our internationalization moves in higher education”
Speaking at the meeting, our Rector said, “We can say that the agreement signed between DMAN and our University is the European leg of Kültür's action plan for internationalization in higher education. Erasmus and Bilateral Protocols are indispensable for every university today. We have more than 280 agreements with 124 partner universities in 26 European countries. In addition to European countries, we have scientific and cultural bilateral cooperation protocols and 2+2 agreements with universities that have made a name for themselves in 4 different continents of the world. But doing more is our main motivation. In December, we signed our cooperation protocol with Ms. Atty. Raya Abu Gulal, Founder and Director of Women Lawyers Group Middle East (WLGME). We will cooperate on the empowerment of female lawyers studying and working in the field of law. Within the scope of our cooperation protocol with Casablanca II Hassan University, we will work on publishing joint publications, student exchanges and joint consultancy doctoral dissertations. DMAN is the European pillar of this versatile global perspective. We opened our European Career and Workforce Unit so that our young people can gain experience in new cultures within the context of their academics and expertise. We also continue to work for new opportunities where they can enrich the global academic education in Kültür with global experiences and grow as a world citizen.”
“We plan the future for our students with DMAN”
“Future planning is made for our students based on the DMAN project.” Our Dean of the Faculty of Law, Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. mult. Bahri Öztürk, conveyed the added value of the project to the youth as follows: “The DMAN project offers very important opportunities to our students under the auspices of the Prime Minister of Lower Saxony, our Berlin Ambassador and the Hannover Consulate General. IKU's international relations are very old and wide; It is a university that has completed its internationalization and continues to increase. Our diploma is valid in many countries of the world, especially in Germany, without seeking equivalence. Our graduates can work in Germany as soon as they graduate. For example, we have many lawyers registered with German bar associations. The DMAN project offers new contributions to these possibilities. A faculty graduate is not yet an expert. When they go to Germany for 5 years on DMAN, they will do an internship there for 5 years and will return to our country by specializing and serve our nation.”
“Qualified personnel will return to Turkey with Know How”
Giving the details of the program scope, DMAN Director Dr. Martin Manzel said “Germany Career and Workforce Program is a career program that fosters friendship between Turkey and Germany. It was initiated to address the qualified personnel shortage in Germany and aims to enable qualified personnel in Turkey to gain working experience abroad and to return to Turkey with a 'know how'.
Our Germany Career and Workforce Program Coordinator Lecturer Nilüfer Köker summarized the purpose of the program with the following words: It is a program based on a “win-win” principle; The aim is to meet the needs of Germany, which has a qualified workforce shortage due to demographic change, on the one hand, and to enable qualified university and vocational school graduates to return to Turkey with their gains and experiences by gaining experience and specializing in their branches, on the other hand.”
Lecturer Köker stated that candidates can visit avkib.iku.edu.tr for detailed information about the program and application.
