Islamabad, Pakistan – COMSATS University Islamabad (CUI) hosted His Excellency Mehmet Pacaci, Ambassador of the Republic of Turkey to Pakistan, for a meeting aimed at strengthening educational ties and exploring new avenues of cooperation. Held at COMSATS University Islamabad, the event brought together CUI senior management, Turkish alumni working at the university and officials from the International Office.
The Ambassador’s visit served as an opportunity to revive the connection between CUI and the Embassy of Türkiye. The two countries share a deep cultural and religious bond and have cooperated in the past through exchange programs such as Mevlana and Erasmus+.
Prof. Dr. Sajid Qamar, Rector of CUI said in his speech: “We welcome the opportunity to collaborate with our Turkish counterparts in research, faculty exchange programs and student mobility programs.” Dr. Junaid Zaidi, Founder Rector of CUI: “We need to transform our excellent research into tangible products, and Turkish cooperation can be instrumental in achieving this goal.”
During the meeting Dr. Hammad Omer, head of the international office, gave a short presentation that highlighted CUI’s strengths, research results and cooperation with Türkiye. He emphasized the need to develop concrete projects for cooperation in areas such as research, faculty exchange and student mobility and come up with tangible results beyond the signed Memorandums of Understanding (MoU).
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He also emphasized that we need to explore the potential for joint ventures in areas such as research commercialization, mathematics, informatics and mountain research. After the presentation by H.E. Mehmet Pacaci, Ambassador of Türkiye said in his keynote speech: “We need to go beyond signing a memorandum of understanding and develop concrete projects that will capitalize on expertise and facilities on both sides.”
Both parties agreed to identify specific academics and projects for future collaboration with a renewed commitment to strengthen educational ties between CUI and Turkish institutions. They also agreed to identify potential areas of cooperation in various academic disciplines. It was also agreed that in the near future there will be joint research projects and exchange programs. The discussion ended with the formulation of the establishment of a working group for the development of a specific action plan.
This meeting marks a significant step forward in the educational partnership between CUI and Türkiye. Both institutions are committed to working together to create meaningful opportunities for students, faculty and researchers, contributing to the advancement of knowledge and mutual understanding. Finally, an action plan was created, including re-evaluating the possibility of teaching Turkish at CUI and identifying potential academic partners for cooperation projects.
