Turkey’s higher education council urges universities to support a “Terror-Free Turkey”

Turkey’s Council of Higher Education has asked universities to take an active academic role in President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s “Terror-Free Turkey” initiative.

In a letter sent to universities under the signature of council president Erol Özvar, the council described Turkey as going through a historic process aimed at strengthening public peace and security, national unity, fraternity and social integration.

The letter said the initiative seeks to remove terrorism and violence from the country, allow citizens to look to the future in peace and security, and advance Turkey’s human, economic and social potential. Universities were asked to contribute through their education, research and public-service missions.

The council called for studies that address the initiative’s social, economic, legal, political, cultural and security dimensions. It also proposed panels, conferences and workshops, with their academic findings shared with the public. The process was discussed at a meeting of the Higher Education General Assembly on August 27, 2026.

The letter said education, history, culture and shared values could provide common ground for carrying the region into the future. It presented universities as institutions that can strengthen common values and social solidarity through scientific knowledge and academic expertise.

Özvar linked the initiative to Turkey’s past suffering from terrorism and its importance for the country’s future and younger generations. “We are the children of a nation that turns pain into healing,” he said. “We can ease the pain we have experienced only by building a beautiful future together.”

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We are the children of a nation that turns pain into healing. We can ease the pain we have experienced only by building a beautiful future together.