Turkish Ambassador at Gdańsk University of Technology | Gdańsk University of Technology

The visit of Ambassador Rauf Alp Denktas to Gdańsk Tech took place on 6 December 2023. The delegation led by the Ambassador included: Rahime İğdeci Hosny, First Secretary at Turkish Embassy, Nevra Genç, Commercial Counselor, with her deputy, Betül Buke Karaçin. The delegation was welcomed by Prof. Krzysztof Wilde, Rector of Gdańsk University of Technology and Prof. Janusz Nieznański, Vice-Rector for Internationalization and Innovation.

Rauf Alp Denktaş has been the Turkish Ambassador to Poland since October this year. Formerly, since 2001, he held a number of positions in Turkish diplomacy. He worked, among others, at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Department of NATO and Western European Affairs, and Israel and Palestine Desk), he was Secretary of the Turkish Embassies in Romania and Israel, Counselor and Spokesman of the Turkish Embassy in the USA, and Counselor of the Permanent Diplomatic Mission of Turkey to the UN. In the period preceding his diplomatic mission in Poland (2019 - 2023), he worked again at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkey as Minister Plenipotentiary - Deputy Director General for Multilateral Economic Affairs. ​

Collaboration development as a priority

The Ambassador assured the hosts that developing cooperation with Gdańsk universities is a priority in Turkey. Rauf Alp Denktaş mentioned four areas of particular interest for the Turkish side, i.e. education, digital technologies, shipbuilding and construction. He emphasized the great potential of Polish and Turkish cooperation, including academic cooperation, in third countries, especially from Central Asia (Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and others). ​ The Ambassarod also stressed that Turkey offers scholarships for incoming students, which can be used to increase the attractiveness of Turkish universities for students of Gdańsk University of Technology. ​ The Turkish delegation proposed popularizing the international Teknofest festival (https://www.teknofest.org/en/competitions/) among Gdańsk Tech students, organized every year in Turkey. It is the largest technology festival in Turkey, focused mainly on the aviation and space industry.

In turn, Rector Prof. Krzysztof Wilde declared that Gdańsk Tech is a university open to new opportunities.

– I am very pleased that the Turkish side is strongly interested in developing academic cooperation with Polish universities, including Gdańsk University of Technology. – said the Rector. – Our university and our students expect future interesting and joint projects, both research and educational – he added.

Prof. Wilde also informed the Turkish delegation about his planned visit to one of the best technical universities in Turkey, i.e. Izmir Institute of Technology, which is scheduled for next year.

Vice-Rector, Prof. Janusz Nieznański, presented basic information about the current academic exchange between Gdańsk University of Technology and Turkish universities. Gdańsk Tech currently has 34 agreements under the Erasmus+ program with Turkish universities, and the number of students coming from these universities rised in the past five years from 37 to 74, which places Turkey among the most important directions of our educational cooperation.