Ahmet Yesevi University The Cooperation Agreement, signed as of this agreement, and The Annexed Charter, were signed on June 30, 1993, in Almaty.
International Hoca Ahmet Yesevi Turkish-Kazakh University is an international and autonomous mutual state university of the Republics of Turkey and Kazakhstan. The foundations of the University were first laid under the name of Turkistan State University a short time before the collapse of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics upon the decision of Nursultan NAZARBAYEV, the President of Kazakhsta
n, dated on June 6, 1991. The basic mission of the University was “to improve the city of Turkistan, the historical science and culture centre of the Central Asia.”
Upon “The Common Declaration,” which was published in the Almaty Summit, organized on 29 March-1 May 1992, between Nursultan NAZARBAYEV, the President of Kazakhstan, and Süleyman DEMİREL, the Prime Minister of the Turkish Republic, and “The Cooperation Agreement in the Areas of Education, Science, Culture, and Sports,” which was signed between two countries on May 1, 1992, it is decided that Turkistan State University shall be the mutual university of both countries, and The Memorandum of Understanding concerning the issue was signed on September 28, 1992, in Ankara.
“Agreement on Founding International Hoca Ahmet Yesevi Turkish-Kazakh University in the city of Turkistan” was signed between the governments of two countries at The Summit of The Presidents of Turkish-Speaking Countries on October 31, 1992 in Ankara. The agreement became effective after it was approved by the Act No. 3904 enacted on April 29, 1993 by the Turkish Grand National Assembly, and it was published in the 21571st issue of the Official Gazette, dated on May 4, 1993. Upon the approval of The Cooperation Agreement and The Charter by the Cabinet Council of the Turkish Republic with the decision, numbered 93/4848, and dated on September 24, 1993, and the publication of the decision on the 21729th issue of the Official Gazette, dated on October 15, 1993, the establishment of the University was completed, and its administration was assigned to the Board of Trustees. The Chief Advisor of the Prime Minister Namık Kemal Zeybek, was assigned as the first president of the Board of Trustees on October 18, 1993. Zeybek, appointed as the president for the second time on May 17, 1999, held his post until July 20, 2006, and he left his position to Retired Full General Çetin Doğan on July 20, 2006. After Doğan, Prof. Dr. Osman Horata, from Hacettepe University, who is also the President of Atatürk Cultural Centre (AKDTYK), was appointed as the President of the Board of Trustees. In accordance with the Charter, the rector of the university is appointed by the Higher Educational Council of the Republic of Kazakhstan, and the first vice rector is appointed by the Higher Educational Council of the Republic of Turkey. Now, our rector is Prof. Dr. Lesbek Taşimov while the first vice rector is Prof. Dr. Mahir Nakip. After the university has become a mutual and international educational institution, students, coming from Turkey and other Turkic countries or communities to Kazakhstan, were admitted for the academic year of 1994-1995. Ahmet Yesevi University has 11 faculties and 1 school of higher education, and it has almost 20,000 students, 2,600 of whom are from Turkey, and 700 of whom are from Turkic countries and communities other than Kazakhstan. There are also more than 1800 academicians in our university. The central campus of the university is founded on an area of 300 hectare in the city of Turkistan in South Kazakhstan. Apart from the main campus, there are also educational institutes in the cities of Turkistan and Kentav.
Çimkent Pedagogical Institute was incorporated into our university in 1993, so was Taraz Institute in 1999. It was agreed that the students of South Kazakhstan Faculty of Medicine in Çimkent could continue their education until the graduation in our university. Upon the decision taken by the Board of Trustees, since the academic year of 2008-2009, Çimkent and Taraz Institutes have stopped student admission on behalf of Ahmet Yesevi University, and these institutes have been handed down to the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Kazakhstan. In the central campus, Ahmet Yesevi University Medical Centre Hospital, which was equipped with the state-of-the-art technologies, started to serve mainly for the people in the city of Turkistan and its locals on December 1, 2008. In the Ankara Summit, held between Nursultan Nazarbayev, the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan and Abdullah Gül, the President of the Republic of Turkey, during October 21 and 24, Turkey and Kazakhstan displayed their enthusiasm to cooperate in the area of education by signing on October 22, 2009, “The Agreement on the Operation of International Hoca Ahmet Yesevi Turkish-Kazakh University,” which clarifies rights and obligations of the contracting party countries. The Presidency of the Board of Trustees continues to operate in its building in Ankara. Similarly, the coordination of Distance Education of Turkey-Turkish Programs (TURTEP), Turkistan Faculty of Distance Education is carried out by the units in Ankara and Istanbul. Ahmet Yesevi University, which increases its education and instruction quality day by day, and which is now the most advanced university in Kazakhstan with its material infrastructure, continues its efforts on the way “to meet history in its roots,” as Atatürk said in 1933, with its belief in constant development.
