On Tuesday, October 22, 2024, during the visit to the Republic of Türkiye, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Andriі Sybiha visited Istanbul University and the Department of Ukrainian Language and Literature.

The Minister held meetings with the rector, Professor Osman Bülent Zülfikar, and the university management, and talked with teachers and students of the Department of Ukrainian Studies.

«The First Lady of Ukraine, Mrs. Olena Zelenska, visited Istanbul University on August 1, 2024. We thank you for the warm and hospitable welcome. The participation of Istanbul University, Department of Ukrainian Studies, in the Global Coalition of Ukrainian Studies, launched by our First Lady, is very important to us. This is an important initiative for the preservation of the Ukrainian language, culture and development of understanding with foreign partners» - said the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The Minister positively noted the active partnership of Istanbul University with five Ukrainian higher educational institutions — Kharkiv, Lviv, Odesa, Dnipro and Kyiv national universities. He expressed the interest of the Ukrainian Side in the expansion of academic cooperation, scientific and educational projects and student exchanges.

«I am proud of the successes and development of the Department of Ukrainian Studies at Istanbul University. Since we opened it during my work as the Ambassador of Ukraine to Türkiye, three cohorts of students have already graduated. Our goal is to expand the horizons of cooperation, creating new opportunities for exchanges, and, of course, we will support the department of Ukrainian language and literature in every possible way" – the Minister emphasized.

The Ukrainian Foreign Minister also thanked the dean of the literature faculty, Mrs. Sevtap Kadioğlu, and the teaching staff of the Ukrainian language department for their professionalism and dedication.

For reference: Istanbul University is the largest educational institution in Türkiye, with almost 80,000 students. It was founded in 1453. This is the only educational institution in the country, which has been training specialists in the Ukrainian language, literature, and history since 2017.