Good Food， Beautiful Scenery， Low Tuition：Studying Abroad Visits Inonu University in Turkey

Reported by_Bingran Zhao Zhongli Xie

Turkey has built a multi-ethnic nation on the ruins of an empire. Influenced by splendid Islamic civilizations， Turkey blends modern Eastern and Western cultures. Apart from the draw of the beautiful scenery， why should Chinese students be looking at Turkey as a place to study abroad？

Malatya： Home to Inonu University

Inonu University is located in Malatya， a small city in eastern Turkey. The summers are hot and dry. Famous for its apricot orchards， the city produces significant quantities of apricots every year， and the Apricot Festival is held every July.

Established on April 3， 1975， Inonu University covers an area of 700 hectares. Of Turkeys 104 public universities， Inonu is consistently in the top twenty. Inonu University has fourteen schools for the arts and sciences， education， agriculture， fishery， engineering， medicine， business and administrative sciences， divinity， dentistry， pharmacy， fine art and design， law， communication， and physical education and sports.

As one of the largest public universities in eastern Turkey， Inonu University is best known for its outstanding liver transplant program. The Turgut Ozal Medical Center is one of the best medical education centers in Turkey. The Center performs 1，200 liver transplants every year， placing Turkey second only to Switzerland. Every year， students from many different countries come to study at the Center. In addition to medicine， the pharmacy， dentistry， engineering （food engineering， computer engineering， and chemical engineering）， and business and administrative science schools are very popular.

Q= Studying Abroad

A= Prof. Dr. Cemil CELIK， Rector of Inonu University

Q： Why does Inonu University want to attract Chinese students？

A： We know that China is one of the great nations of the world. In terms of land area， China covers nearly one half of Asia. In terms of population， China has 1.35 billion people， which means that China makes up one-fifth of the worlds population. China has a massive population， a long-standing culture， and vast territory； it is a modern country that has succeeded in its development plans. Modern science experts say that China will become a world center for scientific development before too long. As a Turkish university， we hope to establish a long relationship with this great nation， beginning with Chinese students.

Q： Compared to large cities like Istanbul， what are the advantages a smaller town like Malatya for Chinese students？ What courses of study do you recommend for them？

A：Our medical programs， including pharmacy and dentistry， have a very good reputation. The average annual tuition is 3，256 RMB， and living expenses are much lower here than in cities like Istanbul. We also provide science and engineering courses， and some disciplines are taught half in English and half in Turkish. Chinese students can also take social sciences courses， which we can provide.

In addition， if students want to study Turkeys history and culture， Asian music， or Central Asian musical culture， they can apply to our outstanding music program.

If Chinese students are considering new and interesting disciplines， then we recommend they consider agriculture. More than 85% of the worlds dried apricots are produced in Turkey， and we welcome students who want to learn how to grow our famous apricots. As you can see， we provide a wide range of disciplines from which Chinese students can choose， and we hope students will fully explore all that we have to offer.

Q： Why does Inonu University want to recruit Chinese teachers？

A： Chinese is becoming a very important international language， so universities all over the world are establishing Chinese language programs. Therefore， Inonu University is founding a Chinese School， and we need Chinese teachers to provide instruction.

Our program is not just targeted at the universitys students； it is also open to the public， because some of the citys residents engage in trade between China and Turkey， and some sell products imported from China. These groups also need to use Chinese， so there are two goals to the establishment of this program. First， we want to provide our students with the opportunity to learn Chinese， and second， we want to help these shop proprietors and business people improve their Chinese， and therefore， their business with China.

Q： What are conditions like for Chinese teachers？

A： We first review applications and CVs， then these documents are directly transferred to the Turkish Ministry of National Education. After approval， we will send the teachers invitation letters， inviting them to Turkey.

I want to hire teachers with degrees in Chinese language to start immediately. Though we do not require many years of teaching experience， we hope that candidates with masters degrees and doctorates will join our teaching team. Salary and benefits will be set based on a teachers experience and qualifications， and we provide the teachers with apartments. The salaries are set according to the regulations of the Turkish Ministry of National Education and provided by our recruitment department. Salaries are usually 2，000 to 3，000 Turkish lira （per month）， which is about 4，300 to 6，500 RMB per month.