By News Center

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu inaugurated on January 10 the Maarif Turkiye Research Center under the University of Pretoria in South Africa.

Speaking at the inauguration ceremony, Mevlut Cavusoglu said the center “will become a hub of excellence in research on Turkiye” and “promote academic and policy interaction between Africa and Turkiye”.

He reaffirmed Turkiye’s commitment to enhancing collaboration with South Africa in the education sector.

Turkiye views education as “the most important sector” for cooperation and the one, to which it continues to devote its efforts, the minister said.

“At present, nearly 61,000 students from the (African) continent are studying in Turkiye, many of them through Turkiye’s scholarships,” he said.

“Among those are 223 South African students engaged in academic pursuits at different Turkish universities.”

Turning to international issues, Cavusoglu pointed out that conflicts do not have “clear borders anymore,” citing, as an example, the war in Ukraine and its “worldwide implications on energy markets, food security, and inflation”.

“Global challenges such as pandemics and climate change are everybody’s problem now. The solution to these problems lies in a multilateral approach,” he said.

“We cannot overcome the threat of terrorism, the challenge of irregular migration and organized crime without global solidarity and cooperation,” he emphasized.

Cavusoglu said globalization is now giving way to “the rise of protectionism,” blaming the situation on the “current global system”.

He reiterated that Turkiye believes that a “fairer world is possible” and seeks “shared prosperity and an inclusive global system”.

On ties with Africa, Cavusoglu said Turkiye has become an “African hub with a growing African diaspora of students and businesspeople” over the past 20 years.

“Today, we have 44 embassies across Africa, and we host 38 African embassies in Ankara,” he added.