World · Middle East · 1 hr ago
Four Gaziantep University units in Syria to continue under Aleppo University
Turkey’s Council of Higher Education and Syria’s higher education ministry signed an agreement on university cooperation on October 14.
Four units linked to Gaziantep University in northern Syria will continue their teaching under Aleppo University.
The units are in Afrin, Azaz, al-Bab and Jarablus.
Students at two units linked to Türkiye’s Health Sciences University will continue at the same or equivalent Syrian institutions.
The changes reflect Syria’s normalisation and reconstruction process, and aim to keep students’ education from being interrupted.
The agreement also addresses protections for graduates and the continued work of academic and administrative staff.
The two sides had also discussed a planned international Syrian-Turkish university in Damascus, but no further steps or timetable are given.
Turkey’s Council of Higher Education and Syria’s Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research signed a memorandum on academic units operating in Syria.
Four units affiliated with Gaziantep University will continue their educational activities under Aleppo University.
Students at two units affiliated with the University of Health Sciences will continue their studies at the same or equivalent higher education institutions in Syria.
The agreement also provides for academic and administrative staff at Gaziantep University’s units to continue in the same status under relevant regulations.
The parties said the arrangements take account of Syria’s normalization and reconstruction process and aim to prevent disruption to students’ education.
- Who
- Turkey’s Council of Higher Education and Syria’s Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research signed the memorandum.
- What
- Four Gaziantep University units will continue under Aleppo University; students at two University of Health Sciences units will continue at the same or equivalent institutions in Syria.
- When
- October 14, 2026.
- Where
- The units are operating in Syria. The four Gaziantep University units will be under Aleppo University.
- Why
- The agreement addresses the future of the units amid Syria’s normalization and reconstruction process and aims to keep education uninterrupted.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
Erol Özvar said the two sides held talks in Ankara on developing cooperation in higher education, including the future of academic units operating in northern Syria.
The Council of Higher Education and Syria’s Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research signed a memorandum on the future of the academic units.
- Gaziantep University units
- 4
- Units moving under Aleppo University
- Afrin Faculty of Education; Azaz Faculty of Islamic Sciences; Al-Bab Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences; Jarabulus Vocational School
- University of Health Sciences units
- Çobanbey Faculty of Medicine and Çobanbey Vocational School of Health Services
- Students at University of Health Sciences units
- To continue at the same or equivalent higher education institutions in Syria
- Previous talks
- August 5, 2026, in Ankara
3 sources
What people are saying
We are deciding that the educational activities of Afrin Faculty of Education, Azaz Faculty of Islamic Sciences, Al-Bab Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences, and Jarabulus Vocational School, affiliated with Gaziantep University, will continue under Aleppo University.
The most important issue for us in this process is that our students’ education is not interrupted and that they do not suffer any hardship.