Bahçeşehir University Brings Its Expertise in Architecture to Latvia!

Bahçeşehir University continues its international activities at full speed. Bahçeşehir University is now partnering with RISEBA University in Riga, Latvia, on architecture education. The partnership, which will bring the experience of Turkish higher education to the EU, was announced at the opening of the RISEBA - Turkish Business/Trade and Culture Institute.

With this project, launched to offer the know-how of its expert Faculty of Architecture and Design to Latvia, an EU country, Bahçeşehir University aims to expand to other EU countries starting with Latvia. Bahçeşehir University, which will provide academic staff and know-how to the Faculty of Architecture and Design to be established within RISEBA University, will also share its expertise in managing the faculty. The faculty, planned to start teaching this September, will have departments of Architecture, Industrial Design and Interior Architecture. Mainly aiming to provide Architecture and Design education to Latvian students, the faculty will also allow Bahçeşehir University Faculty of Architecture students to study there for 1 or 2 semesters as exchange students. Before September, a Latvia Summer School will be held for Faculty of Architecture and Design students between 28 June and 9 July.

With the establishment of the faculty, whose language of instruction is English, Bahçeşehir University will once again bring its expertise to the international stage. Teaching at a faculty in an EU member country is one of the most important steps taken by the university in line with its "My Campus Is the World" approach, which sees the whole world as a campus.

 
RISEBA - Turkish Business/Trade and Culture Institute

In addition to its work in architecture, Bahçeşehir University supported the opening of the RISEBA - Turkish Business/Trade and Culture Institute in Latvia with the exhibition "The Ottoman View of the World from Piri Reis to Kâtip Çelebi".

The institute, founded within RISEBA University as the Turkish Institute in 2005 and granted foundation status as the Turkish Trade and Culture Institute Foundation in 2009, was opened by Bahçeşehir University. The institute, whose opening ceremony was held on 22 March 2010, will be the first institute promoting Türkiye in Latvia and will contribute to the promotion of Türkiye first in Latvia, and then in the Baltic countries and EU countries.

Taking action after UNESCO designated 2009 as the year of Katip Çelebi, Bahçeşehir University had been organizing the exhibition "The Ottoman View of the World in the 17th Century from Piri Reis to Katip Çelebi" in various countries around the world. Bahçeşehir University brought the exhibition, most recently held in Damascus, to Riga, the capital of Latvia, for the opening of the Turkish Business/Trade and Culture Institute.

Bahçeşehir University's exhibition, organized together with the Riga International School of Economics and Business Administration, attracted great interest. The exhibition, held at the Riga City Hall, was attended by Mayor of Riga Nils Ušakovs, Turkish Ambassador to Latvia Ayşe Ayhan Asya, Chair of the Bahçeşehir University Board of Trustees Enver Yücel and Latvian Minister of Culture Jānis Garjāns.

At the exhibition, Latvian women in traditional Ottoman costumes greeted guests by saying "merhaba", and after the opening speeches, a traditional Turkish dance performance prepared by Latvian dancers was staged. The participants then exchanged gifts, and traditional Turkish dishes were served at the cocktail reception after the exhibition.

Commenting on the significance of the day, Chair of the Bahçeşehir University Board of Trustees Enver Yücel said: "Since its foundation, Bahçeşehir University's mission and vision have not only been about educating students, but also about spreading our culture to the world and introducing the values from our past to the present to world cultures. That is why we hold such exhibitions. We held the first one in California. You will remember that we held the previous one in Paris. We will continue to take it around the world's capitals. As a result, it attracts great interest; in France in particular, as it was the Turkish Year, we exhibited it not only at UNESCO but also at other venues. In the coming months, we would like to take this exhibition to other centers in the USA."




Commenting on the subject, Turkish Ambassador to Latvia Ayşe Ayhan Asya said: "It is true that we are not able to hold cultural activities very often, but as a country we mainly carry out our cultural activities in our own country. Last year, 60,000 Latvians went to Türkiye. This is a really large number, given that Latvia is a country of 2 million. Here, as the state, we support some initiatives led by our private sector. Bahçeşehir University and the Riga School of Economics and Business Administration have taken the lead here. The vision behind this belongs entirely to them, and I think it is a very progressive vision. Within the framework of this vision, an institute has been established here, a Turkish Culture and Economy Institute. It is being established within the university. In this way, a focal point for the promotion of Türkiye has been created here in Riga."
 

Former Minister of National Education of the Republic of Türkiye, Advisor to the President of Bahçeşehir University and founding co-chair of the RISEBA - Turkish Business/Trade and Culture Institute in Latvia, Prof. Dr. Necdet Tekin, who also attended the exhibition, spoke about the opening and the exhibition: "We opened this institute with Bahçeşehir's sole sponsorship. With the support of Bahçeşehir University MEDAM as well as UNESCO and the Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism, we brought the exhibition you see here and ensured it was displayed for 10 days. We are very happy to have been able to achieve this today."

Opened with two important figures of Turkish history and culture, Piri Reis and Katip Çelebi, the institute will pursue cooperation between Turkish and Latvian universities on student and faculty exchange programs and scientific and research cooperation, and will also provide information, promotion and assistance services about Türkiye to business, trade, culture and tourism visitors, lobbies and non-governmental organizations. Bahçeşehir University students will also have the opportunity to do internships and scientific work at this institute.

Riga Exhibition Dates: 22 March 2010 – 4 April 2010

About RISEBA:

RISEBA is an internationally recognized educational institution with university status. It has good relations with international business circles. RISEBA is a foundation university established in 1992.

It is accredited by the Latvian Ministry of Education. In 2001, it received an international accreditation certificate. It is also accredited by the European Union. It has joint education and cooperation agreements with more than 40 European Union universities.

In 2006, it established an International Culture Center within the university. Currently, 4,500 university students study at RISEBA. RISEBA provides education at campuses in two different cities in Latvia.