Nearly 160 Ukrainian orphans arrive in Turkey

ANTALYA

Some 159 Ukrainian orphans and their 26 caregivers have arrived in the southern Turkish province of Antalya.

Amid the war in Ukraine, the children and the staff first had been evacuated to Poland. The Ukrainian Embassy said that officials contacted Turkish authorities regarding the children.

Following talks between the Turkish Foreign Ministry, Interior Ministry, Family and Social Services Ministry and the Presidency of Migration Management, Ankara confirmed that Turkey would provide shelter to the children and their caregivers.

A plane in a direct flight from Poland with 159 children and 26 staff landed in Antalya Airport yesterday.

Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu recently said that nearly 60,000 Ukrainians, who fled their country, had arrived in Turkey.

Ukrainian academics

Meanwhile, Turkey’s Council of Higher Education (YÖK) has launched work to facilitate the employment of Ukrainian academics who are fleeing the war at Turkish universities.

Since the start of the Russian invasion of their country, 55 Ukrainian academics have taken shelter in Turkey.

Amid the conflict, university education has been largely suspended in Ukraine, while 75 universities in the country have been damaged, some of them heavily. Ukrainian academics have been fleeing the country since the war started.

The YÖK’s International Relations Department has sent a memo to local universities, noting that eligible Ukrainian scholars will be granted international instructor status.

The council is expected to finalize its work to pave the way for offering positions to Ukrainian academics soon. According to plans under consideration, those scholars may start working at public research universities as international non-tenured instructors.

After consultations with universities, the YÖK will hold examinations for Ukrainian academics and make a final decision. Those, who are approved by the council, will be granted non-tenured academic status. Officials from the YÖK, however, noted that not all applicants will be employed at Turkish universities but those who meet the criteria.