Turkey’s National Defense University to host 661 international students

ANKARA - Anadolu Agency

The National Defense University will host international students from 22 countries, said President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Aug. 30.

“The National Defense University will begin the new academic year—starting next October—with a total of 6,125 Turkish students and 661 guest students from 22 countries,” Erdoğan said at the graduation ceremony of the university’s military academy.

The university is a military higher education institution founded on July 31, 2016 under the National Defense Ministry.

“This way, the reconstruction process [in the military] that has started after July 15 [defeated coup] has been completed to a great extent and our war schools will be able to carry out their activities with full capacity,” he said.

Erdoğan said Turkey is committed to bringing its military to the most advanced level in terms of weapons, human resources and performance.

“We will not only save our army from terrorist organizations, especially the [illegal] PKK and FETÖ, but also strengthen our indigenous and national qualities,” he said.

Ankara accuses FETÖ of being behind a long-running campaign to overthrow the state through the infiltration of Turkish institutions, particularly the military, police and judiciary.