The Presidency for Turks Abroad and Related Communities (YTB) and the Islamic Cooperation Youth Forum (ICYF) have signed a cooperation agreement for the “Ummah Scholarship Program.” The agreement was signed during the 51st Session of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), held in Istanbul on June 21.
Under the agreement, undergraduate, master’s, and doctoral students from OIC member countries will be able to pursue education in prestigious universities across Türkiye as exchange students for one or two semesters, with full scholarships.
Speaking about the agreement, YTB President Abdullah Eren highlighted that since 2011, YTB has been managing the official scholarship program of the Republic of Türkiye.
“To date, we have granted scholarships to nearly 50,000 students. Currently, we have 15,000 active scholarship holders. We particularly strive to support students from the Islamic world. We make a special effort to host successful young people from regions with critical humanitarian issues such as Myanmar, Palestine and East Turkestan.”
Eren thanked ICYF for its cooperation and added: “On its 20th anniversary, ICYF continues to carry out impactful initiatives for young people across the Islamic world. It has fostered a sense of ummah consciousness, strengthened through its educational efforts. With this protocol, we will welcome youth recommended by ICYF to Türkiye for short-term exchange programs as part of the Ummah Scholarship Program.”
He further noted that Türkiye currently does not have a short-term exchange program and stressed the importance of such initiatives between Islamic countries, “We hope to expand the Ummah Scholarship Program to other regions outside of Türkiye as well.”
ICYF President Taha Ayhan stated that since 2019, they have reached nearly 15 million young people. “Our main goal is to bring together the youth of the ummah, help them build strong bonds, and establish multidimensional collaborations. We are especially grateful to Türkiye, our host country, for its support.”
Ayhan emphasized the importance of the scholarship program, saying, “This has been a long-standing dream for us. We believe that the youth of the ummah already possess the skills, talent and capacity to solve all our shared challenges. What they lack are opportunities, support, guidance and resources."
"We believe that through the Ummah Scholarship Program, these young people will finally gain access to the opportunities they deserve,” Ayhan said.
