Istinye University (ISU) has earned the privilege of receiving brand support in the education category from the TURQUALITY program due to its academic achievements and institutional brand strength. Prof. Dr. Erkan İbiş, the Rector of ISU, stated, "Through this process, our university has achieved significant gains and advanced the process of change in an innovative and qualitative direction."
ISU announced that its application for brand support in the education category through the TURQUALITY program has been accepted, aiming to merge its academic identity with brand strength, institutionalization, and growth objectives. ISU, included in the TURQUALITY program run by the Ministry of Trade of the Republic of Türkiye, which supports Türkiye's goal of creating internationally recognized brands, continues its academic initiatives with a vision to contribute significantly to the development of qualified individuals, support research and innovation, and ensure sustainable economic growth in the country. TURQUALITY, the world's first and only state-supported branding program, aims to enhance the visibility of Turkish brands on the global stage. With this significant step, ISU provides strong support to the branding process and makes a leap to increase Türkiye's brand value. This development will not only make ISU more visible as a research university on the global stage but will also offer valuable contributions to Türkiye's journey of branding.
"We have aligned ourselves with the common goal through TURQUALITY"
Prof. Dr. Erkan İbiş, the Rector of ISU, commented on ISU's brand strength and future projections in the TURQUALITY process: "TURQUALITY is a 'quality brand' for Türkiye, and one of the most important elements underlying this brand is internationalization, especially in the context of educational tourism. For an educational institution to be successful in educational tourism, it must be a pioneer and qualified in various fields such as science, education, R&D, and art; and it must also share these achievements with its relevant parties based on trust and reputation. In this sense, although ISU is a young educational institution, it has internalized all the goals related to quality and voluntarily joined the TURQUALITY process. In this process, we have achieved two of our goals; the first of course was to integrate with the 'TURQUALITY' brand in line with the common goal, and we have succeeded in doing that as ISU. The second aspect was to go beyond just obtaining the TURQUALITY seal and to sustain the quality processes of TURQUALITY among our interested parties, and to make these qualities a standard of our university. Through this process, our university has achieved significant gains and advanced the process of change in an innovative and qualitative direction."
"We aim to increase the number of international students"
Prof. Dr. İbiş mentioned that ISU has more than 3,200 foreign students and stated that they aim to increase this number. He said, "We see two areas that are particularly emphasized in Türkiye's XI. Development Plan: these are health tourism and educational tourism. It can be said that the United States and the United Kingdom, which dominate 'educational tourism', no longer have their former influence. It is possible to say that new 'educational' countries like Hungary, Poland, Egypt, and Türkiye have emerged as competitors to the USA and the UK. Türkiye undoubtedly ranks among the most successful countries at this stage. One of our goals is based on our vision, to internationalize, increase international collaborations, increase the number of international students, and ensure that these graduates become ambassadors for our country when they return to their countries. Of course, for us as ISU, research, science, education, projects, publications, culture, and art are very important. However, we know that the fundamental element, the 'must-have', is student diversity. In this context, we have a policy to increase the number of international students at our university. According to our policy, we currently have more than 3,200 foreign students in our system, and we aim to reach 4,500 within the next year and 6,000 in the following year. In short, we want one out of every four students at our university to be an international student, and we value not only cultural integration and diversity but also the creation of a shared culture in a globalizing world. We are among the top 4 universities in terms of educational tourism and have higher goals. We are working consistently in this regard and increasing our visibility internationally, both for our country and for our university. International collaborations and joint research should also be evaluated in this context. TURQUALITY, in fact, is an important step that embodies our policies, goals, and creates a synergistic effect that motivates us. We will proudly carry the TURQUALITY brand; while representing Türkiye with that brand, we will also proudly serve the Turkish brand."
Istinye University in Turquality, the World's First and Only International Branding Program
The Turquality program aims not only to provide financial resources to brands while reaching their international goals but also to accelerate the development of brands by offering strategic, operational, organizational, and technological consulting services, as well as training support for management units, thus strengthening the management capacities of brands.
Differing from traditional export supports, the Turquality program stands out as a program that focuses on the branding goals of companies, aiming not only to increase export volume but also to support companies in becoming recognized international brands. This important program reinforces Istinye University's steps in line with this goal as an academic brand.
The inclusion of Istinye University in the Turquality program is a strategic step to strengthen the university's brand value and international reputation. This development will not only make ISU more visible as a research university on the global stage but will also offer valuable contributions to Türkiye's journey of branding.
The knowledge and experience that Istinye University gains from Turquality aim to further enhance the accumulation of value that will be presented to students, academics, and the business world, presenting an exemplary institutionalization and growth model in the academic community.