OTS Secretary General Ambassador Kubanychbek Omuraliev received Dr. Zhanar Temirbekova, Rector of the Khoja Ahmet Yasawi International Kazakh-Turkish University, at the OTS Secretariat on 9 April 2026 for talks on deepening academic cooperation across the Turkic states.

The discussions covered ways to strengthen collaboration among the universities of the Turkic world, enhance student and faculty mobility, and promote joint research initiatives. Particular emphasis was placed on the expanding significance of the Turkic Universities Union (TURKUNIB) and of the Orhun Exchange Programme, which the OTS described as “a key platform for deepening educational integration and fostering a shared academic space within the Turkic world.”

Ahmet Yasawi University, based in Turkistan, Kazakhstan, occupies a distinctive place in the region's academic landscape as a joint Kazakh-Turkish institution with decades of experience in cross-border higher education – experience directly relevant to the common higher education space the Turkic states are now building.

The meeting reflects a broader pattern visible throughout 2025 and 2026: engagement between the OTS leadership and individual universities is increasingly organized around TURKUNIB and the Orhun Exchange Programme as the standing instruments of academic cooperation. For member universities, rector-level dialogues of this kind help translate the Union's institutional reforms into concrete partnerships in mobility and research.

Photo: Organization of Turkic States (turkicstates.org)

Based on official OTS reporting: OTS Secretary General received Rector of Ahmet Yasawi University