In January 2026, the Organization of Turkic States took a concrete step toward the professionalization of the Turkic world's flagship academic mobility architecture, announcing the recruitment of dedicated experts for the institutional development of the Orhun Exchange Programme and the Turkic Universities Union (TURKUNIB).

Under the call published on 23 January 2026, the OTS Secretariat sought two consultants to be based at its headquarters in Istanbul: a Legal and Institutional Framework Expert and a Higher Education Mobility Expert. The positions were established for nine-month terms, extendable in line with performance and organizational needs, with applications accepted until 5 February 2026 and detailed qualification requirements set out in dedicated terms of reference.

The significance of this announcement goes beyond staffing. The mandates of the two experts – legal and institutional frameworks on the one hand, and higher education mobility on the other – correspond precisely to the reform agenda that emerged from the 8th TURKUNIB General Assembly in Tashkent in October 2025 and from the Gabala Summit's endorsement of a reorganized Orhun Exchange Programme and a Turkic World Higher Education Area. By building expert capacity within its Secretariat, the OTS laid the groundwork for the decisions subsequently taken by the 9th Meeting of the Ministers of Education in June 2026, including the establishment of a Permanent TURKUNIB Secretariat and a Dedicated Programme Fund for the Orhun Exchange Programme.

For TURKUNIB member universities, this development signals that the mobility and institutional reforms discussed in recent assemblies are moving from concept to implementation – with professional legal, institutional and mobility expertise now dedicated to designing the systems through which students and staff of Turkic world universities will study, teach and conduct research across borders.

Photo: Organization of Turkic States (turkicstates.org)

Based on official OTS reporting: OTS Call for Qualified Experts for the Institutional Development of the Orhun Exchange Program and TURKUNIB