Turkish university fails to find lecturers for pioneering Armenian language department

Lectures at the Armenian Language and Literature department of a university in Turkey’s northwestern province of Edirne have not been held since the beginning of the 2014-2015 academic year, due to the lack of instructors, the Hrriyet Daily News reports.

The 16 students of the Armenian Language and Literature department at Trakya University in Edirne, which was established by the Higher Education Board (YÖK) three years ago, have been unable to attend classes as no lecturer with the necessary qualifications could be found.

Trakya University Literature Faculty Dean Prof. Recep Durmaz said they could not find any new lecturers to replace the previous teachers.

“When the department was opening, we brought lecturers who were native speakers. The lecturers, whose contracts came to an end, did not renew their contracts. We could not reach a new deal and therefore we cannot provide the education,” said Durmaz, adding that they were still searching for lecturers.

Ahmet Duman, a junior student at the department, said he had enrolled in the department three years ago and until this year, he had attended his classes without any problems.

“Right now, we are taking Russian classes once a week. We cannot have other classes because we lack the lecturers. Other departments have had their first exams. The final exams are soon, but there are still no lecturers,” said Duman.

He added that the faculty had offered to move them to other departments, but two months have passed and the final decision on the issue has yet to be made.

“We want to continue studying in the department that we chose,” Duman said.