The opening ceremony of the 2024-2025 Higher Education Academic Year was held at the Presidential Complex with the participation of our President, Mr. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, under the auspices of the Higher Education Council (YÖK).

The ceremony was attended by Manisa Celal Bayar University Rector Prof. Dr. Rana Kibar, Vice Rector Prof. Dr. Ahmet Çetin, Dean of the Faculty of Business Prof. Dr. Hatice Yurtsever, Deputy Director of the Project Coordination Application and Research Center Dr. Mehmet İsmail Katı, and students.

In his opening speech, YÖK President Erol Özvar discussed developments in higher education and expressed his wishes for the 2024-2025 Academic Year to be beneficial for students, academics, administrative staff, and the country. He stated, "As the Higher Education Council, we have identified five strategic goals to enhance and sustain the global and regional competitiveness of our higher education system in the future. These goals, which include 'accessibility and inclusiveness,' 'quality, productivity, and excellence,' 'research and innovation,' 'internationalization,' and 'sensitivity to employment and lifelong learning,' are outlined in the 12th Development Plan and the Higher Education Council's 2024-2028 Strategic Document."

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan began his speech by wishing that the new academic year would be beneficial for our university community and all our faculty and students who are always in pursuit of knowledge. He stated, "I wish great success to our esteemed faculty and young people throughout the academic year. We are the millennial inhabitants of the Anatolian region, the cradle of the world’s first educational institutions. Our ancestors illuminated every era of history with the educational institutions they established and the scholars they raised, guiding reason, science, and technology. The greater the value given to knowledge, research, science, thought, and scholars, the brighter a country's future.

A nation is strong in proportion to its contributions to humanity's common knowledge. The centers that produce, process, develop, and disseminate knowledge are undoubtedly universities.

Academia is not only a place for knowledge transfer but also the foundation for all the intellectual groundwork a country needs. It is the lifeblood of the positive social sciences that a country requires."

Following the speeches of YÖK President Erol Özvar and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the "2024 Higher Education Council Outstanding Achievement Awards" were presented to their recipients.

The ceremony concluded with a group photo.