Yang di-Pertua Negeri Sabah Tun Juhar Mahiruddin (fourth left), Dr Kasim (third left) and Dr Şeref Ateş (fourth right) after the MoU signing.
KOTA KINABALU: Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) and Yunus Emre Institute (YEI) of Turkiye have inked a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to collaborate in culture and language.
The collaboration includes the exchange of students and staff members to broaden academic, professional and cultural cooperation between the two institutions.
The UMS and YEI will also collaborate in research and development activities, including the sharing of resources where possible.
The MOU also paves way to possibly introducing Turkish language as a language component under the Foreign Language Cluster for undergraduate students in UMS.
The ceremony was held recently in Bosphorus, Istanbul, where UMS vice-chancellor Prof Datuk Dr Kasim Mansor and YEI president Prof Dr Şeref Ateş represented their respective institutions for the signing, UMS said in a statement on Friday (June 16).
It was witnessed by Yang di-Pertua Negeri Sabah Tun Juhar Mahiruddin, who is also UMS chancellor.
YEI is an established Turkish cultural centre that strives to promote Turkiye, its cultural heritage, Turkish language, culture, art, science and academic research, in order to improve the friendship and cultural exchange between Turkiye and other countries.
According to Dr Kasim, the MOU is expected to benefit both parties especially in areas involving education and research.
"We sincerely look forward to a meaningful and long-term collaboration between YEI and UMS.
"We believe that through a close collaboration with our international partners such as YEI, we can further enhance our commitment to excellence in teaching, research, and innovation.
"Hopefully, the MOU will bring mutual benefit and cooperation to both countries (Malaysia and Turkiye) and more specifically, improve our close cooperation in the field of culture and language," he said.
