New Higher Education Board (YÖK) President has said he aims to continue a restructuring process to make Turkish universities more globally competitive in the fields of research and education.

Çetinsaya took over the post from former President Yusuf Ziya Özcan on Monday with a ceremony at the YÖK building in Ankara.

The 47-year-old professor and former rector of İstanbul Şehir University said he was honored to be appointed to the top post at YÖK. While stating that he has taken over a very hard task, the new president said he sees the change of the post as a "relay race to serve modern Turkey."

Putting emphasis on the continuation of the work to restructure the Turkish university system, Çetinsaya added that he is determined to achieve the internationalization of Turkish universities. He said he will work to pave the way for Turkish universities to compete and cooperate with distinguished universities the world over.

Çetinsaya thanked Özcan for his services to higher education in Turkey. In response to questions by reporters, Çetinsaya said he wishes to hold a separate press conference to share his vision with the public soon.

Speaking before Çetinsaya, Professor Özcan, who had been president since 2008, said a good service was paid to YÖK during his four-year term and that many serious problems regarding higher education were solved during his term. "I leave an institution with not so many problems. But I expect him [Çetinsaya] to take the higher education that we carried up to a certain threshold beyond that threshold," he said. While stating that he cannot return to the Middle East Technical University (ODTÜ) because he has already retired, Özcan noted that he received a job offer from the Presidency of the Turkish Republic, though the job description for that is not yet clear. He added that he can evaluate offers from now on.

Following the ceremony that kicked off Çetinsaya's term, Özcan said goodbye to YÖK employees. One of his employees gave Özcan a jersey with his name on it. The former president left the YÖK building by a car driven by his son.

The former YÖK head was appointed to replace Professor Erdoğan Teziç on Dec. 10, 2007, by President Abdullah Gül. During Özcan's term, the number of universities and the number of students that universities accepted have increased. While 2,453,664 students studied at a university in 2007, this figure reached 3,817,086 this year. YÖK witnessed historic changes during Özcan's presidency. First, a project to increase the number of research assistants -- ÖYP -- was initiated. YÖK then lifted the controversial ban on the use of the Muslim headscarf on university campuses. A lower coefficient rule in calculating the university admission examination scores of vocational high schools was also abolished. On top of that, police officers were banned from entering campuses without permission from rectors. Furthermore, a room was assigned to the head of the National Student Council of Turkey at the YÖK building in a move to better include students in the functioning of YÖK. Finally, the Foreign Student Examination (YÖS) was abolished and universities were allowed to set their own criteria for accepting foreign students.

Özcan also attracted the public's attention with the pets he had in the garden of the YÖK building and his love for motorbikes and aviation. In response to a reporter's question regarding his pets in the garden, Özcan said there are only a few animals and that he can meet their expenses if they cause trouble for the institution.

Cihan