Working visit of Professor Osman Bulent Zulfikar, Rector of the Istanbul University, President of the BSUN to the PABSEC International Secretariat, Istanbul, 19 January 2026
On 19 January 2026, Professor Osman Bulent Zulfikar, Rector of the Istanbul University, President of the Black Sea University Network (BSUN) paid visit to the PABSEC International Secretariat and met with Mr. Asaf Hajiyev, PABSEC Secretary General. Prof. Zulficar was accompanied by Prof. Haluk Zulfikar, Chief Consultant to the Rector, Prof. Canan Cacına, Institutional Coordinator of Bilateral and Multilateral Relations Office, Assoc. Prof. Feyza Nur Tuncer Kılınç, Head of International Academic Relations Office.
The PABSEC Secretary General expressed gratitude to Professor Zulfikar for the kind visit and informed about the current and future activities of the Assembly. He also conveyed his gratitude for the successful organisation of the Second Meeting of the Presidents of the Academies of Sciences of the BSEC Member States with the participation of the Rectors of Leading Turkish Universities, which was organised in Istanbul on 27 June 2025 by the Istanbul University upon the initiative of the PABSEC International Secretariat.
Professor Zülfikar thanked the Secretary General for his dedicated efforts and highly appreciated the contribution of PABSEC to the development of the scientific cooperation in the Black Sea Region. He further expressed the interest of Istanbul University in intensifying cooperation within the framework of the Black Sea Universities Network (BSUN), particularly through the promotion of exchange programmes for students and academics, as well as the establishment of joint and double-degree programmes between the universities.
In the course of the discussions, the PABSEC Secretary General informed the Rector of Istanbul University about the Third Meeting of the Presidents of the Academies of Sciences of the BSEC Member States, scheduled to be held in Sofia on 15 May 2026 and invited him to participate in the Meeting. Mr. Hajiyev expressed the full support of the PABSEC to the activities of the BSUN and the readiness of the Assembly to contribute to its ongoing and future initiatives.
Mr. Ali Gürkan Üstündağ, Administrative Officer of the PABSEC International Secretariat also took part in the Meeting.