Is Turkey Really a Safe Study Destination for International Students

Council of Higher Education supervises the Higher Education System of Turkey. This Council is an independent institution which is mainly responsible for planning, governance and coordination of the higher education laws. It was found that some students don’t even consider going to turkey for higher education because they think it is not a safe place for them. Today, I am going to clear this misconception as Turkey is actually a great study abroad destination that takes good care of their guest students. In addition, Council of higher education is there to make sure of it.

Why Some People Think Turkey is Not Safe?

There have been some incidents which led to a fear of Turkey being not a safe country for international students. A group of 30 to 40 people once attacked students celebrating an event on International Women’s Day in a university campus in central Istanbul which concluded in injuring many participants.

In the past years, there were a few incidents of attacking women in the major urban areas. These people particularly attacked women who dress like the west in opposition to the way they dress. However, it is all in the past now. You find people like that in every country but it does not mean that you are not safe. This doesn’t happen anymore and Turkish administration now takes extra measures to be sure of it. If you have any tiniest of issue, you can simply call the police and they will be there under a minute for your service. Otherwise, such violent events are way more common in USA and UK compared to Turkey.

They Are Muslim Not Extremist!

If you are looking to study abroad most important thing that you have in your mind is to respect their culture and try to adjust with that by compromising, after all you are living in your home country. In turkey majority of the residents are Muslims and they have their own culture and values. They are Muslims but not extremists. Muslims in Turkey in actually very open minded compared to most other Muslim countries.

English is Widely Spoken in Turkey

Though Turkey has so many diverse languages like Turkish, Arabic, Georgian and Bosnian still English is very widely spoken in turkey. Almost 17% of the people in Turkey speak English. If you have knowledge of languages mentioned above you won’t have any problem as such in communicating with the locals. Even if you know only English that is also not a problem as well you can communicate with a vast majority there. It also won’t hurt to learn few common phrases of Turkish language in advance before arriving to Turkey just to make you are comfortable in communicating with the locals. This way you will fit right in and will feel more secure.

Always Good to Follow Cultural Etiquettes

A smart person knows how to adjust in any environment. As we can’t remove all the narrow minded and violent people from this world, our only way to keep ourselves safe is to avoid them. We should simply fit in the environment like we are a part of it. Students have to do it anyway while studying abroad if you are prepared in advance then you can avoid any probable issue.

There are some specific ways to communicate or interact with people in Turkey. According to an insider from Istanbul there is a different style of greeting when a man interacts with a man or a woman. Be sure to follow them so you don’t unintentionally offend anyone.

Your Country Also Looks After You

If you are still confused or worried about going to Turkey for higher education and considering yourself alone there then take a deep breath. You are not alone as your home country always keeps and eye for you as their citizen. All you have to do is to go to your country’s Embassy and register yourself and they will keep a track on you. They will take safety measures to make sure you are safe and sound as it is their duty. They occasionally run a text or email service to notify you about the important events happening in the country and ask you to react accordingly.    

You Get Many More Benefits of Study in Turkey

Turkey has some world class universities and their higher education system is developing by leaps and bounds to match the international educational standards. Many universities in Turkey are among the top ranked universities of the world. It is therefore more beneficial to study in a world class university with better education system in Turkey than to study in a mediocre university of your home country.