Internationalization of Education: From Bologna Process to Orhun Exchange Programme

Abstract

This article aims to introduce the Orhun Exchange Programme implemented by the Turkic Universities Union, and seeks to position it within the broader, historical developments, and it states that the recent trend of internationalization of education is beneficial for the renaissance of the Turkic civilization. In Middle Ages, mobility of students and scholars helped to the formation of the Islamic Golden Age, rise of Turkic civilization on the Silk Road, and then the renaissance and enlightenment in Europe. Recently, the shift of economic and scientific gravity from the West to the East presents new potentials for the Turkic world to turn it into a hub in the increasingly interconnecting world. The Orhun Exchange Programme is a bold step to enable universities of Turkic countries to cooperate in their fields of superiority for a joint development.