Ondokuz Mayıs University (OMU) celebrated its 44th anniversary with a ceremony held at Atatürk Congress and Culture Center.

Music and poetry recitals enlivened the ceremony in which the theme of the 100th year of 19 May 1919 was emphasized and the academicians who succeeded in the academic field, especially scientific projects and patents, were awarded prizes.

The 44th anniversary ceremony was held with the participation of Osman Kaymak, Governor of Samsun, Prof. Sait Bilgiç, Rector of OMU, Prof. Mahmut Aydın, Rector of Samsun University, Namık Kemal Nazlı, Governor of Atakum District, Sea Guard Colonel Ahmet Bahadır, Section Commander of Black Sea Guard, academicians, administrative staff and students.

The celebration ceremony, which started with the presentation of a promotional film showing the development of OMU by giving information about the establishment process, continued with the opening speeches.

"OMU continues to work for a stronger Turkey"

Rector Prof Sait Bilgiç expressed his satisfaction for the 44th anniversary of OMU which bears the name of the date when the liberation torch was lit and he shared the following information about the current status of OMU: Our University, which started its educational activities with 50 students 44 years ago, continues its activities enthusiastically with 54 000 students, 6 500 officials including 2 400 academicians, 18 faculties, 5 graduate schools, 1 school, 1 state conservatory, 12 vocational schools, and 24 research and application centers. OMÜ, which has about 10 thousand graduates a year, also paved the way for the establishment of 4 universities from its own structure."

"Our offer on Cannabis Research Institute has been approved by the Council of Higher Education"

Rector Sait Bilgiç emphasized that they attached importance to the vertical development instead of continuing the horizontal expansion by opening a new faculty or a unit, and he remarked: "We opened the departments of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation, Audiology and Orthosis-Prothesis in the Faculty of Health Sciences, the departments of History and Translation and Interpreting in Çarşamba Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, and the departments of Insurance and Social Security in Bafra Faculty of Business. We also have an offer for the establishment of the Cannabis Research Institute which is Turkey's first specialized institute in order to intensify the studies on the cannabis that have become a strategic agricultural product in recent years and this offer has been approved by the Council of Higher Education. I hope the President will sign and approve it soon.

Rector Bilgiç, who noted that they continue to work in order to increase the quality of education and training, said: "we have increased the number of our accredited programs for this purpose. Our accredited program number, which was only one, has reached 6 today. The number of accredited programs is planned to be 10 in 2020. At the same time, our university is in the process of becoming an international campus with 5 thousand international students coming through Farabi, Mevlana, and Erasmus programs with many international students.

"As OMU, we have to achieve great success in the field of advanced technology"

Rector Prof. Sait Bilgiç pointed out that artificial intelligence is rapidly entering human life with the developing technology. He expressed: "Artificial intelligence has replaced human beings in many fields and has come to the point of eliminating the monopoly of human beings on learning and intelligence. Serious concerns have been observed in the issue of transferring human and social values. As OMU, we have to achieve great success in the field of advanced technology under these conditions. We must fulfill this responsibility by foreseeing the social problems that future generations may face. Our university is a well-known and highly productive university in the fields of advanced technology, health, education and social areas, arts, and sports with its qualified human and physical resources. Our university uses the facilities in line with the development goals of Turkey and it strives to educate the individuals making research, learning subjects, taking initiatives and respecting the values."

"We attach great importance to OMU's contribution to both our city and our country"

Samsun Governor Osman Kaymak, who started his speech by expressing his happiness for participating in the program, stated: "OMU is one of the most important institutions of our city. I thank those who contributed to the organization, those who survived, and those who left us. Our universities play a very important role in the development and improvement of our country. We attach great importance to OMU's contribution to both our city and our country. If the city will be a place of agriculture, trade, industry, and tourism, it will be with the contributions of this university. In this context, our city will continue to make important contributions to our country together with the newly-established Samsun University.

"I wish many 44 years to our university"

In his speech, Governor Kaymak referred to the celebrations for the 100th anniversary of May 19, and he remarked: "our university is one of our important stakeholders in the celebration of the 100th anniversary. We prepared various cultural, social and sporting activities together with our Rector. Our main goal in this event is to spread the national struggle spirit from Samsun to Turkey again and to keep this spirit alive. For this reason, we give great importance to the events and congresses. In this way, I wish many 44 years to our university.

After the opening speeches, Turkish Folk Music Club consisting of the students and the academicians in the Department of Music gave a mini-concert and the students of the Department of Turkish Education enriched the program with their poems. Prof.Hikmet Öksüz, Vice Rector of Karadeniz Technical University and Historian, gave a conference entitled "100th year of the War of Independence: Samsun".

"The Turkish nation found the leader of the national struggle with the Battle of Çanakkale"

Prof. Hikmet Öksüz shared with the participants the historical developments that urged Mustafa Kemal Atatürk to go to Samsun on May 19, 1919. Prof. Öksüz remarked: "Battle of Çanakkale is the first process that created the sense of national struggle by saving the Turkish people weakening as of 1683 from the pessimism. Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the hero of the Anafartas, showed great success in this war and he also demonstrated his leadership skills. The Turkish nation found the leader of the national struggle with the Battle of Çanakkale.

"Atatürk started the war of independence by taking the people with him"

Prof. Hikmet Öksüz said: "Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, who went to Samsun from İstanbul with 55 fellows, lead to the awakening of national consciousness in Samsun and spread this consciousness to the society. Atatürk and his comrades started all their activities on a legitimate basis with the help of the people and he realized these activities by conquering the hearts of the people. Nutuk also begins with Atatürk's arrival in Samsun".

Öksüz remarked that the whole world witnessed the pacifistic policy of the national struggle through the National Pact and he summarized the secret of the success in the war of independence with Atatürk’s following remarks: “It is a must to make the national forces effective and to make the national will dominant”.

Rector Prof. Sait Bilgiç thanked Vice Rector and Historian Hikmet Öksüz for the valuable information that he provided and he presented a gift and seedling certificate to Öksüz on behalf of the university.

Academicians who honored OMU with their achievements were awarded

The ceremony continued with the presentation of awards to the academicians who honored OMU with their achievements and Samsun Governor Osman Kaymak gave awards to Prof. İbrahim Aydın, Assoc. Prof. Mustafa Sağlam, Assoc. Prof. Eyüp Selim Köksal, Assoc. Prof. Elif Kalyoncuoğlu, Assoc. Prof. Ali Keleş, Assoc. Prof. Hasan Murat Aksoy, Assoc. Prof. Aslıhan Kurt Kızıldoğan and Faculty Member Dr. Aydın Altop for the projects selected for TUBITAK 1001.

Prof. Mahmut Aydın, Rector of Samsun University, gave an award to Assoc. Prof Sedat Akleylek whose TUBITAK 1003 and International Cooperation Projects were accepted. Namık Kemal Nazlı, Governor of Atakum Province, gave awards to Prof. Çağrı Ural, Prof. Erdal Kılıç and Instructor Hakan Can Atunay in the field of "Corporatization in Samsun TECHNOPARK".

Rector Sait Bilgiç presented awards to Prof. Okan Özgenel who made cooperations with the industry at the highest level, to Assoc. Prof. Ertuğrul Can, Assoc. Prof. Mevlüt Gürbüz, Dr. Cangül Keskin, Assoc. Prof. Özgür Demircan and Dr. Eren Yılmaz who succeeded in the field of patent, to Prof. Bilal Cemek and Prof. Orhan Dengiz who got 100 points in Academic Incentive, to Assoc. Prof. Necmi Dege, Prof. Meltem Necibe Bilgici, to Faculty Member Dr. Leman Tomak and Prof. Orhan Büyükgüngör who published academic articles at the highest level, to Assoc. Prof. Selim Ceylan, Assoc. Prof. Yıldıray Topçu, Prof. Vedat Suat Ertürk and Prof. Murat Terzi who were mostly cited. "Celebration Ceremony for the 44th Year of OMU" ended with the reception given after the shooting of collective photos.