Turkish medical students who are victims of the Ukraine war are left in a difficult situation.

Turkish students who had to return to Turkey due to the war while studying medicine in Ukraine found themselves in a difficult situation after their registrations were canceled based on an inspector’s report at the private university they transferred to. Students whose dreams of becoming doctors were interrupted took the matter to court.

Ömer Faruk Aydın and Metin Doğan Kazanç, who live in the Çarşamba district of Samsun, were studying at the V.N. Karazin Kharkiv National University Faculty of Medicine in Ukraine when the Ukraine-Russia war broke out. Medical students Ömer Faruk Aydın and Metin Doğan Kazanç, who completed their preparatory year and first year in Ukraine, registered at a foundation university in Istanbul using the horizontal transfer and special student rights granted to them by the Council of Higher Education (YÖK). After starting in the first year of medical school at this private university, the students faced a ‘surprise’ from the inspector when they progressed to the second year. As a result of the inspector’s review, their registrations were canceled on the grounds that they did not meet the ‘success condition of YKS rankings and semester condition’. The students claimed that they met the conditions set by YÖK and took this situation to court. The students whose dreams of becoming doctors were interrupted requested help from the authorities.

“I lost 4 years of my life”

Ömer Faruk Aydın, who described his ordeal, said, “I graduated from Imam Hatip High School in Çarşamba in 2017. I went to Ukraine in 2020 to study medicine. I studied the preparatory class there. I took the exam there and started my first year, and then the war broke out. When the war broke out, our president called for the students there to return. We returned to Turkey under difficult conditions. Upon the president’s request, we applied to many universities here. As a result of our applications, we received positive responses from several universities. We started the medical faculty from scratch here. While studying here, we completed the first year. When we entered the summer break, the inspector came to the school and expelled us. The reason for our expulsion was that ‘you did not come according to normal horizontal transfer’ and ignoring the war situation, we were expelled from the school. There were 8 students in the class. We all applied to the court. 3 of my friends won their cases and are currently continuing their education. A friend who completed the second year became a third-year student. We are one year behind. Our case is still ongoing. We are losing. It is going to a higher court. What will happen is uncertain. I call out to the authorities. They unjustly and unlawfully took our rights from us. If all of this ends negatively, we will go abroad. We will take our registration from the university there and go to another university. If the war had not broken out, I would have graduated after one year. I lost 4 years of my life,” he said.

“I am psychologically broken”

Medical student Metin Doğan Kazanç said, “I entered the YKS exam in 2020. Afterwards, at my father’s request, I went to Ukraine for medical education. After successfully completing the preparatory year in 2020, I obtained my diploma. I started at the medical faculty. The Ukraine-Russia war broke out during the 2021-2022 academic year. For this reason, we returned to our country with a presidential decree. Then the application phase for universities began. We completed our applications in accordance with the rules set by YÖK. There were 3 rules among them. It was stated that even if we fulfill one of them, we could apply for a horizontal transfer. One of these rules was that the university we came from had to be within the top 500. Since we met this condition, we received acceptance from a private university. Our acceptance was realized and after successfully completing the first year, we transitioned to the second year. In the summer of the year we transitioned, our registrations were canceled for no reason. We were informed that our registrations were canceled without anyone contacting us at the school. We took this situation to court. Our lawsuit has been ongoing for a year. We are in a state of victimization. 4 years of our lives have gone to waste. Our family is upset. I want to be a good doctor for my family, my country, and all my homeland. Among the friends who were expelled, there are some who have returned. Even though we show precedent decisions, our case is not concluding. If the situation is not resolved, my 4 years will be wasted. I have a responsibility to my family. I cannot handle this. I am psychologically broken,” he said.

University officials also stated that the cancellation of registrations was not related to them and was carried out according to the inspector’s decision.