Gaziantep University was founded in 1987 as a state university close to the centre of the capital of Gaziantep province in south-east Turkey.
Since 1973 an extension of Middle East University had created a series of engineering departments – first mechanical, then an English-medium engineering department followed by food, civil and finally engineering physics.
All of these were folded into Gazientep University in 1987 along with other faculties including medicine, arts and science and a number of satellite faculties, including vocational schools, elsewhere in the province.
It has grown steadily since, adding other disciplines and outposts. In 2019 it had around 58,000 students in 16 faculties, four schools of higher education, 11 vocational schools plus graduate schools in natural and applied, health, social and education sciences, and migration. The faculty of engineering now has nine departments while the faculty of dentistry serves as a regional facility and moved into new purpose-built premises in 2012.
It has also been successful in attracting European Union funds, with eight Erasmus+ projects in the period after 2017, including four as co-ordinator. Some of this reflects intense engagement with the estimated 400,000 Syrians who have taken refuge in Gaziantep during its civil war.
The university has started providing Arabic-medium courses in engineering, architecture, administration and theology and taken around 2,000 Syrian students, including more than 700 since 2015 on scholarships supported by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Students have been involved in numerous refugee support projects.
In 2018 the university opened a vocational school just across the border at Jarabalus in the Aleppo province, taking 145 students chosen by examination after heavy demand, and plans four more such ventures in North Syria.
