Istanbul Arel University

A private institution created in 2007 by the Kemal Gozukura Education and Culture Foundation, IAU built on a network of pre-existing educational institutions. It is based in the municipality of Buyukcekmece, on the European side of Greater Istanbul.

IAU bills itself as being for students who "want to develop not only their own future, but also the future of the society in which they live”.

From its early days, IAU has aimed to attract international students. The first were admitted within two years, and it now educates around 650, out of a total roll of more than 12,000 students. Most come from the Middle East, the Caucasus, Central Asia and Africa; the university website offers brochures in Uzbek, Russian, Farsi, Arabic, English and Turkish.

IAU students are divided between three campuses. The main Kemal Gozukura site has classroom space for up to 15,000 students. Meanwhile, most associate degrees offered by its vocational school are based at Sefakoy, and medicine and health sciences are taught at Cevizlibag.

There are seven faculties: medicine, science and letters, fine arts, economic and administrative science, communications, engineering and architecture, and health sciences. Medicine, founded in 2016 – its first students were admitted in 2020, and its first international students in 2021 – is a relatively new department, as is gastronomic and culinary arts, which opened in 2020.

Most teaching is conducted in Turkish. However, degrees in international relations, international trade and finance, and molecular biology and genetics are English-medium. And business administration, computer engineering and electrical and electronic engineering are offered in both languages.