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Karabük University breaks silence after days: 'It is an unacceptable situation'

Following a series of allegations regarding the 'foreign student' issue at Karabük University that dominated Turkey's agenda, an official statement has been issued by the Karabük University Rectorate.

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Karabük University had been the subject of allegations claiming that African students, who make up 5,257 of the foreign students at the university, were transmitting HPV and HIV to other students.

The Rectorate responded to the allegations today with a statement released on its social media accounts.

The following was stated in the announcement:

The necessity has arisen to correctly inform our Noble Nation regarding the untrue posts concerning our University, as well as many other universities, on various media outlets, especially social media.

As stated in the public announcement by the Karabük Provincial Health Directorate dated 23.03.2024, there is no increase in the number of people applying to hospitals in our city with suspected HPV and HIV, as alleged. Furthermore, Karabük is an extremely safe city in terms of public order. Our students continue their education in Karabük in a peaceful manner.

The allegations raised in recent days have no basis in reality and are completely unfounded and fabricated. It is an unacceptable situation that the content of these posts has reached a level that offends our university students and the citizens of Karabük.

Since its establishment, Karabük University has risen to a respected position among universities in the world with its research and development, social contribution, and international studies, primarily its academic work. Our students also stand out in Turkey and across the world with their academic development and the successes they have achieved in many competitions they have entered. Karabük University has succeeded in becoming an international university by acting in accordance with the internationalization policy of Turkish Higher Education. In this context, the most successful students from 104 countries all over the world, from America to Europe, from Africa to the Turkic States, and from the Middle East to the Far East, are selected to study at our university. These students learn Turkish, learn Turkish culture, and return to their countries as volunteer ambassadors of Turkey.

As Karabük University, we will continue with determination to produce beneficial services for our Nation, our State, and Humanity, and to carry out studies that will make our Country a pioneer in science, just as we have done until today.

We respectfully announce to the public that the necessary sensitivity should be shown regarding the posts made about our University, our students, our university staff, and the peaceful city of Karabük, that allegations not based on information and documentation should not be given credence, and that necessary criminal and administrative sanction processes have been initiated regarding the perpetrators of these unfounded posts under judicial crimes such as "publicly spreading misleading information" and "inciting the public to hatred and hostility or insulting," and that we will be the followers of these processes.