Functioning as a feast of ideas that brings together young university students and graduates from all over Türkiye around specific themes every year with distinguished professors who are experts in their fields, the fourth program of the Ibn Haldun Academy ended with the Closing Program and Award Ceremony held on Saturday, May 16, 2026.
The first of which was organized in 2023 with the theme of “Aesthetics,” the second in 2024 with the theme of “Diluted Times,” and the third last year with the theme of “Developing Culture and Ecosystem,” this year's theme of the Ibn Haldun Academy was “The Limits of Vision and Beyond” (Bakışın Sınırları ve Ötesi). Within the scope of the academy program, which has been continuing on Saturdays for 6 weeks since April 11, a tour of horizons was conducted with the contributions of valuable professors. The seminars, talks, and panels focused on stimulating intellectual curiosity, developing artistic attention, looking at life from multiple perspectives, exploring the relationships between different disciplines through works and intellectuals, and decoding the language of interconnected sources.
The closing program, which was held with the participation of young people who attended face-to-face from Istanbul as well as those who followed the program simultaneously online from all over Anatolia, was hosted by the historical Süleymaniye Darüşşifası, which serves today as the Ibn Haldun University Psychotherapy Application and Research Center (IPAM) Darüşşifa Psychotherapy Center with its history spanning over 450 years. Starting with a Quran recitation and promotional films, the program continued with opening speeches and award presentations.
Addressing the participants during the program, Ibn Haldun University Rector Prof. Atilla Arkan, PhD, emphasized the importance of our ancient heritage and protecting this heritage, drawing inspiration from the Darüşşifa where the ceremony was held.
Prof. Arkan pointed out that in an important age of change, the wave coming with digitalization should encourage production while facilitating students' access to knowledge. He mentioned the challenging and leading structure of our university in this field. He stated that this vision is followed in the newly opened graduate programs, as well as double major and minor programs.
Yasin Kartoğlu, the Mayor of Başakşehir and Member of the Board of Trustees of our University, stated, “Ibn Haldun University was founded in Başakşehir, and then it transcended borders.” Following this statement, he expressed his pride by counting the firsts and bests that are the achievements of our University.
At the closing ceremony, the 2026 Ibn Haldun Academy Fidelity Award was presented to Prof. Suraiya Faroqhi, PhD, Faculty Member of the Department of History at Ibn Haldun University, due to her multifaceted and interdisciplinary studies in the field of economic and socio-cultural history, which she has carried out uninterruptedly for over 60 years without losing her intellectual curiosity, her professorship, the students she has raised, and dozens of books she has prepared in Turkish, English, and German. Mayor of Başakşehir and Member of the Board of Trustees of our University, Yasin Kartoğlu, presented the award to Prof. Suraiya Faroqhi, PhD.
The 2026 Ibn Haldun Academy Theme Award was presented to Konya Metropolitan Municipality due to the historical venues they reintroduced to the service of the public and youth with original functions in Konya, the pioneering cultural and intellectual activities they have maintained consistently for many years transcending the borders of Konya, and the multifaceted youth institutions extending from the Kapsül Technology Platform to the Social Innovation Agency established within the municipality. Uğur İbrahim Altay, the Mayor of Konya Metropolitan Municipality, received the award from the hands of Ibn Haldun University Rector Prof. Atilla Arkan, PhD.
The traditional article competition, organized within Ibn Haldun Academy around the theme of each year to deepen the awareness of the participants and to enable them to put their ideas into writing, attracted great interest this year as well.
In this context, 36 academy participants applied for the competition organized with the theme “The Limits of Vision and Beyond,” and 23 of these articles that met the formal requirements were submitted for jury evaluation. Following the meticulous evaluations of the jury consisting of Marmara University Faculty Member Assoc. Prof. Yusuf Ziya Gökçek, PhD, Istanbul University Lecturer Mehmet Erken, PhD, Author Hatice Ebrar Akbulut, Editor Sema Vatansever, and Ibn Haldun Academy Coordinator Mehmet Emre Ayhan, 3 successful names became the owners of the Ibn Haldun Academy Incentive Award.
The 1st prize was awarded to Çiğdem Kıyak, a Private Law Master's Student at Ibn Haldun University, with her article titled “The Illusion of Freedom: The Transformation of the Individual into a Brick in Modern Disciplinary Society”. The 2nd prize was awarded to Fatma Özkaya Temizcan, a Radio, Television and Cinema Master's Student at Ibn Haldun University, with her article titled “The Captivity of Mimesis: Aesthetic Armor and Objectification in Turkish Modernization”. The 3rd prize was awarded to Seha Tomakin, a Spiritual Counseling and Guidance Master's Student at Istanbul University, with her article titled “The Blind Spot of Seeing: The Lust for Righteousness and Modern Loneliness”. The incentive awards were presented to the winners by Ibn Haldun University Vice Rector Prof. Özcan Erkan Akgün, PhD.
Following the congratulation of all individuals and institutions entitled to receive awards and collective photo shoots, the Ibn Haldun Academy ’26 Closing Program and Award Ceremony came to an end.
