TEHRAN – Turkey’s council of higher education and universities have denounced the terrorist attacks on Iran's sovereignty, and the bombardment of Iranian universities by the United States and the Zionist regime of Israel.

In separate statements, they voiced their deep concerns over airstrikes targeting academic and scientific centers, IRNA reported.

The Turkey’s council of higher education (YÖK) expressed worries over military aggressions and assaults on Iran.

The universities have always been the hub of peace, security, and conversation; any warmongering that target the stability of the region is condemned.

The YÖK condemned violence, saying that the current geostrategic deadlock can be resolved only through diplomacy. Military attacks that threaten civilian infrastructure, and regional stability are the biggest barrier to academic and scientific progress.

All Turkish universities are required to cooperate with and support students from other countries which are involved in conflicts, particularly those from Iran. These include facilitating registration process, extending educational deadlines, and resolving economical problems facing the banking system.

The YÖK urges all student unions to sympathize with the oppressed, and prevent actions that would endanger the safety of the universities or trigger clashes.

Education in Turkey will go on ceaselessly; needed measures are taken up to ensure the security of foreign students and in dormitories and colleges. 

Also, the Middle East Technical University (METU), as an institution that has always supported social security and regional cooperation, expressed solidarity with its Iranian colleagues and students.

It announced that the recent assaults not only poses a threat to people, but also threatens intellectual development in the Middle East.

METU rejects the normalisation of military interventions, and calls on parties to help protect universities in this unsteady situation.

METU remains a safe and open shelter for all the society members impacted by these incidents.

Meanwhile, Hacettepe University, as a world class research university in health and social science, highlighted that the war is a public health crisis that goes beyond borders.

Hacettepe university is committed to providing full psychological and administrative support for Iranian students.

The university ensures that no single student’s educational status is threatened by foreign geopolitical conditions. Hacettepe university prefers ‘science first’ approach to regional issues, and believe that scientific bonds are stronger than decisive forces.

The university believes in science and diplomacy. It urges the international community to use their common sense and prefer peaceful solutions to military confrontation.

The university ensures to protect the rights of all Iranian faculty members and students in university will be protected in this challenging period. The universities are committed to provide needed administrative, financial, and logistic support to help them continue education.

On Saturday, Minister of Science, Research and Technology Hossein Simaei-Sarraf said over 30 Iranian universities had been directly attacked by the United States and Israel since the war began in late February.

Five university professors and more than 60 students had been killed in the strikes, added Simaei-Sarraf, describing attacks on Iranian infrastructure as “crimes against humanity.”

“The main reason the enemy targeted this sensitive infrastructure was that they did not want us to gain access to this technology,” he said, adding that many Iranians abroad have contacted the university, offering to help fund its restoration.

On April 7, Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations accused the United States and Israel of committing “unprecedented barbarism” by deliberately targeting Iranian universities and scientific institutions, calling the strikes war crimes that no amount of threats or military pressure can extinguish.

In a series of letters to the UN Secretary-general and the Security Council this week, Ambassador Amir Saeid Iravani detailed a systematic campaign of state terrorism. 

He cited an airstrike early on April 6 that severely damaged Sharif University of Technology in Tehran, including its faculties of civil engineering and electrical engineering, as well as research institutes for nanotechnology and environmental studies. That attack followed a similar strike on April 3 that hit Shahid Beheshti University, damaging its Laser and Plasma Research Institute.

“The intentional targeting of scientific institutions and universities constitutes a clear violation of international humanitarian law and amounts to a war crime,” Iravani wrote.

The Iranian government’s spokesperson, Fatemeh Mohajerani speaking at a news conference at Shahid Beheshti University, echoed that defiance. 

“The enemies cannot extinguish the lamp of Iranian science,” the spokeswoman said, adding that recent attacks were meant to undermine the achievements of the 47-year-old revolution and sever the bond between the nation and its homeland. 

“These miscalculations are wrong. Iran is the common denominator of all Iranians. Those who have a homeland will stand behind their country, and Iranians living abroad will never give in.”