Today, in the amphitheater of the University of Tourism and Management in Skopje, professors and employees were addressed by Prof. Dr. Hikmet Azizoglu, Founder and Chairman of the Executive Board of the International Council of Universities based in Ankara.

The rector of the University of Tourism and Management from Skopje, prof. PhD. Ace Milenkovski, at the suggestion of prof. PhD. Azizoglu, has been elected as a member of the Board of Directors, the highest governing body of the Council. The continuation of this cooperation, which began in 2019, and which was temporarily interrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic, was the reason for the visit of Prof. Dr. Hikmet Azizoglu, writer, poet and humanist by vocation, founder and president of this organization. Prof. Dr. Azizoglu expressed his gratitude to Rector Milenkovski for the warm welcome during the visit and for his personal involvement in the Council, and he also thanked the entire staff of the University for the productive meetings during the visit. I

n his address in the amphitheater of the University, Prof. Dr. Azizoglu expressed deep confidence that Rector Milenkovski, with his leadership abilities and vision for the development of education and society as a whole, will make an invaluable contribution to the work of the Council. Guided by the personal conviction that no matter how different we are in terms of skin color, religious, political or ethnic affiliation, we are still all members of one big family - humanity, Prof. PhD. Azizoglu emphasized that Macedonia is the embodiment of this conviction of his, and tourism is the one that enables the cultural convergence of diversity. Hence his conviction that Rector Milenkovski and the University of Tourism and Management in Skopje will play a key role in the work of the organization.

The mission of the Ankara-based International Council of Universities, with over 500 member universities from 35 countries around the world, is to provide a forum for academic cooperation of higher education institutions from around the world by promoting the exchange of knowledge and experience and joint educational initiatives. The Council ranks as the fifth largest in the world among organizations with a similar character. It is managed by an executive board of 11 rectors, and its other governing bodies include proven members of the academic community, as well as those who have an important role in the political life of their own country.

A delegation from the University of Tourism and Management in Skopje will also participate in the next general assembly of the International Council of Universities, which will be held on September 30, 2022 in Ankara.