Brief History and Information

   The Department of Balkan Languages and Literatures was founded in the fall semester of 2007-2008 academic year with 20 students from Greek, Bosnian and Albanian departments. Besides the Division of Croatian Language and Literature started the recruitment of students in the 2010-2011 academic year. In addition to the above-mentioned departments, the department also includes Bulgarian Language and Literature, Hungarian Language and Literature, Romanian Language and Literature, Russian Language and Literature which are still inactive. The Department of Balkan Languages and Literatures gave its first graduates in 2011-2012 academic year. Also, since 2012, the names of the departments have been changed in accordance with their counterparts in other universities and the courses have been renewed in accordance with Bologna Process.

   In Turkish Academy, the divisions of Bosnian Language and Literature and Albanian Language and Literature, are unique in their fields. The Department has major reference books on grammar, literature and history, mostly acquired through donations, at the Central Library of the University.

      Divisions of Bosnian Language and Literature and Albanian Language and Literature offer their students the opportunity to study at universities in Albania, Kosovo, Macedonia and Bosnia and Herzegovina within the framework of Mevlana Exchange Program. In the meantime, under the same program, a mutual exchange of academic staff is held with the universities of the mentioned countries.

    In Turkey, there are three programs that provide education at the undergraduate level, in the area of the Modern Greek Language and Literature. The program of Modern Greek Language and Literature of our faculty is very good in terms of its academic staff. There is a considerable number of reference books in Greek language in both the Central Library and the Faculty Library of the Department. There are Erasmus Bilateral Agreements between the universities in different cities of Greece, including the capital Athens. Each year, our students have the opportunity to study at universities in Greece within the quota offered by the aforementioned programs. Likewise, academic staff can benefit from the Erasmus Teaching Staff Exchange Program within the framework of agreements.

    The inactive divisions, after having met the criteria determined by the Council of Higher Education will accept students and Department of Balkan Languages and Literatures will make a significant contribution to the mission of our university to the Balkans.