THE FOUNDATION OF KOCATEPE ANIMAL HOSPITAL HAS BEEN LAUNCHED
Afyon Kocatepe University (AKU) Veterinary Health Application and Research Center (Kocatepe Animal Hospital) groundbreaking ceremony was held.
Kocatepe Animal Hospital groundbreaking ceremony was attended by AK Party Afyonkarahisar Deputy and former Minister of Forestry and Water Affairs Prof. Dr. Veysel Eroğlu, Afyonkarahisar Governor Gökmen Çiçek, AK Party Afyonkarahisar Deputy Ali Özkaya, AK Party Afyonkarahisar Deputy İbrahim Yurdunuseven, Nationalist Movement Party Afyonkarahisar Deputy Mehmet Taytak, Afyonkarahisar Mayor Mehmet Zeybek, Afyon Kocatepe University Rector Prof. Dr. Mehmet Karakaş, Afyonkarahisar University of Health Sciences Rector Prof. Dr. Nurullah Okumuş, Deputy Governor of Afyonkarahisar Mehmet Keklik, AKÜ Vice Rectors Prof. Dr. Shuayip Ozdemir, Prof. Dr. Murat Peker and Prof. Dr. Yılmaz Yalçın, Dean of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Prof. Dr. Turan Civelek, provincial directors of public institutions and organizations, academic and administrative staff attended.
Animal hospitals are essential for quality veterinary education
Making the opening speech of the groundbreaking ceremony, AKU Veterinary Faculty Dean Prof. Dr. Turan Civelek gave information about the faculty. Stating that AKU Veterinary Faculty started to accept students in 1997, Civelek said, “Since then, it has been serving our province, region and country with its strong staff. Animal hospitals are the most basic application areas that prepare veterinary medicine students for professional life. It is necessary and essential for quality veterinary education. Education-teaching activities and diagnosis-treatment services, which were previously provided on a clinical basis within the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, are currently continuing under the umbrella of the Animal Hospital, in a closed area of 2 thousand 51 square meters as a unit affiliated to the Rectorate. Our existing buildings were built piecemeal during the period of our different rectors, they were not prepared as a complete hospital project in real terms and cannot fully meet the needs in today’s conditions. Stating that Afyonkarahisar is the capital city for animal husbandry, Civelek said, “Afyonkarahisar is the capital of animal-based food and animal husbandry. For this reason, it necessitated the construction of a hospital complex that befits our city, befits our Veterinary Faculty operating in the field of health, and befits our university. In this context, it also has the feature of being the first specifically designed building complex of our faculty at world standards, completely for the needs.”
Significant contributions will be made to the regional animal husbandry.
AKU Rector Prof. Dr. Mehmet Karakaş, on the other hand, stated in his speech that AKU is a university that aims to produce knowledge at a universal level, to raise qualified individuals who can compete with their contemporaries professionally, and to contribute to regional development, and in this sense, veterinary education is one of the most important fields of study. Karakaş said, “We have defined veterinary education as one of the 3 priority areas determined by our Senate. In this direction, we are carrying out both our investments and our programs.” Karakaş said, “Our university is a university that contributes to regional and national development in the field of animal health and animal husbandry with its Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Faculty of Veterinary Education and Research Farm, Veterinary Health Application and Research Center, and Laboratories and Veterinary Health departments in Bayat, Emirdağ and Şuhut Vocational Schools. AKÜ, which has a quarter-century of experience in veterinary education, continues to increase its scientific support in the field of animal husbandry and animal health, especially in Afyonkarahisar. Our Veterinary Health Application and Research Center will make significant contributions to the animal husbandry and animal health of our province and region with the new Kocatepe Animal Hospital, for which we have laid the foundation.
Inspection and treatment of stray animals will be carried out in the hospital with animal emergency status.
Expressing that all kinds of diagnosis and treatment of animals such as cats, dogs, birds, ornamental animals, horses and farm animals are carried out with modern methods in the 2 thousand 51 square meters closed area owned by the existing Kocatepe Animal Hospital, Karakaş said that together with the new hospital to be built, 7 thousand 400 square meters of space. He stated that these services will be provided in a more modern environment in one area, in accordance with the requirements of the age. prof. Dr. Karakaş continued his speech as follows:
“Our new animal hospital, which will be built within the scope of the 2020 investment budget and planned to be put into service in 2022, will be one of the most important animal health centers in the region. With the opening of our Kocatepe Animal Hospital, one of the vision projects of our university, our old building of 2 thousand 51 square meters will serve as an emergency for animals, and in this sense, a special unit will be created for the examination and treatment of stray animals. Animal emergency status will be one of the first in Turkey. There are 8 operating rooms, 5 intensive care units, 16 hospitalization rooms, 4 emergency response rooms, 15 examination rooms, 6 delivery rooms, 2 laboratories and 2 classrooms in our 7,400 square meter service building, where we laid the foundation. I sincerely thank the relevant bureaucrats of our Presidency and all our stakeholders, especially the very valuable deputies of our Afyonkarahisar, for our Kocatepe Animal Hospital, which is an investment of 19 million TL, to reach this stage. I hope that our hospital will bring blessings to our city, our country and our scientific world.”
Intensive studies are carried out for cattle and small cattle breeding.
MHP Afyonkarahisar Deputy Mehmet Taytak stated in his speech that the hospital, whose foundation was laid, will make great contributions to human health after its completion. Taytak said, “We are very happy that such activities and such services, which are looked at at the zoo point about human health and the future of human beings, and whose importance has emerged so much recently, are carried out in our Afyonkarahisar. Apart from this project, a foundation was laid for the cattle shelter with the intensive work of our Honorable Deputies, I hope there is a study on the small cattle shelter in the coming period. Many thanks to everyone who contributed to this work. I wish this hospital to be beneficial for our Afyonkarahisar and all humanity.”
An important project for the prevention of diseases transmitted from animals to humans
AK Party Afyonkarahisar Deputy İbrahim Yurdunuseven stated that he saw the development of AKÜ closely and that he was proud of it. Yurdunuseven said, “Our university, which started with a building behind the rectorate, has come to a very good point today with its beautiful buildings, services, academics and students in a very wide area. While the foundation of the animal hospital was being laid, I would like to thank our teachers who contributed to the treatment and diagnosis of creatures that we say have no mouth. After this diagnosis and treatment to animals, we will also bring something to humanity. Because as a result, we will also prevent the diseases that will be transmitted to us from the animal,” he said.
“Students will increase their knowledge and experience”
AK Party Afyonkarahisar Deputy Ali Özkaya stated that when Afyonkarahisar is mentioned, people think of cream and sausage from Afyon, adding that cream and sausage are also animal products. Özkaya continued his words as follows:
“The health and well-being of these animals is to be treated and to maintain their lives; new breeds and improved breeds also need to be developed. Our Veterinary Faculty is a valuable faculty for us. As our Rector said, it is one of the three pillars of Afyon Kocatepe University. The more experience our students, who will grow up on this basis, deal with the solution of concrete cases, the higher their knowledge will be. The quality of the veterinarians graduated by the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine increases much more, and as a result, it contributes to the improvement of the animal existence of both our province and our country. All of us have been trying to lay the foundation of this hospital for a long time. We went to the Presidency Strategy Presidency, Naci Ağbal, our Minister’s office, many times with our Rector, our Deputies. Today we see this beautiful facility. After that, when we lay the foundations for buffalo breeding and increase the number of buffaloes at the Research Institute of our Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, I would like to offer the cream of opium as a standard to all of Turkey with the priority of our Veterinary Faculty.”
AKÜ, the biggest brand of Afyonkarahisar
Afyonkarahisar Governor Gökmen Çiçek stated in his speech that the biggest brand of Afyonkarahisar is Afyon Kocatepe University. Stating that Afyon Kocatepe University and Faculty of Veterinary Medicine have been a university and faculty known and followed by Turkey since the past, Çiçek said, “With this foundation we will lay today, this new center, which is 7 thousand 400 square meters, will be the most important center of the region in terms of animal health. We are very happy and proud for that. In addition, Afyonkarahisar is in the 2nd place in the list of happy cities. We have a claim together with our esteemed minister, esteemed deputies, mayor and rectors. We want Afyonkarahisar to be a city where not only people, but also animals and plants, in short, all living things are happy. It already is. In that respect, I care a lot about this animal hospital. I also find it meaningful and important that the groundbreaking ceremony of this animal hospital is held today, within the framework of the ‘Year of Love’, which is also an example for all provinces that we have announced this year.”
“A very valuable facility for Afyonkarahisar”
AK Party Afyonkarahisar Deputy and former Minister of Forestry and Water Affairs Prof. Dr. Veysel Eroğlu also stated in his speech that AKU is a brand university. One of the cornerstones of AKU is the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine. Underlining that one of the cornerstones of AKU is the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Prof. Dr. Eroğlu said, “As you know, Afyonkarahisar is the capital of sausage, Turkish delight and marble. Capital of flavor. Therefore, animal husbandry and agriculture are very important here. In this respect, the construction of this facility, which will serve the entire region, not only Afyonkarahisar, but also the surrounding provinces, was of paramount importance. I sincerely thank all our deputies, our governor, our rector and our dean. It is a really important facility. I would also like to thank Mr. Naci Ağbal. He is currently the Chairman of the Central Bank, but previously the Head of Strategy and Budget for the Presidency. So he made a great contribution. This facility will cost 19 million liras. It really is a beautiful facility. It has all kinds of possibilities; There is everything from laboratories, operating rooms to intensive care rooms,” he said.
Expressing that they are aware of the importance of both human and animal health, Eroğlu said, “Health is very important. Both human and animal health are very important. As it is known, 2020 was declared as the ‘Year of Love’ in Afyonkarahisar. We already love all creation because of its creator. This year’s ‘Year of Love’ will end next March, but it will set an example for the whole of Turkey. We love and embrace everyone, we pray for everyone. This is human nature,” he said.
After the opening speeches, the groundbreaking ceremony continued with the blessings of Harun Yılmaz, Deputy Mufti of Afyonkarahisar. Later, the first concrete of Kocatepe Animal Hospital was poured with the wishes of the protocol members and pressing the button with besmele.
Before the groundbreaking ceremony, AK Party Afyonkarahisar Deputy Ali Özkaya and Metro Mühendislik Ltd. Sti. With its owner Mustafa Özaydın, Metro Mühendislik Ltd. Sti. Deputy General Manager Fatih Bilir, AKU Rector Prof. Dr. He visited Mehmet Karakaş in his office.